Lt. Col. Tim Kimbrough’s United States Air Force career has brought him to 10 different stations of duty. Each time, he and his family have moved an average of 4,500 miles. We sat down with Lt. Col. Kimbrough to hear more about his journey and thank him for his service, which has ultimately culminated at Syracuse University.
Born in Macon, Georgia, Tim Kimbrough was destined for a life on the move. He grew up the son of a railroad man and moved every two to four years.
“I was a railroad brat. My dad worked his way from entry level to executive,” he says. “I was comfortable with our moving cadence and eventually mimicked it myself in the Air Force.”
After graduation, Kimbrough stayed up north for college at Michigan State University while his family returned south. There, two life-altering events occurred: he met his now-wife, Kristie, and he joined the school’s Air Force ROTC detachment.
“I didn’t have an immediate family tie to the military. But my maternal grandfather, who died even before my mother was born, served in the Air Force. He died in a crash off New Guinea during the second world war. While not exactly my inspiration for joining, I did feel the pull,” he says.
“During my senior year, I was excited to learn I was assigned to become a pilot. I went through the flight screening program and started training but was medically disqualified,” Kimbrough says. “It was something minor; I actually don’t even remember what it was. That was initially a shock, but within two months I was reassigned as an intelligence officer.”