Ron Wills: Propelled to Serve

By Charlie Souhrada, Honor Flight Chicago Veteran Interview Volunteer

Ronald “Ron” Wills was born and raised in Saybrook, a small town in Central Illinois where Ron’s father, Wayne, farmed while his mother, Mildred, raised Ron, his brother and three sisters, and helped run the machinery with the best of them. 

One time, his family earned some notoriety when the local paper featured an article about the Wills kids’ ages “spanning the gamut of school grades – kindergarten through college.” “Other than farming, there wasn’t much going on … no real industry and most people worked somewhere else.” 

At Saybrook Arrowsmith High School, Ron was into sports – football, basketball, track and baseball. When he wasn’t in school or the athletic field, he helped his dad or other farmers in the area doing odd jobs. After high school graduation in 1963, Ron enrolled at Illinois State University in Normal, with plans to pursue a career in vocational agriculture. 

“I went there for two and a half years but just couldn’t settle into college life,” he says. “There was just too much studying!” Rather than continuing down an uncertain road at 21 years old, Ron did some introspection. “I decided that I didn’t want to be a farm hand, or a farmer, so in May 1966, I visited the Navy recruiter in Bloomington and signed up.” 

Two months later, Ron entered boot camp at Naval Station Great Lakes, where aptitude tests determined he was an ideal candidate for Machinist’s Mate (MM) “A” School. “It made sense because my dad trained me to fix things. It turned out to be the right decision!” For the next four months, Ron learned about the Navy’s nuclear propulsion program along with the basics about pumps, turbines and valves, and how to safely run a nuclear power plant. 

After graduating from A School in February 1967, Ron flew to San Francisco and entered Nuclear Power School at Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, California. “We got a lot of math and science,” he says. “In six weeks, we went from basic, 1 + 1 is 2, to college level calculus.” 

During the middle of Power School, he married Ruth, his blind date for his high school prom. “I knew she was the one for me and asked her to marry me when I was home for Thanksgiving in 1966,” he says. “Months later, she drove out to California with a girlfriend, and we got married in the Navy chapel on July 28, 1967.” 

Three months later, after Ron graduated from Basic Nuclear Power School, the newlyweds drove cross country to the Nuclear Power Training Unit near Saratoga Springs, New York, where Ron got more nuclear instruction – this time on a land-based, operating prototype of a submarine power plant. 

In June 1968, after a full year of training, the couple moved to Groton, Connecticut, where Ron was assigned to Basic Naval Submarine School at Submarine Base New London, then to the USS Sturgeon (SSN-637), an attack submarine often called “the backbone of the Navy’s Cold War era submarine fleet.”  

“The Sturgeon was a brand-new class, and we were an experimental platform,” he says. “We performed operations in the North Atlantic, trying to see if Russian subs were out there and what they were doing. They were doing the same thing to us.” 

After nearly four years of service on the Sturgeon, Ron received a new assignment to work on the USS George Washington Carver (SSBN-656), a ballistic missile submarine based at Submarine Base, New London. The Carver served as a deterrent in the event of a first strike. “Our job was to stay hidden,” he says. “We had the ability to offload 16 missiles in a short time. We were playing for keeps.” 

While Ron was on duty, Ruth was back in Groton where she kept the home fires burning and substitute taught in elementary schools. During their time in Groton, the couple’s two children were born – Steven in 1969, and Jennifer in 1971. 

In 1974, Ron was transferred to Basic Nuclear Power School, Bainbridge, Maryland, to serve as a section advisor. Ruth and the kids moved with him. Before reporting to Nuclear Power School, Ron attended an 8-week Air Conditioning and Refrigeration School in Norfolk, Virginia. To avoid uprooting everyone again, the family stayed in Bainbridge and Ron drove home a couple of times each month. He then reported to Basic Nuclear Power School in Bainbridge.  One year later, he helped move the school to Naval Training Center Orlando, Florida, where he continued as a section advisor.

In November 1978, Ron ended his active duty to dedicate time to family. “I enjoyed active military but got out because my kids were young, and my schedule was varied. We never knew how long I’d be gone. It was time to take a new direction.” 

That new direction took the family to Michigan where Ron got a job developing mechanical maintenance procedures at Midland Nuclear Power Plant which was under construction north of Detroit. The need to serve still burned, however, so Ron joined the Navy Reserve and provided his experience when and where he could.  

In 1984, construction at the Midland plant was halted due to a lack funds and Ron’s job was eliminated. He soon found work with a consulting firm in Omaha, Nebraska, and the family and Ron’s reserve assignment transferred there in the fall. In 1988, Ron’s consulting contract took him to Elmhurst, Illinois, and the family settled in Naperville. There, he began consulting with the Dresden Nuclear Power Plant in Morris, and the LaSalle County Nuclear Generating Station in Marseilles.  

“In 1992, my consulting contract ended, and an interesting phase of my life began. After we moved to the area, Ruth went back to teaching full time and enjoyed it. I made a deal with her to keep teaching and I started working a series of temporary jobs, several times getting hired full time, only to be laid off.” 

To synch up work schedules and enjoy more time together, Ruth encouraged Ron to get a job with a school district, which is exactly what he did. He joined Indian Prairie School District #204 as a computer technician and eventually became a teacher’s assistant helping special needs children. “I did that from 2004 – 2012, when it was time for both of us to be retired (Ruth had retired in 2009). I really enjoyed working with the kids and thought the world of them!” 

Ron’s military career ended in December 1996 when he completed his time in the Navy Reserve. In total, Ron spent 12 ½ years active military, and 17 ½ in the reserve – 30 years of service.  

Now in full retirement mode, Ron serves as a volunteer at Loaves & Fishes Community Services in Naperville, and when the couple isn’t serving others or helping at their church, they’re traveling the country in their travel trailer, which Ron calls their “apartment on wheels.” “We’re often gone as long as 10 weeks at a time, and we love doing it!” 

Thank you for dedicating three decades of service to your country, Ron! We hope you enjoy your well-earned, much-deserved Honor Flight!