Military veteran travels back to Afghanistan as a civilian contractor

By Carrie A. Mizell

Retired Air Force Lt. Colonel Patrick Minto

Gordon and Gloria Minto of Bell could not be more proud of their son, who retired after 20 years spent serving the citizens of the United States while in the Air Force.
Though he always said he would be a CPA when he retired, Patrick Minto could not sit idle after retiring from the armed services as a Lt. Colonel in November 2007.
He took a year off to relax and travel with his wife, Cheryl, who is also in the Air Force. After helping Cheryl move from South Carolina to Alexandria, Virginia so she could start work at the Pentagon, Minto signed up as a civilian contractor and headed back to Afghanistan in November 2008.
“He’s a delightful young man and we’re just so proud of him,” Gloria Minto said of her stepson.
Minto was raised in Tampa, though he spends a considerable amount of his free time visiting his parents at their home in north Gilchrist County.
After graduating with a bachelor’s degree from the University of South Florida, Minto joined the Air Force in 1989 at the age of 27. He was in the Air Force for two years and had already been deployed to the Middle East during Operation Desert Storm, when he met his wife, Cheryl.
According to Minto’s parents, the two got off on the wrong foot with each one thinking the other was a smart aleck. Eventually, distaste grew to love for the two, who were both stationed at England Air Force Base in Alexandria, Louisiana at the time. Both also worked in airplane maintenance for the Air Force; Cheryl still does.
During their 16 years of marriage, the Mintos have been fortunate enough to be stationed together while serving all over the world, including five years spent in Okinawa, Japan. In 2006 Minto served a tour of duty in Afghanistan. It was after Minto returned home that he retired in 2007, having been awarded two bronze stars.
“Patrick wanted to be a pilot, but his eyesight prevented him from doing that,” Gloria Minto said.
Minto’s parents keep in contact with him through e-mail and they say that Patrick says what Americans read in the paper or see on the news is not half as bad as what is really going on in the Middle East.
Most recently, Patrick Minto returned to the United States and Gilchrist County in May to attend a family member’s wedding. His parents are hopeful that he will make it back in November to spend Thanksgiving with the family.