Lt. Col. Steve Schnell, USAF reserve
Honorary Member Of The Dawn Patrol
C-17 Command Pilot
The Last C-141 pilot.

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Lt. Col. Steve Schnell, USAFR, is presently serving at Wright-Patterson AFB, Dayton, Ohio. He has over 5000 flying hours in the C-141 Starlifter, C-5 Galaxy, and his most current airlifter, the C-17 Globemaster III. He serves full time for the Air Force Reserve as their Chief of Current Operations -orchestrating over 5500 hours of flying annually in support of Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom. He has been involved in nearly every US contingency since 1992. He is most proud of his units (445th Airlift Wing) flying 17000 wounded out of Balad, Iraq, from 2003-2005, without the loss of a single life. Lt. Cool also has the distinction of being the last C-141 Pilot.      The Studmuffins (and Studmuffinette) of The Dawn Patrol first ran into "Captain" Schnell at the Annual Dawn Patrol Rendezvous held at the National Museum Of The U.S. Air Force held at Wright Patterson AFB in Dayton, Ohio. He was so young looking we thought his mom drove him to work. Even then he was way high up in the pecking order of the Air Force. He was an instructor pilot in the C-141 Starflifter. "Safety Steve" was given the thankless job of "Safety Officer" and was responsible for US. He was also the "Buffer" between the rowdy rabble of civilian pilots (US!!) and the retired General in charge of the museum. I'm sure we were the reason he got some gray hairs from that (and future Dawn Patrol Rendezvouses we attended.) Every time we flew the civilian retired general would tear Safety Steve a "new one" over something we'd done. Then, Safety Steve would come over to us and in a nice, gentle, non-threatening manner tell is DON'T EVER TO THAT AGAIN!! I'm sure he's the reason we didn't get thrown off the museum grounds. He's one hell of a great guy!!

"Safety Steve" in his "office" in the cockpit of a C-17 at the Annual Memorial Day Salute to Veterans Air Show at the  Columbia, Missouri Regional Airport just south of Columbia, Missouri. He gave all the members of the Dawn Patrol a guided tour of the C-17.

"Safety Steve" and Sharon at the Saturday Night banquet at the Salute To Veteran's show.	Steve with son William at the Salute To Veterans Air Show.	Steve tries out the cockpit of Sharon's Morane Saulnier "L" Parasol at the Columbia, Missouri Salute to Veteran's show.
Safety Steve on the flight line at Columbia, Missouri.	Safety Steve at the Saturday Night Banquet at Hearnes Arena on the campus of the University of Missouri at Columbia, Missouri.	Let's face it,,, He's a STUD!! He's changed a lot from our first meetings with him in 1999 at the National Museum For The United States Air Force. He was a lowly captain and looked about 14 years old.
Safety Steve in the back seat of Harvey Cleveland's Curtiss "Seagull" amphibian replica at the Columbia, Missouri Salute To Veteran's show.	Safety Steve watches Mary Hymer repair some wing tip damage to his Fokker D-7 replica after a ground loop at the Columbia, Missouri Salute to Veterans show.	The Memorial Day Salute to Veteran's Parade down Broadway in Columbia, Missouri.
Sharon Starks gets to try out the left seat of Safety Steve's C-17 cockpit at the Salute to Veterans Air Show.	Steve inside the cargo bay of the C-17.	At Camp Tripoli at Al Assad - Iraq.
	Onboard the "Geezer Cruizer" with Sharon Starks