More detail on this person: Gary Wayne
Dombroski, CW4 US Army Aviation (Ret.) of Mesa,
AZ passed away peacefully on Sept. 27th, 2008 in
the loving arms of his "Steel Magnolia" wife of 35
years, Jerry. Born September 11, 1948, the son of
the late Waddy and Shirley P. Dombroski of New
Windsor, NY
Gary served with honor with the 101 Airborne
Division., Co. D., VietNam August, 69-August 70.
No one could have been more proud of flying with
the D 101 Hawks. Gary wrote the original
Maintenance Test Flight (MTF) guide for the AH-1
Cobra while assigned as a Cobra Maintenance Test
Pilot (MTP) instructor at Ft. Eustis, VA. It was
later adopted as an official Army Publication for
use throughout the Army and Cobra community.
He was the first MTP rated in the AH-64 Apache
and was instrumental in the writing of the Apache
MTF manual. Directly or indirectly he touched the
lives of all MTPs who flew those aircraft who
followed him. He continued to serve Army Aviation
after his retirement as one of the original AH-64D
Longbow training developers at McDonnell Douglas
in Mesa, AZ before he left for health reasons.
A personal tribute from a very dear friend of
Gary's: "I've known Gary for more than 35 years,
and he was my mentor when I was assigned as a
Cobra MTP at Ft. Eustis, VA. He taught me
invaluable lessons which I applied during my
entire Army Aviation career. He was serious when
warranted and had a wonderfully dry sense of
humor. Taking a check ride with Gary was never
boring and always a learning experience. He was a
devoted husband to Jerry, a dear friend to me and
many others, and a servant to his country and the
US Army."
CW4 John M Willingham, US Army Aviation, (Ret.)
He died of complications of diabetes, renal
failure and others. His leg was amputated a few
years ago and he had been on dialysis for at least
10 years.
He is survived by his wife, Jerry of the home, and
his step-daughter, Tracy Brame of Mesa, AZ. They
were by his bedside as he took his final flight.
Also survived by his brother, Allen (Ann)
Dombroski of Marlboro, NY: his sister, Karen
(Frank) Messina of New Windsor,NY, and several
nieces and nephews of NY.
This information was last updated 05/18/2016
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Date posted on this site: 03/11/2023
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