[Yosemitest]

Reagan didn't many ANY mistake.
I was working USAF air traffic control at Seymour Johnson AFB the day it happened in the tower.
In two hours we had 5 Lear Jets and 3 C-140s on the ramp to take about a fourth of our RAPCON controllers and fly them to different FAA facilities to go immediately to work in those FAA facilities.
We lost another fourth of our controllers to the FAA within about 2 weeks, by reassignment to FAA facilities.
Also our airspace that we were responsible for under our Letter OF Agreement with the FAA, tripled in size , plus we were given a corridor of airspace to control from Seymour Johnson AFB to DARE COUNTY RANGE.
Most of our radar controllers were checked out in their FAA facility within a couple of days.
Some of our controllers from the tower went to FAA Towers were their was only two FAA controller/supervisors and one FAA trainee that didn't walk out on the strike.
Those military tower controllers went to work immediately upon arrival at the FAA tower, and after 8 hours of work, were then sent to find a hotel to stay in.
And yes they were checked out on the spot, (rated/certified for that facility), and most of them never returned to the Air Force.
They just changed from a USAF uniform one day, to civilian clothes the next and tripled their pay check.
All USAF displaced controllers working for the FAA drew about 2 /12 times their regular pay for travel and temporary, high-cost-of-living pay.

And to this day the FAA still holds a grudge against USAF controllers.

[Yosemitest]

"Reagan didn't many ANY mistake."

CORRECTION:

Reagan didn't MAKE ANY mistake.

[Mark17]

I had just left Laughlin for Germany (as a Tsgt) so I am not sure what affect it had on the controllers there. I liked it, even though I was busy as heck. It was not a 24/7 operation. When student flying was down, we all went home. If we came in at 5, and student flying was done at 6, we went home. When students were flying, Laughlin had the biggest block of airspace for an airport, in the entire world, out to 90 miles and up to FL 230. Some of the few pilot friends that I had, told me they had fun flying inverted around airliners passing above their training areas, at or above FL 240. It was a wild career, but I was happy to finally retire.

[diogenes ghost]

That story about USAF controllers is the biggest bull$hit story I've seen on FR for a long time.

NEVER HAPPENED THAT WAY