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Camille Turley hopes to extend her two-year stay at MacDill indefinitely, in part because the climate lets her indulge her outdoor passions.
By JACKIE RIPLEY, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times, published August 23, 2002
WESTCHASE -- Blue skies brought Camille Turley to Tampa and blue skies will most likely keep her here. That's because one of Turley's greatest passions is taking the controls of her Aero Commander and heading out into that wild blue yonder.
"If I want to fly to the Keys, I just go," said Turley, 41, who has been piloting her own plane for nearly half her life. "I fly for pleasure and for work. It's a lot of fun and a tremendous tool."
Turley, who works at MacDill Air Force Base as a briefer and instructor in international affairs, is vice president of Gasparilla's Ye Mystic AirKrewe. She has flown in formation over pirate ships during Tampa's annual Gasparilla Invasion and over Town 'N Country's Veterans Day Parade, and Memorial Day ceremonies at Florida National Cemetery in Bushnell.
"Anywhere somebody wants a little excitement, we're there," she said.
Turley lived in Maryland for 30 years before moving to Westchase two years ago for a two-year assignment at MacDill.
She said she hopes to extend her stay in Tampa indefinitely, in part because the climate is conducive to outdoor activities and also because she has several family members in the Tampa area.
She also is carving out a new life for herself in Tampa, one much different from the one she lived in Maryland with her late husband, Jack Turley, a flight instructor and former combat pilot in Vietnam. It's a life that focuses more on the day-to-day and less on the future.
"I had a plan and it got ripped out from under me," said Turley, who wears Jack's wedding ring on a chain around her neck. "Jack was going to retire at 55, I was to retire at 45 and we would travel."
Only when talk turns to her late husband does Turley's smile fade. But her natural openness returns when talk turns once again to outdoor activities -- such as her membership in Outrigger Outreach, a division of the Florida Competition Paddlers Association.
Outriggers are long canoes with stabilizing arms called booms that extend from one side of the boat to lend stability.
Members meet every Saturday morning for practice and take part in outrigger competitions all around the country.
"I've met wonderful people from all over the state," said Turley recalling the day the group had a dolphin escort and the day she held a living, breathing sand dollar in her hand. "There's no way I'm going to be in Florida and not play in the water."
-- Jackie Ripley can be reached at (813) 269-5308 or ripley@sptimes.com.