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Lt Col Peter Kotilainen, USAR ret Some people wait years after retiring before they move to a retirement community. And that's too bad ... because they don't know what they've been missing 'til they get here. Lieutenant Colonel Peter Kotilainen (USAR) didn't wait a minute. He spotted an ad for AFV in the Reserve Officers Association magazine five years ago, paid a visit to see if the place was as great as the ad promised ... put down his deposit ... and moved here right after retiring from Philips Healthcare in Massachusetts, and right before the first snow storm of the winter struck his hometown. Not bad timing. He retired young and headed south, moved into the High Rise at Village I, dusted off his golf clubs and headed out to one of the dozens of beautiful, challenging golf courses in the area. He had found his happy place. Now, he plays golf several times a week, year 'round. A corps of golf buddies is always eager to join him, and life is good. "I did some research before moving here," he says. "San Antonio is the 7th largest city in the U.S., with all the big city amenities." Add to that the amenities at Air Force Village, and he was hooked. He rides his motorcycle year 'round and gathers monthly with newfound friends to cook and enjoy Sunday dinner together - often outside in the Village Atrium. What's an Army Reserve Officer doing at an Air Force retirement community? He's fitting in, as do the many other non-Air Force officer retirees from the Navy, Army, Marine and Coast Guard who live in this diverse community. Has he ever encountered any situation that made him feel like an outsider? "Never," he says. "We're all treated the same, and everyone's on a first-name basis." A Harvard graduate with a degree in biochemistry, LTC Kotilainen spent three years active duty with electronic military intelligence; then went into the Army Reserves. He earned his MS and PhD in biomedical engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Among his career assignments were service as operations officer of a General Hospital unit in Rhode Island; and Army aeromedical research at Fort Rucker, AL. He participated in research that resulted in improved environments for tank crews in Iraq and conducted research in measuring the small difference in time between successive heart beats to determine stress levels in helicopter pilots. As a civilian, he worked for Philips Healthcare - as a product manager and R&D engineer - advancing technology in hospital medical equipment. In summer, LTC Kotilainen heads to a cottage in Massachusetts where he enjoys the company of family and old friends in his home state. But at the first sign of impending frost, he hops into his car and heads home - to Air Force Village, to the extended family he has found here, and to his active, well-earned and very satisfying retirement lifestyle. |
