GREEN – Retired Marine Corps Lt. Col. Keith Bucklew of Hartville, new executive director of MAPS Air Museum, and a war plane he flew in combat arrived at the museum about the same time.
The 47-year-old Bucklew, who succeeds retired executive director Kim Kovesci, took over part-time at MAPS on March 16. The plane, an AV-8B ground attack Harrier fighter jet on loan from the Marine Corps, recently was obtained by MAPS for display.
“It got here about two weeks before I was considered a serious candidate (for executive director),” said Bucklew. “They were able to get it because Harrier is in its ‘sundown’ (retirement) phase.”
Bucklew flew the short takeoff and vertical landing “jump jet” while serving in the Middle East. The final ceremonial flight of a Harrier, in service since early in the 1970s, will be in June at Marine Corps Air Station in Cherry Point, North Carolina. Over recent years the Marine Corps has been transitioning from the AV-8B to the F-35B.
“I flew this one 31 times when I was deployed to Afghanistan,” Bucklew said of the plane to be on display at MAPS.
The jet previously was attached to Fixed Wing Attack Squadron 231, nicknamed the “Ace of Spades” squadron in Ohio.
“It’s a really old squadron with ties to Ohio. I was in that squadron from 2009 to 2012,” Bucklew said.
Now that plane, temporarily sans wings and in need of a little shining up by restoration volunteers, sits “right outside the door at MAPS,” Bucklew said. It’s poised to be an aircraft linking MAPS to its new leader.
Spent childhood in Stark County
Bucklew grew up in Plain Township and graduated from GlenOak High School in 1997. After earning a degree in criminal justice at Baldwin Wallace University in Berea, where he also played football, he went to the Marines’ Officer Candidate School at Quantico, Virginia. Upon graduation in 2001, he was commissioned a second lieutenant.
The new officer completed The Basic School in 2002, according to a bio at a Marines website, then took flight training in Pensacola, Florida, and was designated a naval aviator in 2003.
After completing Harrier training in 2005, Bucklew was assigned to the Fixed Wing Marine Attack Squadron 513 “Nightmares.” He was deployed twice between 2006 and 2007 to fly combat missions in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit.
“It was a challenge to learn how to take off and land a Harrier,” he said, referring to the craft’s hovering movement during its departures and arrivals from airstrips and aircraft carriers. “Our main job was close air support for our Marines.”
Following his graduation in 2009 from Expeditionary Warfare School in Quantico, Virginia, Bucklew joined the Fixed Wing Attack Squadron 231 “Ace of Spades” and then was deployed with the “Spades” in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.
“In July 2016, Major Bucklew reported to the Naval War College, R.I., where he graduated with a Masters in Strategic Studies,” notes his service biography at the Marines website. “In July 2017, Major Bucklew reported to Fixed Wing Attack Squadron 214 ‘Black Sheep’ aboard MCAS Yuma, AZ. With the “Black Sheep” he served as the Operations Officer, Aviation Maintenance Officer, Security Manager, and Executive Officer.”
Bucklew was promoted to lieutenant colonel 2018. In 2022 he relinquished command of the “Black Sheep” then retired after more than 2,200 mishap-free flight hours, including over 800 combat hours.
Since 2022 Bucklew has flown commercially for UPS Airlines, a flight job he will continue to work during times he does not devote to the museum.
“With more than two decades of senior leadership experience in both military and commercial aviation, Keith brings a deep respect for aviation history, proven organizational leadership, and strong commitment to mission-driven service,” says a statement on the website for MAPS. “He believes credibility, transparency, and collaboration are essential to sustaining trust – principles that are especially important in nonprofit and museum leadership, where volunteers, donors, and community support are vital.”
New director experienced at leadership
That is the experience and those are the leadership qualities Bucklew brings with him to MAPS to help move the museum into the future.
“Kim (Kovesci) played such a pivotal role for so long,” said Bucklew. “He took MAPS from barely making it to an extremely well-run nonprofit museum. Because of the work he did, MAPS has been able to hire some staff, enabling me to take over on a part-time and still handle my responsibilities.”
As he moves into the position of face of the museum, he said his job will include community interaction, hosting VIP events, fundraising, overall strategic planning and providing a vision for the future.
“We’re going to keep doing our big events, like the car shows, the World War II event, and our pancake breakfasts,” he said. “We’re also going to be doing some veterans work, building a network so we can help veterans by connecting them to resources they might need. We’ll culminate with a veterans fair in the fall. I’m really going to work hard to build a volunteer base to reach out to veterans.”
He said members of his family – including wife Jennifer and their children Zachary, Nathan and Elizabeth – likely will be among those volunteers at MAPS.
Bucklew noted that MAPS also will continue its educational mission, not only concerning military aviation and wartime history, but also flight in general.
“We have school classes for young people and they come and learn about aviation,” Bucklew explained. “They get to learn about planning a flight, weather conditions and air traffic control. And we have a flight simulator available so they can ‘fly’ a real flight.”
Prepared to pass on flight memories
As the former pilot of one of the planes on display at the museum, Bucklew anticipates playing a large part in the educational mission of MAPS.
“I’m going to enjoy meeting the people who come to learn about history at MAPS,” said Bucklew. “I’m looking forward to seeing the impact that history has on the community.”
He said that once the wings on the MAPS Harrier are reinstalled – they had been removed with the landing gear for transportation – the plane likely will become an oft-visited aircraft.
“It doesn’t need much. We have Marines mechanics that I served with who live within an hour of MAPS who will lead the restoration and re-install the wings,” he said. “These guys will come and work side-by-side with our team to do the work.”
And, once that labor is accomplished, Bucklew can imagine standing beside the Harrier and telling others about his experiences flying it.
“The Marine Corps is small – about 200,000 – and a lot of times when I was flying missions I’d know people on the ground,” he said. “I knew who I was flying in support of. I loved that part of it. It was my favorite part of flying the Harrier.”
Memories returned when Bucklew first saw the Harrier parked on the tarmac outside the museum.
“I was excited. When you’re in the military, you’re drawn away from home. Your focus is on serving your country to the best of your ability. To have that plane come back to the community, to my home, makes me proud, especially being the person to kind of take care of it. It’s special.”
Reach Gary at gary.brown.rep@gmail.com. On “X”: @agbrownREP.
This article originally appeared on The Repository: New MAPS director thrilled by arrival of his former fighter jet
Reporting by Gary Brown, Special to The Canton Repository / The Repository
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