Everyone has unique talents that will never help them in life such as being able to cross their toes and fingers at the same time or spitting a watermelon seed 100 feet. These talents can bring a smile or chuckle, but they will not pay the rent or put food on the table.

Other people have talents such a playing a piano, knitting socks or carving wood statues. These are usually done for personal satisfaction (hobbies), but can sometimes be turned into money.

I have always thought of myself as a talent-less person with no desire to work hard learning a talent. But after thinking about it, I actually do have a talent that has been hidden for years. My talent will not make anyone smile, it is not a hobby and it won’t put food on the table, but I suppose I “could” make a “lot of money.”  But I have no desire to use my talent again.

So what is this unique talent I have chosen to keep hidden? I am a certified safecracker. Yes, I can open safes without destroying them or doing any damage. This was not something I taught myself to do. I discovered my talent one day in 1964 when I was asked to open a safe. Here is the rest of the story.

As the lowest ranking airman at Hurlburt Field on Eglin Air Force Base, I was given the job of repairing a safe door. I worked in a Top Secret section of a communications building and the Top Secret machines were housed in a large safe much like a bank vault. We were scheduled to have a security inspection and the 5' x 7' door would not lock. I removed the rear cover from the heavy steel door and found some gears and slides were binding so I adjusted and greased them and fixed the problem. We passed the security inspection.

A few months later I got a call for my first safe cracking job. The manager of the base Day-Care Center had changed the combination on their safe and locked money inside. Then she forgot the combination. She called the Base Commander’s office who called the Major in charge of secure communications who called my First Sergeant who called my Sergeant who told me to open their safe.

I was just a dumb nineteen year old kid, but I knew I had to follow military orders so I drove to the Day-Care Center. I thought I would fool with the safe thirty minutes and announce I could not open it. But as I started turning the dial I realized I could feel the tumblers inside the locking mechanism and I wrote down the numbers. I used the numbers in every combination possible and in ten minutes I opened the safe. I wanted to jump up and down and holler “hooray”, but I calmly walked in the woman’s office and told her the safe was open. Know what she said? She said “OK”. I was expecting a Thank You and all I got was an OK. I considered locking the safe again and walking out, but I figured I might get a court-martial.

Two weeks later the Catholic Chaplin locked the Sunday offering in his safe and Monday morning he forgot the combination. He was a nice jovial man and we chatted as I opened his safe. I learned I could do two things at once - carry on a conservation and crack a safe. Oh, the Chaplin said “Thank You.”

My next job was for the Base Commander himself. He had changed the combination on his safe and followed security to a tee. He did not write down the combination and told no one the new combination. The only problem was he could not remember any of the numbers. He was quite embarrassed and did not want anyone to know what he had done so he contacted me himself. I can tell you I earned a lot of Brownie Points for getting the Commander out of a bad situation.

The Base Commander was so impressed with my skills he reported me to Air Force Headquarters and the Pentagon and they updated my military records to include the title of “Certified Safecracker.” They weren’t looking for someone to do little safe cracking jobs like I had been doing on Hurlburt Field. The military Generals wanted someone on standby for covert operations around the world. If they needed a safe opened in Europe, Indonesia, the Far East or anywhere in the world the military would fly me there undercover. I would open the safe, remove documents or make pictures of them, relock the safe and fly home. Since I could crack a safe in ten minutes without leaving marks on the safe my skill was in high demand by the military. This was the time of the Viet Nam War, the Cold War and before the Berlin Wall came down.

I am sorry to say I received an honorable discharge before my services were needed so I have no tall tales to tell. In case anyone is wondering I can honestly say I have not cracked any safes since my military discharge in 1967. But in museums I have turned dials on safes and my fingers are still sensitive enough to feel the tumblers. Who knows? One of these days I may need to bring my old talent back to life and crack a safe.