From An Iowa Farm To Japan

Sinopsis

From an Iowa farm to the U.S. Air Force, and from military service to the executive offices of international business in Japan, Rick Patrick's life followed a path he could never have planned.

From an Iowa Farm to Japan is the true story of a 17-year-old Iowa farm boy who joined the U.S. Air Force with no idea where life would take him. What began as a young man's decision to enlist became 20 years of military service, a life in Japan, an international business career, and eventually the presidency of the Japanese subsidiary of a multinational company.

Patrick joined the U.S. Air Force in 1971 at age 17. His assignments took him from Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, and Yokota Air Base, Japan, to Grand Forks Air Force Base, North Dakota; Peterson Field, Colorado; and Taegu Air Base, Korea. During his Air Force career, he rose to the rank of Senior Master Sergeant. Along the way, he met his future wife, Terumi, in Japan. They married, welcomed their daughter, and built a family together far from the Iowa farm where his story began.

After retiring from the Air Force, Patrick entered another world entirely. With no previous corporate experience, he joined a Japanese automotive parts manufacturer and entered the worlds of engineering, overseas business, and international management. His work included projects involving the Chevrolet Corvette C5, Toyota Camry, and Tokyo DisneySea, as well as the development of an innovative drum-in-hat automotive parking brake system.

His second career took him from engineering and product development to international management and corporate leadership. Working across cultures, he learned to navigate Japanese business practices while drawing on the leadership lessons developed during his years in the Air Force. Patrick later became President and Managing Director of Trelleborg Japan K.K., the Japanese subsidiary of a Swedish multinational company, a position he held for 10 years.

The cover photograph carries special meaning. Patrick took the photograph himself while personally flying a Cessna over his family's farm in Iowa. It was civilian flying, separate from his duties in the U.S. Air Force. Looking down from the air at the farm where his story began, he photographed the place that connects the beginning of his life with the career and family he eventually built in Japan.

More than a military memoir or a story of business success, From an Iowa Farm to Japan is about family, service, leadership, a second career, international business, life across cultures, setbacks, difficult decisions, and the people who helped shape a life spanning Iowa, the U.S. Air Force, and Japan.