USAFA Class Heritage

I graduated from Sacred Heart High School in Rockne, Texas in 1957 and enlisted in the United States Air Force immediately afterwards.  I had assignments in South Carolina and Virginia and in 1959 I was sponsored by Representative Homer Thornberry to attend the USAF Academy.  I graduated as a 2nd Lieutenant in 1963 and was assigned to Undergraduate Pilot Training at Reese AFB, Texas.

I fulfilled a boyhood dream when I was awarded my Air Force pilot wings in 1964.  I was then assigned to crew training in the C-130 at Forbes AFB, Kansas, for two years and then spent almost three years flying the C-130 in Saigon, RVN.

After the combat tour, I was assigned to fly the C-130 at Dyess AFB, Texas, and then was assigned as the Air Liaison Officer to III Corps and flew the C-118 at Fort Hood, Texas. In 1971 I was sent to Texas A & M University to do graduate work and in 1973 I received and MS degree in Nuclear Physics.

I was then assigned to Strategic Air Command Headquarters where I worked in the Intelligence Division and also flew the T-39.

In 1976 I was sent to Maxwell AFB, Alabama, to complete Air Command and Staff College.  Following graduation in 1977, I was selected to be on the faculty of the College and additionally served as an Instructor and an Examiner in the T-39.

Selected for for Lieutenant Colonel in 1981, I elected to retire that year.  I was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal with 7 Clusters, Meritorious Service Medal, both the Army and the Air Force Commendation Award, and other awards for service.

I have always been an avid aviator and was very active in general aviation.  I have an Airline Pilot Certificate in both Single and Multiengine Land, as well as, Commercial Seaplane and Glider ratings.  Included in my 25,000  flying hours, 9,500 were as an instructor.  In 1991, I was named national Flight Instructor of the Year.  I also served twenty years as a FAA Pilot Examiner and twenty-five years as an Accident Prevention Counselor.

In 2005, I was inducted to the Alabama Aviator Hall of Fame for my contributions to aviation safety and in 2007, I was awarded the FAA Master Pilot Award honoring fifty years of safe pilot operations.

My family and I have lived in the Montgomery area since my retirement.