Gary Marshall Rigsbee
"Rigs"
d 1965
Biography as of Sep 30, 2013
GARY €œRIGS€ RIGSBEE (DECEASED)
According to UPT Class €˜65B€™s Yearbook, Gary was from Fallon, NV and was, €œThe original curve buster.€ Since he graduated as the top pilot, edging out Lee A. Adams €˜63 also by hundredths of a point, this accolade was a token of respect.
I didn€™t get to know Gary until UPT where he roomed on the first floor below Bob Murphy and I on the second floor of those bug infested World War II temporary barracks called the VOQ at dusty Reese AFB, near Lubbock, TX. But at least a dozen Americans in Vietnam owe a lot to this classmate because Gary got me through both my Progress Checks prior to my soloing in the T-37.
When the 3501th Flying Training Squadron (FTS) scheduled me for my second €œProg Check,€ after I€™d accumulated 25 flying hours of €œPinks€ (failed instructional rides), Gary sat me down in his room for three hours and walked me through every step of the upcoming ride with the squadron commander that was supposed to wash me out of UPT. Gary was tough, I had barely learned to drive a car before going to the Academy, and he made me think about every detail of every step before during and after the flight. When I hesitated on a checklist or emergency procedure, he sent me back to study it, then return and start over again. Most important, he convinced me for the first time that I could LAND THAT DAMN TWEET. My IP had done just the opposite.
Of course Major Sofaly, the Operations Officer who passed me on both Prog Rides (the CC had a job interview and ducked the flight) also stuck his neck way out for me. He reminded me of that as a Colonel at Peterson Field when I showed up asking to be checked out in the T-33 instead of the T-29.
When Gary was killed in a Military Airlift Command C-135 coming out of El Toro Marine Corps Air Station on June 25, 1965; I owed him a huge debt of gratitude. I thought of that many times as a Rescue Crew Commander in Vietnam two years later.
Gary was survived by parents, Mr. and Mrs. Marshall E. Rigsbee. Ironically the US Navy €œTop Gun€ School is now outside Gary€™s hometown of Fallon, NV. He€™d like that!
{Note from JHB: I was flying C-135s out of Travis when I learned of Gary€™s death at El Toro. As time passed, we heard stories that the Standard Instrument Departure they were flying didn€™t ensure sufficient terrain clearance. While the procedure showed the height of a couple of peaks, it didn€™t reveal to crews that a ridgeline almost as high connected the peaks. Major changes, including specifying minimum rates of climb for various departure speeds, were made in the development/publication of Standard Instrument Departures that crews depended on. Perhaps as a result of that tragic crash in 1965, others have been saved from a similar fate.} Submitted 1998. Jack McTasney