In this issue: KNOW YOUR COMMANDER Lt. Col. Robert C. Cherry …theseverts.com/Phan Rang News...

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Phan Rang AB News No. 139 “Stories worth telling”

Page 1 The Phan Rang AB News No. 139

In this issue:

KNOW YOUR COMMANDER

Colonel Frank L. Gailer Jr. Lt. Col. Robert M. Hodges

Lt. Col. Robert C. Cherry Lt. Col. Kenneth S. Smith

Lt. Col. Ben H. Varner Colonel Kenneth E. Bethe

Lt. Col. Len C. Russell Colonel Walter T. Galligan

Lt. Col. Donald J. Yuen Lt. Col. Ben J. Varner

Lt. Col. Albert E. Smith Colonel Harry V. Bankard

Lt. Col. Frank F. Cannon Colonel Leslie J. Campbell

Lt. Col. Robert H. Buss Lt. Col. Allan H. Aaronson

Lt. Col. Craig C. McCall Wg. Comdr. John Whitehead

Colonel Amin George Jr. Lt. Col. Edwin G. Jones

Lt. Col. Joseph F. Hermann Colonel Robert G. Goold

Lt. Col. Joedan J. Saunders Lt. Col. James H. Bauer

Lt. Col. Eugene Tiddy Lt. Col. Eugene E. Hustad

Lt. Col. Lloyd Russell Lt. Col. Charles F. Brower III

Lt. Col. James E. Muldoon Colonel Noble F. Greenhill Jr.

Colonel Tony M. Greget Lt. Col. Samuel T. Dickens

Colonel John W. Pauly Lt. Col. Paul E. Rova

Lt. Col. I. W. Bailey Colonel Kenneth P. Miles

Colonel Kenneth T. Blood Jr. Colonel Bill M. Richardson

Colonel Tony M. Greget

Colonel Wallace C. Bosworth Jr.

Doug’s Comments




Colonel Frank L. Gailer Jr.

Colonel Frank L. Gailer Jr. is the commander of the 35th Tactical Fighter Wing. He assumed

command on Sept. 23 from Col. Herndon F. Williams, who has been reassigned to the 401st

Tactical Fighter Wing, Torrejon AB, Spain.

Colonel Gailer comes to Phan Rang from the faculty of the National War College in Washington,

D.C. Prior to that assignment he served as the commander of the 3630th Flying Training Wing,

Sheppard AFB, Texas.

A member of the American Fighter Aces Association he is credited with destroying 6 ½ German

aircraft during World War II before being shot down and captured. He destroyed 3 ½ FW 190s

and 3 ME 109s while compiling 45 combat missions. He was held as a POW for five months and

liberated by the Russian forces.

His major assignments have included Jet Fighter Advisor to the Uruguayan Air Force and Special

Assistant to the Chief of Mission, Montevideo, Uruguay. When he returned to the United

States he was assigned to Headquarters USAF, DCS/Operations as the Chief of the Missions

Section and later served as the Chief of the Latin American Missions Branch. He then became

the Action Officer, Western Hemisphere Branch in the Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Colonel Gailer’s decorations include the Legion of Merit, the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air

Medal with 9 oak leaf clusters, the Joint Services Commendations Medal, the Air Force

Commendation Medal and the Purple Heart. He also has been awarded the Joint Chiefs of Staff

Identifications Badge.

(Source: Phan Fare, The Happy Valley Weekly, 26 September 1968)




Lt. Col. Robert C. Cherry

Lt. Col. Robert C. Cherry is the commander of the 120th TFS, Phan Rang Air Base’s newest fighter

squadron. He took command of the 120th TFS on its activation in January 1968 and led the

move to Phan Rang last April.

Colonel Cherry entered aviation cadet training during the fall of 1942 and graduated as a

second lieutenant from Moore Field, Mission, Texas in July 1943. After a short transition in the

P-47 Thunderbolt, he went to the European Theatre of Operations in November of 1943, joining

the 62nd Squadron of the 56th Fighter Group.

He completed 83 combat missions and over 300 hours of combat time during which he

destroyed five enemy aircraft and probably destroyed another. Upon completion of the

combat assignment he became an instructor at the ETO Replacement Training Squadron,

returning to the U.S. in December 1944.

During the first few months of 1945, Colonel Cherry was assigned to the Air Training Command,

completing the Instructor’s Training course and being transferred to Goodfellow Field as a flight

instructor. In May of that year, he transferred to the First Air Force, attended Gunnery

Instructor’s School and became a gunnery instructor at Selfridge Field, Michigan, once again

flying the P-47’s.

This assignment terminated in 1946, when the 56th Fighter Group was reactivated at Selfridge

and Colonel Cherry was assigned as assistant group operations officer. In January of 1947,

Colonel Cherry separated from the Army Air Corps.

During the period 1947 to 1953, he was in the Air Force Reserve joining the Colorado Air

National Guard in August, 1953. He checked out in the F-80 and during gunnery competion and

became an alternate on the Air National Guard Gunnery Team.

The team placed third overall in the World-Wide meet at Nellis AFB in 1955, flying F-86’s.

Shortly thereafter, he was employed by the Colorado Air National Guard as a flying training

instructor.

Colonel Cherry joined the Minute Men Air National Guard Demonstration Team early in 1956,




as slot man. He moved to left wing in 1957 and assumed command of the Minute Men in 1959.

In 1965, Cherry assumed command of the 140th Tactical Fighter Group.

A Command Pilot, Colonel Cherry has received decorations including the Distinguished Flying

Cross with two oak leaf clusters, the Air Medal with three oak leaf clusters, and the Army

Commendation Medal. He makes his home in Denver with his wife, Phyllis, and twins Robert S.

and Rebecca L.

(The Phan Fare, The Happy Valley Weekly, November 7, 1968)

Lt. Col. Ben H. Varner

Lt. Col. Ben H. Varner, a native of Elm Mott, Texas, has arrived at Phan Rang to become the new

315th Special Operations wing Deputy commander for materiel.

Graduating from aviation cadets at Spence Field, Ga.( Spence Air Base was a United States Air

Force base that operated from 1941 to 1961. It was later reopened as Spence Airport), in 1943,

then Second Lieutenant Varner departed for his first flying as a P-47 pilot at Dale Mabry Field,

Fla.

His dream of becoming a fighter pilot were rudely interrupted however, when there was a

urgent need for bomber crews. Boarding a train, his entire class was diverted to Pocatello,

Idaho, for transitioning to B-24s.

As a group, they flew the Atlantic to North Africa and later to Italy. During this tour, he

accumulated more than 500 combat hours in 50 missions.

Upon the close of World War II, Colonel Varner became a civilian.

At the outset of the Korean hostilities in 1950 he was recalled to active duty and was sent to

assist in establishing a civilian contract flying training school at Bainbridge, Ga. There, he

instructed fledgling pilots in the T-6.




Two years later, he was bound for the war zone himself as a T-6 “spotter.” He was “short-

stopped” in Japan, however and sent to Matsushing air field to help found the Japanese Pilot

Training Program, forerunner of the present Japan Air Self Defense Force.

In 1966 he was assigned to the Strategic Air Command at McCoy AFB, Fla. As a B-47 aircraft

commander.

Lt. Col. Len C. Russell

Lt. Col. Len C. Russell, commander, 352nd TFS, is a native of Macks Creek, Mo. After pilot

training as an aviation cadet, he received his wings and commission on Aug. 2, 1952, at Bryan

AFB, Texas.

Following advanced training at Nellis AFB, Nev., he joined the 334th Fighter Interceptor

Squadron at Osan AB, Korea, flying the famed F-86 Sabrejet. He flew 81 aerial missions and 112

combat hours and was credited with one MIG-15 destroyed.

Returning to Nellis in December 1953, Colonel Russell served there until January of 1960.

During that time, he held positions as fighter gunnery instructor with the training branch of

operations; liaison officer with the tactical fighter liaison branch, and weapons instructor.

Reassigned to Luke AFB, Ariz., in 1963, Colonel Russell held positions as wing weapons officer

and squadron assistant operations officer before being reassigned to Hq. USAF as operations

staff officer, Current Systems Branch, Tactical Division, Deputy Director for General Purpose

and Airlift Forces, Directorate of Operational Requirements and Development Plans,

DCS/Research and Development.

He was reassigned to Vietnam in August of last year and was promoted to his present rank in

November.

He and his wife, the former Miss Ramona Kelso, also of Macks Creek, have three children, Carol,

13; Peggy, 9 and David, 7. The family presently resides in Alexandria, Va.

(Source: Phan Fare, The Happy Valley Weekly, March 13, 1969)




Lt. Col. Donald J. Yuen

Lt. Col. Donald J. Yuen, commander of Det. 1, 504th TASG (FAC-U), has performed widely

diversified duties in operations, maintenance, and staff positions during his 18-year Air Force

Career.

He enlisted on Feb. 15 1951, and entered the aviation cadet program in October of the year.

After receiving his commission in October 1952, he completed fighter gunnery school at Luke

AFB, Ariz., while enroute to Korea. There, he flew 40 missions in the F-84 prior to the end of

hostilities.

He was then reassigned to the newly formed 407th Strategic Fighter Wing where he served as

flight commander in the F-84’s.

The years 1957 to 1960 found him at Laredo AFB, Texas, serving as an instructor pilot, flight

commander and OIC of flight test.

In late 1960, he attended the maintenance officer course at Chanute AFB, ILL., and was

reassigned to the 8th TFW, Itazuke AB, Japan.

Then he served as plans and scheduling officer. When the wing converted from F-100s to the F-

105, Colonel Yuen received his checkout and moved with the wing to Yokota AB, Japan, where

he served simultaneously in three positions: assistant maintenance control officer, quality

control officer and OIC of test flight.

Reassignment came in 1965 with the colonel going to Hq. TAC where he contributed greatly to

the organization, manning and equipping annexes of the TAC Enhancement Study which

provides the present day conceptual guidance for deployment of Tactical Air Command assets.

He also served as special project officer for the A-70 and F-111A in the Directorate of




Maintenance Engineering.

Colonel Yuen came to Bien Hoa AB as air liaison officer for the 199th Light Infantry Brigade in

July 1968. He converted from the 0-1 Bird Dog to the OV-10 when his organization became the

first operational unit in that aircraft. He was assigned as commander of Det. 1 in December

1968.


Lt. Col. Albert E. Smith

Only first names and middle initials changed at a change of command ceremonies of the 8th

Tactical Bombardment Squadron at Phan Rang Air Base recently.

Lt. Col. Albert E. Smith assumed command of the 8th Tactical Bombardment Squadron on June

25 replacing Lt. Col. Kenneth S. Smith.

Col. Smith an Air Force veteran of 27 years came to the 8th TBS from Headquarters Electronic

Systems Division, Hanscom Field, Mass., where he spent two years as chief of engineering

division, one year as chief of test and deployment division, and one year as chief of the post

attaché command and control system.

A 1941 graduate of Arcadia High School, Arcadia, Colo., Smith entered the Air Force in 1942 as

an aircraft mechanic. After he completed aviation cadet training in 1944, he received his

commission as a second lieutenant.

From 1944 through 1950 Col. Smith held various aircrew duties flying in T-6, P-47, P-51 and F-84

aircraft. His assignments included: cold weather test pilot, Fairbanks, Alaska, 1944-1945; pilot,

79th Fighter Wing, Horsching AB, Austria, 1946-49; and instructor pilot Randolph AFB, Tex.,

1949-50.

During a short break in service in 1950, Col. Smith attended the University of California at Los

Angeles at which time he was recalled to active duty in April 1951. He was assigned to the




Ground Officers Radar Course at Keesler AFB, Miss.

In 1952 Col. Smith was reassigned as commander, Armament and Electronics Squadron,

Chateauroux Air Depot, France.

From 1955 to 1958 the colonel was assigned as commander, 2nd Shadow Beacon Flight, 345th

Tactical Bomb Wing Langley AFB, VA., flying the B-57 jet bomber.

Under the Armed Forces Institute of Technology (AFIT) program, Col. Smith was graduated from

the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1961 with a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical

engineering.

After completing the AFIT program, Col. Smith was assigned to the Minuteman System Program

Office in Los Angeles for four years beginning in 1961.

(Source: Phan Fare, The Happy Valley Weekly, July 3, 1969)

Lt. Col. Frank F. Cannon

Lt. Col. Frank F. Cannon, new commander of the 310th SOS, is a veteran of more than 26 years

military service and has served as the 310th commander since Dec. 6 of this year.

A native of Huntersville, N. C., Colonel Cannon attended Huntersville High School and the

University of Tennessee. He completed pilot training and received his wings and commission in

May 1944 at Turner Field, Albany, Ga.

The list of aircraft he has flown since that time is as impressive as it is long. It includes the PT-

17, BT-13, AT-10, B-25, A-26, B-24, B-17, B-29, C-47, C-54, C-123, P-51, F-80, F-86, F-89, F-102,

F-4C, U-3, T-33, L-13 and L-5.

The 310th commander flew the B-24 in Europe from September 1944 to May 1945 and served in

Korea from 1947 to 1949 flying the P-51.




Prior to Vietnam, Colonel Cannon served with the 33rd TFW, Eglin AFB, Fla., as chief of

operations and training. He is a 10-year veteran of ADC and from 1961 to 1964, served with

Thirteenth Air Force as the deputy commander for operations, 405th Fighter Wing.

Since arrival in Phan Rang, Colonel Cannon has flown 484 combat sorties and has logged 319.3

combat flying hours.

He is married to the former Juanita Gardner of Mount Gilead, N. C., and they are the parents of

a daughter, Patricia Ann, and four sons, Frank Jr., Robert, Gary and Mark.

Twenty-one-year-old Frank is in the U. S. Army and stationed at Camp Polk, La. Nineteen-year-

old Robert is attending Florida State University. Gary, Patricia and Mark are in school.

The colonel is also a skeet and trap shooting enthusiast.

(Source: Phan Fare, The Happy Valley Weekly, January 2, 1969)

Lt. Col. Robert H. Buss

Lt. Col. Robert H. Buss of Mankato, Minn., is the commander of the 614th TFS. Prior to hgis

assignement to Phan Rang, he was a student at the Air War College.

Originally commissioned a second lieutenant navigator, Colonel Buss went through pilot

training school in 1954.

He has previously served in Vietnam on TDY status in 1964 and again in 1965. During these

tours, he flew 30 combat missions in the F-100 including 24 over North Vietnam.

Assigned to Headquarters Tactical Air Command in 1957-58, Colonel Buss went to Europe in

1959 where he served in Germany and France with the 417th Tactical Fighter Squadron.

Prior to attending the Air War College, he was assigned to the Pentagon as tactical air

operations officer with the Directorate of Estimates, DCS/Plans.




Colonel Buss is married to the former Gloria M. Peterson of Lake Crystal, Minn. Their son,

Robert Charles, is a freshman at Mankato State Teachers college in Minnesota.

(Source: Phan Fare, The Happy Valley Weekly, December 19, 1968)

Lt. Col. Craig C. McCall

Lt. Col. Craig C. McCall, a native of Sligo, Pa., is the commander of the 615th TFS, the first F-100D

squadron equipped with the triple ejector rack system (TERS). This system doubles the normal

F-100 bomb load.

Commissioned in 1943, colonel McCall served in the European Theater of Operations in World

War II as a P-47 pilot. From March 1944 to VE-Day, he flew 76 combat missions, participating in

a number of major campaigns including the Normandy invasion and the Rhineland offensive.

Returning to civilian life after the war, Colonel McCall remained in the military in reserve status.

He was recalled to active duty for the Korean Conflict and flew 100 combat missions in the F-51.

Since Korea, Colonel McCall has served in a variety of tactical assignments. From November

1962 until June 1964, he was TAC advisor in the Air Force Operations Branch of the Joint United

States Military Advisory Team, Ankara, Turkey.

Prior to his assignment to Vietnam, he was with the Directorate of Operations, DCS/Plans and

Operations, Hq. USAF, Washington D. C.

Colonel McCall is married to the former Nancy J. Hinkle of Washington, D. C. They have five

children, Robert, Kevin, Judy, David and Janet and reside in Alexandria, Va.


Colonel Amin George Jr.




Col. Amin George Jr., a native of Port Arthur, Texas, arrived at Phan Rang AB late last week to

assume duties of vice commander, 35th TFW. His previous duty station was RAF Lakenheath,

England, where he served as deputy commander for operations.

Enlisting in the U.S. Army in September 1942, Colonel George entered aviation training in

February of the following year.

He was commissioned in March 1944 and served in the China-Burma-India theater of

operations, flying 108 aerial combat missions and 306 combat hours in the P-47 Thunderbolt

during the Chinese defensive.

During the period of 1948 through 1951, Colonel George was stationed in England as flight test

officer and in 1955, returned to the U.S. to serve at Sandia, Base, N. M.

In 1956, Colonel George was reassigned to the Pentagon, Washington, D.C., as special assistant,

and then assistant to the chief of Staff, Hq. Task Force Seven.

In August 1960, he served as director of operations and training at Medina Base, Texas, and

later as deputy base commander there.

Reassigned in 1961 as director of operations and training at Bossier Base, La., he was

transferred again in 1964 as education and training staff officer, Maxwell AFB, Ala., later serving

as chief, Aerospace Division, Squadron Officers’ School.

In 1966, Colonel George arrived at RAF Lakenheath.

He is a graduate of Air War College and currently holds a BS degree in Military Science from the

University of Maryland and an MA in International Affairs from George Washington University.

His awards and decorations include the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal and the Air

Force Commendation Medal.

Colonel George is married to the former Muriel Keogh and they have four children.




(Source: Phan Fare, The Happy Valley Weekly, February 13, 1969)

Lt. Col. Joseph F. Hermann

Lt. Col. Joseph F. Hermann has served as vice commander, Phan Rang AB, since July of this year.

Prior to his arrival in Vietnam, he served as base deputy commander, 513red Combat Support

Group, RAF Mildenhall, England.

A native of Chicago, ILL., Colonel Hermann received his commission and wings through the

aviation cadet program in 1943.

In April 1944, he arrived in England where he accrued more than 243 combat hours in the B-24

bomber. He also received the Air Medal with three oak leaf clusters and the Distinguished

Flying Cross for his World War II service.

His other overseas tours include three years in England (1948-1951), three in Germany at

Rhein-Main and Wiesbaden Air Bases and Lindsey AFS (1955-58), a return to England (1965-68)

and his current duty in Vietnam.

He and his wife, the former Miss Doris V. Bain of Portland, Ore., have give children, Joseph,

Mary Louise, Kathryn, Susan and John.


Lt. Col. Joedan J. Saunders

Lt. Col. Joedan J. Saunders has assumed command of the 310th Special Operations Squadron,

replacing Lt. Col. Frank Cannon who rotated to the 313th Air Division at Kadena Air Base,

Okinawa.

Colonel Saunders, hailing from Kansas City, Missouri, is a graduate of the U. S. Naval Academy

where he received his officer’s commission as a second lieutenant in 1950.




He received his pilot wings from Vance AFB, Okla., in 1951 and remained there as a pilot

instructor in T-6, T-28 and B-25 aircraft.

In 1955 he went to the 39th Air Division at Misawa Air Base, Japan, and served in its Manpower

and Organization section.

Colonel Saunders was selected, in 1958, to attend the University of Michigan under AFIT where

he earned his Master of Science degree in Industrial Engineering.

Two years later he went to the Pentagon where he served in the Manpower Directorate as a

Data Systems Designer.

Prior to arriving in Vietnam, he was assigned to Headquarters USAFE in the Requirements

Division under the Manpower and Organization Directorate.

(Source: Phan Fare, The Happy Valley Weekly, August 1, 1969)

Lt. Col. Eugene Tiddy

Lt. Col. Eugene Tiddy, new commander of the 8th the Tactical Bombardment Sq., is a native of

Shelby, N.C. He was commissioned and received his pilot’s wings through the aviation cadet

program. Stationed in the European Theater of Operations during World War II, he flew 62

II, he flew 62 combat missions in the P-47 for a total of 148 combat hours.

Since World War II, the majority of Colonel Tiddy’s career has been served in an unusual variety

of staff weather officer positions.

He has had several assignments as weather detachment commander including one

commander of Det. 1, 55th Weather Reconnaissance Sq. In addition, Colonel Tiddy has served

in the Special Analysis Branch, DCS/O, Hq. USAF, and in the Weather Research Division, Bureau

of Research and Development, Federal Aviation Agency.

In 1965, he was assigned as military advisor to the Office of the Federal Coordinator for




Meteorological Services, Department of Commerce. From 1966 to June of 1968, he served as

executive officer to the Special Assistant for Weather, DCS/Programs and Resources.

In addition to Europe, other overseas posts for Colonel Tiddy include Japan and Alaska. He has a

degree in Military Science from the University of Maryland and has attended the Arctic

Meteorological Course at Standstead College, Canada.

Since arriving in Vietnam, Colonel Tiddy has flown 87 combat missions and has nearly 400

combat hours in the B-47.

He is married to the former Hazel F. Allen, also of Shelby. They have three sons, Gary E, Gerald

M. and James A.


Lt. Col. Lloyd Russell

Lt. Col. Lloyd G. Russell, commander, 309th SOS, is a veteran of more than 26 years military

service and has served as the “Wetsu Airlines” commander since September of this year.

A native of Flasher, N.D., and a graduate of the University of Omaha, he completed Pilot

training and received his wings and commission in September 1944 at Las Vegas Field, Nev.

Colonel Russell started flying in 1941 as a civilian instructor for the Army Primary Contract

School at King City, Calif.

The list of aircraft he has flown since that time is as impressive as it is long. Included are the PT-

17, BT-13, BT-15, AT-6, B-17, B-25, B-29, C-45, C-46, C-47, C-54, C-119, C-123, T-29, T-39 and T-

33.

The “Wetsu Airlines: commander served in Okinawa from 1946 to 1949 and again in Korea

(1952) with the 8th Bomb Sq. at Kunsan.

Prior to Vietnam, Colonel Russell was a 10-year veteran of SAC where he served at Offutt AFB,




Nebr., and chief of standardization and commander, 3902 Operations Sq., and at Castle AFB,

Calif., as chief base operations division.

He is married to the former Thelma Carr and they are the parents of a daughter, Kathryn and

three sons, Lloyd, G. Jr., Douglas and Bradley.

(Source: Phan Fare, The Happy Valley Weekly, November 21, 1968)

Lt. Col. James E. Muldoon

Lt. Col. James E. Muldoon, Sr., is the new commander of the 311th SOSq. replacing Col. William

K. Bailey who has rotated to the U. S.

The 311th, a C-123 “Provider” unit, was the first of its kind assigned to Southeast Asia.

A 26-year Air Force veteran, Colonel Muldoon was awarded his commission in 1943. His flying

experiences includes 260 combat hours over Europe in 1943-44 in B-24 aircraft during which he

participated in the first Air Force bomber missions over Berlin.

During the Korean War, he served with the Military Air Transport Service (MATS) in the pacific

area as group maintenance officer and as a pilot on the Trans-Pacific routes.

Colonel Muldoon was last assigned with Headquarters Air Force Logistics Command, Wright-

Patterson AFB, Oh., as chief aerospace division, of the AFLC service engineering function.

He was formerly the 311th operations officer.






Colonel Tony M. Greget is the new deputy commander for operations for the 35th Tactical

Fighter Wing. He arrived here following a year’s duty as assistant deputy commander for

operations with the 4531st TFW at Homestead AFB, Fla.

A native of San Pedro, Calif., Colonel Greget entered the Air Force through the aviation cadet

program in 1943. He completed basic pilot training and received his commission at Luke AFB,

Ariz., in June 1944.

His overseas tours include two years on Okinawa (1946- 47), ten months in Korea followed by

three months again on Okinawa (1954-55), England where he was squadron operations officer

and then commander of the 55th TFS RAF Station Wethersfield (1959-63) and finally Germany

where he served first as commander, 81st TFS, Hahn AB, and later as commander, 417th TFS,

Ramstein AB.

He and his wife, the former Kathryn E. Snelson of Wilmington, Calif., have one daughter, Sandra

Kay.

(Source: Phan Fare, The Happy Valley Weekly, November 28, 1968.)

Colonel John W. Pauly

Colonel John W. Pauly is the Commander of the 315th Special Operations Wing. Prior to this

assignment he was the Deputy Chief of Staff, operations, for the 315th Air Division,

Tachikawa AB, Japan.

Colonel Pauly is a 1945 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. He received

his flying training at Stewart Field, N.Y.

During the Korean War the Colonel flew the B-26 with the 8th Bombardment Sq. He compiled

55 night Intruder combat missions and 230 combat hours. He then served as an operations

staff officer and later chief of the bomber branch at Headquarters, Tactical Air Command for

four years.




He was then assigned to Headquarters, 4th Allied Tactical Air Forces in Germany where he

served as an operations officer and an executive officer at Trier and Ramstein.

In 1959 he was assigned to the Directorate of Plans, Headquarters USAF in Washington. He

became the assistant executive office to the Chief of Staff in 1962 and held this position until he

attended the National War College in 1964.

When he completed the National War College Colonel Pauly became the deputy commander

for operations for the 317th Troop Carrier Wing at Lockbourne AFB, Ohio. He went to Japan

from this assignment.

His decorations include the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal with two oak leaf clusters

and the Air Force Commendation Medal.

The 315th SOAG, his present command, consists of the 315th CAMS, and the 309th, 310th and

311th Special Operations Squadrons at Phan Rang, the 12 SOSq. (Defoliation) at Bien Hoa, and

the 311th Special Operations Squadrons at Phan Rang, the 12th SOSq. (Defoliation) at Bien Hoa,

and the 19th SOSq. at Tan Son Nhut. The C-123s flown by the 315th SOWG are the airlift work

horses of the Vietnam War.

Colonel Pauly is married to the former Mary Chatt of Aliquippa, Pa. The couple has five

children.

(Source: Phan Fare, The Happy Valley Weekly, October 3, 1968)

Lt. Col. I. W. Bailey

Lt. Col. I. W. Bailey has recently assumed command of the 311th SOSq, “The First in Vietnam”,

and it was he who flew with this same unit to the Southeast Asia battle zone in March 1963

from Pope AFB, N. C.

A native of Moab, Utah, he completed pilot training and received his wings and commission in




February 1945 at Marfa, Texas. Since his arrival in July 1968, Colonel Bailey has served as the

315th Chief, Flight Operations Branch and wing executive officer.

Amassing some 5000 flying hours, his career in the Air Force started with B-17’s in Kingman,

Ariz., but was cut short when the European war ended. A transfer took him to an airfield near

Pope AFB, N. C., where he flew both the C-46 “Commando” transport and the CG-4A glider.

Moving on to Bergstrom AFB, Texas and Matsushima AB, Japan, he became one of two dual

qualified instructors in the C-46’s and gliders. Returning to the States in 1948, he served at

Hamilton AFB, Calif., for six years as the training and operations officer in the Hamilton Flight

Service Center.

Island hopping to the Azores in 1954 for a tour with MATS (now MAC) he returned to California

for five years at both McClelland and Hamilton Air Force Bases. In 1962 Colonel Bailey went to

Pope AFB, where he became OIC of the 464th TCW Command Post, and where he ultimately

assisted in the movement of the 777th to Vietnam. Upon landing, this unit was redesignated

the 311th Troop Carrier Squadron (and still later Special Operations Sq.).

Prior to his assignment to Vietnam, he served two years with the Strike Command, then moved

to CINCPAC in Hawaii, where he became the action officer for “Rolling Thunder,” an operation

with pertained to air strikes against North Vietnam. His outstanding efforts were recognized

with the presentation of the Legion of Merit upon his completion of this tour.

He is married to the former Margaret Wertz of Dallas, Texas, and they are the parents of three

daughters, Jan, Wendy and Marta, and two sons, Jon and Rod.


Colonel Kenneth T. Blood

Col Blood Assumes Command Tactical Airlift Wing WITH U.S. COMBAT AIR FORCES, Vietnam — Colonel Kenneth T. Blood Jr., has assumed command of the U.S. Air Force’s 315th Tactical Airlift Wing at Phan Rang AB, Vietnam.




Colonel Blood, son of retired Major General K. T. Blood Sr., 55 Great Road, Acton, Mass., will command the unit through August, when he is scheduled to complete an 18-month tour of duty at Phan Rang. Since March 1970, he has been vice commander of the wing.

The colonel helped establish the C-123 Provider aircraft training program for Republic of Vietnam Air Force (VNAF) aircrews initiated in January at Phan Rang. The VNAF crew members are being prepared to assume responsibility for flying C-123 cargo -troop transport missions. Colonel Blood, who holds the aeronautical rating of command pilot, served in the Pentagon before he began his Southeast Asia assignment. He was nuclear weapons chief in the strategic operations division, Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. A 1940 graduate of Fishburne Military Academy in Waynesboro, Va., he was commissioned in 1945 upon graduation from the U.S. Military Academy where he earned a B.S. degree in engineering. His wife, the former Susan Hashagen, is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. F. E. Hashagen, 1532 Queens Road, Charlotte, N C.

Colonel and Mrs. Blood have one child, Kenneth T. III, 16 years old.

(Source: Assabet Valley Beacon, Thursday, March 18, 1971)


Colonel Tony M. Greget is the new deputy commander for operations for the 35th Tactical

Fighter Wing. He arrived here following a year’s duty as assistant deputy commander for

operations with the 4531st TFW at Homestead AFB, Fla.

A native of San Pedro, Calif., Colonel Greget entered the Air Force through the aviation cadet

program in 1943. He completed basic pilot training and received his commission at Luke AFB,

Ariz., in June 1944.

His overseas tours includes two years on Okinawa (1946- 47), ten months in Korea followed by

three months , again on Okinawa (1954-55), England where he was squadron operations officer

and then commander of the 55th TFS, RAF Station Wethersfield (1959-63) and finally Germany

where he served first as commander, 81st TFS, Hahn AB, and later as commander, 417th TFS,




Ramstein AB.

He and his wife, the former Kathryn E. Snelson of Wilmington, Calif., have one daughter, Sandra

Kay.


Colonel Wallace C. Bosworth Jr.

Colonel Wallace C. Bosworth Jr., vice commander, 35th TFW, arrived here in June after having

served as deputy commander for operations and then wing commander for the 354th TFW at

Myrtle Beach AFB, S. C.

Colonel Bosworth entered the aviation cadet program in 1943 and served in the European

Theater of Operations from early 1944 through 1945.

During this time, he flew 61 combat missions and 139 combat hours in the P-51.

More recently, the wing vice commander was a student and then instructor at the Command

and Staff College, Maxwell AFB, Ala. Completing his tour there in 1963 as education and

training staff officer, Directorate of Curriculum, Col. Bosworth remained at Maxwell as a

student at the Air War College.

His nex assignment was to Izmir, Turkey, where he served, in succession as soperations officer,

Operations Division, acting chief, Plans and Programs Branch, Operations Division, and then

chief, Operations and Training Branch, Air Defense Division, of Det. 5, 1411th USAF Special

Activities Sq., Ismir, Turkey.

Upon completion of this tour, he was assigned to the 354th TFW at Myrtle Beach.

His awards and decorations include the Distinguished Flying Cross, earned during World War II,

the Air Medal with 10 Oak Leaf Clusters and the Air Force Commendation Medal.





Lt. Col. Robert M. Hodges

Lt. Col. Robert M. Hodges has assumed command of the 311th Special Operations Squadron.

replacing Lt. Col. l.W. (Bill) Bailey, who rotated to Maxwell AFB, Ala., at the director of

Operations section in the Civil Air Patrol.

Col. Hodges, from Memphis, Tenn., received his commission and pilot wings through the

Aviation Cadet program at Luke AFB, Ariz., in 1944.

Upon

graduation he reported to DeRidder Field, La., and was first assigned to fly P-40's. Later he

moved to Key Field, Meridian, Miss., for tactical reconnaissance training, flying the F-6, a photo

version of the P-51. Schooling complete, he was sent to Itami, Japan, where he flew the F-6

until 1948.

Returning to the United the States he attended the Air Tactical School (forerunner of the Air

University's Squadron Officers Course) and subsequently reported to the- 20th Fighter Wing to

fly the F-84. Remaining with the 20th, he moved from Shaw AFB, to Langley AFB, and finally

Weathersfield, England.

In 1955 Col. Hodges attended the Air Force Command and Staff College, and upon completion,

returned to Luke AFB, as a maintenance officer in the MAAG office.

Proceeding to Headquarters TAC at Langley AFB, he became a maintenance inspector in the

Inspectors General office.

Prior to his Vietnam assignment he was stationed in Panama where he was the Chief of

Maintenance and ultimately became the Director of Maintenance in Hq. USAFS0.

Col. Hodges is married to the former Miss Eileen Bloodworth of Bristol, England. They, have

4 children; Susan, age 11. Sandra, age 15, Deborah, age 13, and a son, Gary, age 2.





Lt. Col. Kenneth S. Smith

Lt. Col. Kenneth S. Smith, new commander of the 8th TBS, is a native of Long Branch, N.J. He

assumed the command from Lt. Col. Eugene Tiddy who has been hospitalized as a result of

injuries received in a B-57 accident.

Entering the Air Force as an aviation cadet, he was commissioned as a B-17 pilot in January

1944 and served in the European Theater of Operations. There, Colonel Smith flew 35 combat

missions and 249 combat hours in air strikes over Europe.

He entered the reserves in 1945 but returned to active dutyin 1948 and has been in the bomber

business since that time. Serving as a B-29 pilot on recall, he later flew the RB-47 and then the

B-52 with the Strategic Air Command.

Prior to his arrival at Phan Rang last October, he served as a chief, Standardization Division, Hq,

Eighth Air Force (SAC), Westover AFB, Mass., and then attended the Air War Colledge, Maxwell

AFB, Ala.

Since his assignment to the 8th TBS, he was in succession, B-57 pilot, flight commander, and

operations officer prior to assuming the squadron command.

(Source: Phan Fare, The Happy Valley Weekly, April 10, 1969)

Colonel Kenneth E. Bethe

The Alaskan spring thaw released its icy grip on Colonel Kenneth E. Bethe and allowed him to

report to the 315th Special Operations Wing as its new Deputy Commander/Operations. Hailing

from Abilene, Kansas, he is a veteran of 26 years military service.

Entering the service as an aviation cadet in 1942, he was commissioned and received his pilot

wings in August 1943 at Stockton, California. After graduation, he was assigned to fly B-17’s at

a small airfield on the outskirts of Norwich, England.




His tour was cut short however, when his aircraft was shot down on its third mission. Crash

landing in Denmark, the entire crew was spirited away by the Underground to Sweden, whre

they were considered refugees and subsequently handover to American authorities. By

regulation, he spend the remainder of the war in the United States.

At the close of World War II, Colonel Bethe was assigned to Ramey AFB, Puerto Rico where he

piloted VIP aircraft for the 10th Naval District. Returning to the States, he started a long career

in the troop carrier business. Initially, he was flying C-82 “Packets” and C-119 “Boxcars”. At the

outbreak of Korean hostilities he participated in supporting the combat airlift mission by flying

some 170 combat hours.

Returning to the States again, be became commander of the 75th and 61th Troop Carrier

Squadrons at Sewart AFB, Tenn.

In 1956, Colonel Bethe went to Hq FEAF/PACAF in Japan and became Chief, Transport Branch,

Current Operations, and in 1957 went to PACAF in Hawaii as Chief, Transport/Bomber Branch.

After completion of Air Force Command and Staff College, he became the Inspector General,

National Headquarters, Civil Air Patrol, Ellington AFB, Texas.

Later he moved to the Middle East and became the Vice-Commander, Detachment 10, Incirlik,

Turkey. Returning to Lockbourne AFB, Ohio, in 1965, he assumed command of the 18th TCSq.

Prior to his arrival in Vietnam, he was Commander, 17th TAC Airlift Sq, and following that, Chief

of Maintenance for the 21st Composite Wing, Elmendorf AFB, Alaska.

Colonel Bethe is married to the former Miss Martha Nelson of Abilene, Kansas. They have

three sons; Kenneth, married and a second lieutenant in the Medical Service Corps, USAF, at

Elmendorf AFB, Alaska; Michael, who is entering the University of Alaska this fall as a Forestry

major, and Pat who is a high school student.

(Source: Phan Fare, The Happy Valley Weekly, April 5, 1969.)




Colonel Walter T. Galligan

Colonel Walter T. Galligan assumed command of the 35th Tactical Fighter Wing, August 9.

The 44-year-old native of Bronx, N. Y., accepted the wing colors from the former commander of

the F-100 Supersabre-equipped unit, Colonel Frank L. Gailer Jr. The brief but colorful change-

of-command ceremony, attended by senior Air Force officers at Phan Rang, took place in front

of the 35th TFW headquarters building moments before Colonel Gailer departed for his new

assignment in England.

The new commander comes to the 35th TFW from Lindsey Air Station, Wiesbaden, Germany,

where he had been Director of Operations, Headquarters, U.S. Air Forces in Europe, for the past

year. Prior to that assignment he was vice commander of the 401st Tactical Fighter Wing, an F-

100 Supersabre fighter-bomber unit based at Torrejon AB, Spain.

WEST POINT GRADUATE

Colonel Galligan began his military career upon graduation from the U. S. Military Academy in

June 1945, he received his pilot’s wings. Three months later, when World War II ended, Colonel

Galligan, then a lieutenant, was qualified in B-25 and B-17 bombers.

With peace, Colonel Galligan’s next assignment was flying C-47 transports for three years while

stationed at Vienna, Austria. By the second day of the Berlin Airlift of 1948-49, he was flying C-

47s between Wiesbaden Air Base and Templehof Airport, Berlin.

When the twin-engined C-47s were replaced on the airlift by the larger, four-engined C-54

transports, he returned to the United States to join the Air Training Command for two years as

an instructor in T-6, T-28 and B-25 aircraft at Vance AFB, Enid, Okla.

HAS MASTERS

In 1953 he was awarded a masters degree in Industrial Administration at the U. S. Air Force

Institute of Technology, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio.

In October 1953 Colonel Galligan was assigned to the Strategic Air Command as a B-29 bomber

pilot based at Schilling AFB, Kan. By 1954 his wing was flying B-47 jet bombers. In 1960 the




unit moved to nearby Forbes AFB, Kan.

From SAC he went to the Armed Forces Staff College, Norfolk, VA. Upon graduation he served

in the Pentagon as Deputy Chief, Congressional Investigations Division, Legislative Liaison

Office, Secretary of the Air Force.

In 1965 he attended Harvard University’s Executive Advanced Management Program. “An

outstanding program,” declared Colonel Galligan.

MET FORMER COMMANDERS

Following graduation in June 1967 from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces,

Washington, D. C., the colonel joined the 401st TFW in Spain.

Asked what his first impression of Phan Rang were, Colonel Galligan replied, “Colonel (Herndon

F.) Willliams, a prior commander of the 35th Wing (1967-68), was commander of the 401st TFW

the year I was in Germany. I had ample opportunity to talk with him and find out just what it

was like here. Another past commander of the 35th (Mar 66 to Mar 67), Colonel George S. Eart,

now Director of Operations of the 17th Air Force in Germany, and I also had many conversations

about Phan Rang when it became apparent that I was coming here.

“The end result was, that except for actually seeing the base, I had a pretty fair idea of what to

expect upon my arrival; several varieties of aircraft on the ramp, revetted and positioned for

combat; sunshine cactus, sand, and a little bit of wind.”

“Knowing the outstanding record of the combat units assigned here and meeting the few

people I have makes me more than anxious to get on with my assignment in the 35th,” he

concluded.

Colonel Galligan is a command pilot with approximately 6,600 total flying hours, 2,600 hours of

which are in jet aircraft, and more than 300 of those piloting the F-100.

Colonel Galligan is married to the former Miss Irene M. Gilmurray who is residing in Honolulu

during the Colonel’s Vietnam tour.





Lt. Col. Ben J. Varner

Lt. Col. Ben J. Varner, a native of Elm Mott, Texas, has arrived at Phan Rang to become the new

314th Special Operations Wing deputy commander for material. He replaces Col. E. Hodge who

rotated to the U.S.

Graduating from aviation cadets at Spence Field, Ga., in 1943, (Spence Air Base was a United

States Air Force base that operated from 1941 to 1961. It was later reopened as Spence

Airport.) then Second Lieutenant Varner departed for his first flying-as a P-47 pilot at Dale

Mabry Field, Fla. (Mabry Field is a former airport 3.4 miles west of Tallahassee Florida. The

military airfield closed in 1946 and the airport was returned to civil use.)

His dreams of becoming a fighter pilot were rudely interrupted however, when there was an

urgent need for bomber crews. Boarding a train, his entire class was diverted to Pocatello,

Idaho, for transition to B-24s.

As a group, they flew the Atlantic to North Africa and later to Italy. During this tour, he

accumulated more than 500 combat hours in 50 missions including three runs on the infamous

Ploiesti oil fields.

(Operation Tidal Wave was an air attack by bombers of the United States Army Air Forces

(USAAF) based in Libya and Southern Italy on nine oil refineries around Ploiești, Romania on 1

August 1943, during World War II. It was a strategic bombing mission and part of the "oil

campaign" to deny petroleum-based fuel to the Axis. The mission resulted in "no curtailment of

overall product output". This mission was one of the costliest for the USAAF in the European

Theater, with 53 aircraft and 660 aircrewmen lost. It was the second-worst loss ever suffered by

the USAAF on a single mission and its date was later referred to as "Black Sunday". Five Medals

of Honor and numerous Distinguished Service Crosses were awarded to Operation Tidal Wave

crew members.)

Upon the close of World War II, Colonel Varner became a civilian.

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At the outcome of the Korean hostilities in 1950, he was recalled to active duty and was sent to

assist in establishing a civilian contract flying training school at Bainbridge, Ga. There, he

instructed fledgling pilots in the T-6.

Two years later, he was bound for the war zone himself as a T-6 “spotter.” He was “short-

stopped” in Japan however, and sent to Matsushima Air Field to help found the Japanese Pilot

Training Program, forerunner of the present Japan Air Self Defense Force.

In 1956, he was assigned to the Strategic Air Command at McCoy AFB, Fla., as a B-47 aircraft

commander.

He will soon join the ranks of full colonel as he is presently awaiting the date to pin on his

eagles.

(Source: Phan Fare, The Happy Valley Weekly, May 1, 1969)

Colonel Harry V. Bankard

Colonel Harry V. Bankard recently assumed duties as the 315th Special Operations Wing’s new

vice-commander. A veteran of 20 years airlift experience, and over 300 previous combat flying

hours he hails from Towson, Md.

Receiving his commission and pilot wings through aviation cadets at Blytheville, Ark., in 1943,

colonel Bankard initially was assigned to the 438th Troop Carrier Group (TCGp) in Europe.

Piloting the C-47 he flew paratroopers and towed gliders in the invasion of Normandy, Southern

France and Holland. Later, he participated in the aerial resupply of Bastogne and also the

airborne assault across the Rhine.

At war’s end, he joined the 316 TCGp, moved with them from Pope AFB, to Greenville AFB, and

finally Sewart AFB, Tennessee. The year 1950 found him in Korea where he flew combat airlift

in C-119’s with the 314th TCWg. This was followed by a tour at Donaldson AFB. (Donaldson Air

Force Base is a former facility of the United States Air Force located south of Greenville, South

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Air_Force

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenville,_South_Carolina




Carolina. It was founded in 1942 as Greenville Army Air Base; it was deactivated in 1963 and

converted into a civilian airport. It is currently an active airfield known as Donaldson Center

Airport.

It was used by the United States Army Air Forces' Third Air Force as a B-25 Mitchell medium

bomber training airfield during World War II. It was home to C-124 Globemaster II transports

and called "The Airlift Capital of the World" for its role in the Berlin airlift, Korean War, and Cold

War, being assigned to both Tactical Air Command (TAC) and the Military Air Transport Service

(MATS).

Completing attendance at Armed Forces Staff College, Colonel Bankard returned to Sewart as

the director of operations, 314th TCWg. 1956 saw him at the 483rd TCWg in Ashya, Japan where

he commanded the 817th TCSg. Following an assignment as Deputy Commander, 32nd Fighter

Group, and later as base commander at Minot AFB, N.D., he went to the Pentagon as director

of Transportation, Plans Group.

Returning to Pope in 1966, he took over as deputy commander for operations, (DCO) 464th

TCWg. The following year he went to Mactan AB, Philippine Islands, as the DCO, 463rd TCWg.

Prior to his arrival in Vietnam. He was Chief, Aeropace Systems Transportation Office, Wright

Patterson AFB, Ohio.

Colonel Bankard is married to the former Miss. Helen Edwards of Towson, Md., where she is

presently residing. They have three sons, Brian, 27, married, Benet, 25, who is earning his

Masters Degree at Pennsylvania State University, and Barry, 21, a senior at North Carolina State

College who will enter pilot training in the Air Force upon graduation this spring.


Colonel Leslie J. Campbell

Col. Leslie J. Campbell Jr., has assumed command of the 315th Special Operations Wing.

Col Campbell, who hails from Great Bend, Kansas, received his commission and pilots wings

from aviation cadets at Yuma, Arizona, in 1944. His assignment to B-17’s was cut short when

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donaldson_Center_Airport

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the class was re-routed to B-29 training. The war ended prior to his becoming combat ready

and he was subsequently released from the service in 1946.

Retaining his commission in the Reserves, he was commissioned in the regular Army Air Force

in 1947 and was sent to Biggs AFB, Texas as a B-26 instructor. In August 1948 he was assigned

to the 23rd Fighter Wing at Northwest Field in Guam then flying P-47 aircraft. He moved with

the unit when they were transferred to Howard AFB, Canal Zone. Upon the Wing’s

deactivation, he was reassigned to Vance AFB, Oklahoma, where he was a B-25 instructor until

March 1951.

He was then assigned to Wichita, Kansas, as part of the B-47 test project. Later, he moved to

McConnell AFB, Kansas, where he instructed in the B-47, as well as serving as wing operations

officer and squadron commander.

In September 1955, he became Aide to Major General George W. Mundy, Barksdale, La.,

commander 2AF (SAC), and in August 1958 he attended the Air Command and Staff College at

Maxwell AFB, Ala. Upon graduation he was assigned to the 3858th Test and Evaluation

Squadron for the B-58 at Carswell AFB, Texas. In 1959, he moved to the Pentagon in the

Directorate of Operations, and later was assigned to the office of the Secretary of the Air Force

Legislative Liaison, working on special actions which pertained to legislative programs and

policies.

In 1966 he attended the National War College, where he concurrently worked and received his

Master Degree in International Relations from George Washington University. Upon graduation

he was sent to Seward AFB, Tennessee, as the director of operations, 64 Tactical Airlift Wing. A

year later he was assigned as the wing’s vice-commander.

Col. Campbell is a command pilot with over 6,500 hours of flying time. He is married to the

former Miss Patricia Gunn, of Great Bend, Kansas.

(Source: Phan Fare, The Happy Valley Weekly, June 26, 1969)

Lt. Col. Allan H. Aaronson




Lt. Col. Allan H. Aaronson of San Antonio, Texas, assumed command of the 615th Tactical

Fighter Squadron on May 31.

An Air Force veteran of 18 years, Colonel Aaronson came here in April from a three-year

assignment in NATO at Headquarters Allied Forces Northern Europe.

Colonel Aaronson was commissioned in the Air Force a week after he graduated from Texas A &

M College in 1951. He and his identical twin-brother, Alvin went through flight training

together at Waco, Tex. (His brother, incidentally, is also a lieutenant colonel serving in the

Inspector General Operations section of the Air Training Command at Randolph AFB, Tex.)

Upon completion of pilot training, Colonel Aaronson was enroute to Korea in 1952 when the

war ended. He went instead to Hamilton AFB, Calif., where he flew F-94C interceptors for a

year.

In August 1954, he was transferred to Elmendorf AFB, Alaska, when he flew F-89 Scorpions until

August 1956. He continued to fly Scorpions for the Air Defense Command when he returned to

Hamilton AFB in September 1956.

The following July he began flying B-57 bombers, F-102 Delta Daggers, F-104 Starfighters, and F-

106 Delta Darts at Tyndall AFB, Fla. His next assignment, Truax Field, Wisconsin, saw him

piloting F-106s for the 30th Air Division, Tactical Evaluation Team for two and one-half yers.

In 1965 the colonel left his long series of ADC assignments to attend the Armed Forces Staff

College, Norfolk, Va.

Upon graduation in June 1965, he took his wife, Lois, (who he met back in his college days) and

their children to Oslo, Norway for his joint-military assignment. There he worked in Joint

Exercise and Planning Division taking part in such operations as Winter Express and Polar

Express.

“Working with the Norwegians, Italians, Danes, and British armed forces gave me a real

understanding of other allied nations and services,” Colonel Aaronson said. “The people of




Norway are truly wonderful and very pro-American. Paul (12) and Cynthia (11) learned to ski

and ice skate. It really was an education for them to enjoy and play with such wonderful

people. They even picked up the language. In June 1968 the Aaronson family returned to the

United States.

At Luke AFB, Ariz., the colonel then took 8 months combat crew training in the type of aircraft

his Bobcat squadron flies: F-100 Supersabre fighter-bomber. After survival training at

Homestead AFB, Fla., and Clark AB, Philippine Islands, the command pilot proceeded to

Vietnam.

“I’m really looking forward to my assignment here,” the colonel commented. “I didn’t expect to

find such fine facilities. A good indication of the high morale here is seen everywhere by the

airmen and officers who have been here for 10 and 11 months and they are working just as

hard and willingly now as any new arrival. The officers and airmen in the 615th are truly

outstanding.”


Wing Commander John Whitehead

Wing Commander John Whitehead, a native of Rockhampton, Queensland, arrived at Phan

Rang AB on November 12, 1968, to take up his appointment as the commanding officer of No. 2

Squadron. His previous appointment was that of Staff Officer Air Plans, Headquarters

Operational Command at Penrith, NSW.

Enlisting at age 16 as an air cadet in January 1950, Wing Commander Whitehead graduated

from the RAAF Academy as a pilot in 1953. From there, he served a tour of duty with No. 77

Squadron RAAF at Kunsan AB, Korea, flying Meteor aircraft.

During 1955 through 1957, the wing commander served on exchange duty with Nos. 74 and 92

Squadrons in the RAF Fighter Command, flying Meteor and Hunter 6 aircraft.

In 1958 and 1959, he served as aide to the Air Officers Commanding Operational Command,




followed by two years as a flying instructor and flight commander at the RAAF Academy, Point

Cook.

In January 1962, Wing Commander Whitehead took command of Melbourne University

Squadron (Similar to ROTC) for two years. Prior to his assignment in January 1967 to

Headquarters Operational Command, he served as Flight Commander at both Nos. 1 and 6

Squadrons flying Canberra aircraft at Amberley, Queensland, now the home of the RAAF’s F-

111C aircraft.

Wing Commander Whitehead is a 1964 graduate of the RAAF Staff College. His wife, the former

Adrienne Candy, and his two sons, now live in Canberra, ACT.


Lt. Col. Edwin G. Jones

Lt. Col. Edwin G. Jones, a native of Eufaula, Ala., commands the 35th Services Sq. here. He

began his military career in 1937 by enlisting in the Army Air Forces to attend the West Point

Preparatory School.

Returning to civilian life in 1939, he attended Birmingham Southern College and then was called

from the enlisted reserve to active duty after the outbreak of World War II. He served briefly as

aircraft mechanic instructor at Lincoln AFB, Nebr., before entering Officer Training School.

Commissioned in October 1942, Colonel Jones departed for the European Theater of

Operations, serving as an aircraft maintenance officer in England, France and Germany. His unit

serviced C-47s, B-24s and CG-4A gliders.

He returned to civilian life in May 1946 as a captain. The Korean War brought his return to the

Air Force in 1951. First assigned with the AFLC at Brookley AFB, Ala., he was soon transferred

to Haneda AB, Japan, the location that now serves at Tokyo International Airport.

Eight months later, Colonel Jones was on his way to Pacific Division, MATS (now MAC), at




Hickam AFB, Hawaii, in a staff position until 1956.

The next four years, he served as wing adjutant and then wing executive officer at Craig AFB,

Ala.

1960 brought him back to Japan for another three and one-half years to be chief of services at

Hq., Fifth AF, at Fuchu AS. By 1964, he was at Scott AFB, Ill., where he commanded the services

squadron there.

Departing Scott in 1966, the colonel assumed duties as staff assistant to the Director for Food

Services, Office of the Secretary of Defense, Pentagon. He remained there until a volunteer

statement brought his to Happy Valley last August.

He and his wife, the former Virginia Hoffman, also an Alabaman, have three sons and one

daughter, Edwin is finishing his studies toward a bachelors degree at George Washington

University while Kerry, 14, Barry, 12, and Lisa, 7, are with their mother at Eufaula.

This August, they will accompany the colonel to his new duties at Wiesbaden AB, Germany.


Colonel Robert G. Goold

Col. Robert G. Ovoid, a native of Provo Utah, has assumed command of the 35th Combat

Support Group and Phan Rang AB. A veteran of 25 years active Air Force duty, Colonel Goold

assumed the base command Jan. 1 as Col. Stanley 0. Obarski, former commander, departed for

new duties with the 96th Combat Support Group, Dyess APB, Texas.

Entering the Army Air Corps an 26 May 1941, Colonel Goold was first assigned with the 39th

Bombardment Group at Fort Wright, Wash. He entered flight training in October 1942 and

graduated in July of the following year.

His next assignment was with the 444th Bomb Group, Great Bend, Kan., which was transferred




to the China-Burma-India Theater in April 1944, as a unit under the 20th Air Force.

From that time through May 1943, Colonel Goold accumulated 14 combat missions and 186

combat hours in the B-29. He also earned the Distinguished Flying Cross with one Oak Leaf

Cluster and the Air Medal with four Oak Leaf Clusters for his actions during this period.

Released from active duty at the end of World War II, August 1945, he was recalled in January

1949 and vas assigned to the 98th Bomb Wing at Spokane. In January 1950, he was reassigned

to the 19th Bomb Group, Andersen AFB, Guam, and subsequently flew 31 missions in the B-29

over Korea.

Returning to the U.S. in July 1951, Colonel Goold received B-36 training and was subsequently

assigned to the 72nd Bomb Wing, Ramey AFB,. Puerto Ricoh.

On reassignment to Ellsworth AFB, S.D., he held a variety of positions including wing weapons

officer, chief or centralized scheduling, chief of training and assistant deputy commander

for operations.

He departed for Edwards AFB, Calif., in April 1965 where he was deputy group commander of IV

Weather Group (Provisional) and then was reassigned to Castle AFB, Calif., where he served as

deputy base commander.

He and his wife, the former Marion Tilton of Concord, Calif., have two daughters; Mary Ann, 20,

and Betty Jane, 15.


Lt. Col. James H. Bauer

Lt. Col. James H. Bauer, a native of Apache, Okla., is the new commander of the 435th MMS. A

former first sergeant of the post World War II era, he earned his commission in December,

1947.




As an officer he was initially assigned to Lackland AFB, Texas where he served as administrative

officer, squadron adjutant and training officer. Reassigned to Sandia Base, N. M., in 1949, he

performed duties as intelligence officer, administrative officer and student officer.

Assigned to Nouasseur AB, Morocco, in 1954, when that base was newly opened as a Strategic

Air Command advance base for rotational wings, Colonel Bauer served in various positions with

the 6th Aviation Field Depot Squadron, the type units now called munitions maintenance.

Following the year in North Africa, he was stationed at Lowry AFB, Colo., and served three

almost continuously until 1961. At Lowry, he performed duties as instructor, supervisor of the

operations section, squadron training branch, and technical writer.

From Lowry, Colonel Bauer was reassigned in 1961 to Kadena AB, Okinawa, where he served, in

turn, as assistant operations officer, executive officer and then deputy commander of the

munitions maintenance squadron there.

Reassigned to Kirtland AFB, N.M., in 1965, he served in various aerospace munitions officer

positions with Det. 1, 1002nd IG Group, until his PCS to Vietnam.


Lt. Col. Eugene E. Hustad

Lt. Col. Eugene E. Husted, a native of Aberdeen, S.D., has been named as the new base deputy

commander, Phan Rang AP. Colonel Husted was formerly the operations officer for the 8th TBS

and has been in Vietnam since September 1968.

A 1949 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy, West Point, N.Y., the new base deputy

commander entered pilot training and received his wings at Connally AFB, Texas in 1950.

He then served a year there as a basic flight instructor. Following a brief tour of duty at Tyndall

AFB, Fla., Colonel Hustad transitioned into jet aircraft at Moody AFB, Ga., where he remained as

an instructor pilot.




In 1953, he was reassigned to the 438th FIS, Kinross AFB, Mich., as an ADC fighter pilot. Three

years later, he was transferred to Elmendorf AFB, Alaska, where he first served as assistant

flight commander and then flight commander with the 65th FIS, and then with the Office of

Safety, Hq, 10th Air Division.

Reassigned to Robbins AFB, Ga., in 1958, Colonel Hustad served for two years as a flying safety

officer and then chief, Office of Safety, WRAMA (Warner-Robins Air Material Area) In 1960, he

attended the graduate Research and Development Management course conducted at the

University of Chicago and obtained a Master's Degree in Business Administration.

This training led to duties for the next six Years with the Space System Division, AFSC, at Los

Angeles AFS, Calif.

In 1967, Colonel Hustad attended the Air War College at. Maxwell AFB, Ala., and upon

completing this course, was reassigned to the 8th TBS at Phan Rang.

While at the Air War College, he also earned a Master of Science degree in International Affairs

from George Washington University.

He is married to the former Miss Frances Lockhart of Watertown, S. D. They have one child,

Karen, age 4.


Lt. Col. Charles F. Brower III

A veteran fighter pilot and experienced maintenance officer, Lt. Col. Charles F. Brower III, is the

new commander of the 315th CAMS.

He succeeds Lt. Col. Maurice L. Griffith, who has been transferred to Headquarters, Pacific Air

Forces, Hickam Air For Base, Hawaii.




Colonel Brower recently arrived from Ramstein AB, Germany, where he was chief of

maintenance for the 526th FIS. He served as a fighter pilot during World War II and the Korean

War.

In his new assignment, he will be wearing two hats, that of squadron commander and also chief

of maintenance for the 315th SOWg.

Colonel Brower is a veteran of 26 years in the Air Force. He received his wings in 1948.

(Source: Phan Fare, The Happy Valley Weekly, September 26, 1968)

Colonel Noble F. Greenhill Jr.

Colonel Noble F. Greenhill Jr., Vice-Commander of the 315th SOWG is a native of Guntersville,

Alabama. He is a 1944 graduate of the United States Military Academy, West Point, N. Y. and

he has done graduate work at George Washington University, Washington D. C.

Colonel Greenhill received his pilot’s wings at Stewart Field, New York. He is alos rated a

navigator having attended the navigation training course at Mather AFB, Calif., in 1952.

From 1955 to 1961 Colonel Greenhill served on the operations staffs at Hq. SAC and with the 7th

Air Division (SAC) in England. After graduation from the Armed Forces Staff Colledge in 1962 he

was assigned to the Pentagon with the office of the Deputy Chief of Staff, Operations, and later

with the Central Control Group, Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Prior to his assignment to Vietnam, Colonel Greenhill was the Deputy Commander for

Operations, 4442 Combat Crew Training Wing (TC), Sewart AFB, Tenn.

Colonel Greenhill is married to the former Linnelle Dobbins and they are the parents of two

girls, Diane Scott and Debra Lynne, and a son, Noble F. III.


Lt. Col. Samuel T. Dickens




Lt. Col. Samuel T. Dickens, formerly of Washington, D.C. recently assumed command of the

615th TFS "Bobcats" from Lt. Craig C. McCall (Note: I believe that McCall was a Lt. Col. when he

left Phan Rang and his grade as listed here was a typo.) who departs in February for an

assignment with the Directorate of Operations, Hq., USAF, Washington, D. C.

A former U. S. Army sergeant, Colonel Dickens arrived in Vietnam last May and first served the

615th as operations officer.

HI more than 4,000 flying hours include 12 combat missions in RF-80 reconnaissance Jets during

the Korean War. He has more than 165 combat missions flying the F-100 Supersabre in Vietnam

and has been awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.

In November 1965, Colonel Dickens began his military career in the enlisted ranks of the Army.

As a sergeant, he won a competitive appointment in 1947 to the U. S. Military Academy at West

Point, N.Y.

Upon graduation he was commissioned in the Air Force in June 1951.

A year later he had completed pilot training at Goodfellow and Williams Air Force Bases.

Following assignments at Moody AFB, GA., Tyndall AFB, Fla., and Shaw AFB, S. C., he flew

combat missions out of Kimpo, Korea, during the Korea War.

Then after serving at Shaw AFB from 1954 to 1956, he had the unusual assignment as flight

commander and operations officer on duty with Royal Air Force Fighter Command Squadron

No. 263 at Wattishaw, England, until June 1958. The colonel is checked out as first pilot not

only in a variety of U.S. planes ranging from the C-47 to the F-100, but also in Great Britain’s

Hunter 6Meteor 8, and the Vampire.

For the next three years he was a tactical officer and Air Force representative to the U. S. Naval

Academy, Annapolis.

After a three-year assignment at Luke AFB, Ariz., he attended attaché training at the Defense

Intelligence School in Washington and was graduated in 1965.




From May 1965 to December 1967 he served as assistant air attaché, American Embassy,

Madrid, Spain. This was a “Natural” assignment for the colonel who speaks Spanish Fluently.

Colonel Dickens was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where his father worked with The

International YMCA and as director of athletics of a private athletic club.

His father was the head coach for three Argentine Olympic teams. For 14 out of his first 19

years, Dickens lived in Argentina and Chile.

The international flavor runs through the family. His sister is a foreign cultural attaché in Lima,

Peru. One brother is a public affairs officer at the U.S. Embassy in Quito, Ecuador, and his other

brother is in the U.S. Foreign Service of the State Department, Washington, after completing 10

years in Central America and the Dominican Republic. Another sister lives in the Boston area.

The colonel is married to the former Miss Marcella F. Smith of Corbin, Ky. They have three

children: David, 9; Pamela, 7; and Samuel, 5.


Lt. Col. Paul E. Rova

Lt. Col. Paul E. Rova, a native of Boston, Mass., has assumed command of the 309th Special

Operations Squadron. Colonel Rova took the “reins” of control April 7 as his predecessor, Lt.

Col. Lloyd G. Russell, departed for duties with the Air Force Logistics Command, Robins, AFB,

GA.

Entering the Army in August of 1943, he completed pilot training was was assigned to B-25’s in

the Mediterranean theater as a second lieutenant, where he flew 70 combat missions.

After the war, Rova accepted in the AFIT Program at Cornell University and completed his

Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering.

He entered the Air Force civil engineering career field in 1949, and served in Saudi Arabia.




Proceeding on to Paris, he was assigned to Headquarters, European Command. Upon rotation,

the next six years were spent in the Directorate of Civil Engineering office, Headquarters, USAF.

Colonel Rova first became acquainted with the C-123 in the Alaskan Air Command while holding

down a civil engineering job he managed to fly over 800 hours resupplying remote radar sites.

Once again, returning to the States for duty with Headquarters, USAF, he was assigned to San

Francisco. During this tour, he spent four months TDY in Vietnam working on air base

construction programs. Colonel Rova was here at Phan Rang in May of 1966, when the building

of many of the facilities we are now using were being developed.

As such, Colonel Rova is one of the few who are able to see the “Fruits of their labor: by

returning to Vietnam.

(Source: Phan Fare, The Happy Valley Weekly, April 24, 1969)

Colonel Kenneth P. Miles

Major General Kenneth P. Miles was chief of the U.S. Military Assistance Advisory Group, with

headquarters at Tehran, Iran.

General Miles was born in Capitol Heights, Md., in 1928. He graduated from John Marshall High

School, Richmond, Va. He has a bachelor of science degree from the University of Oklahoma

and a master of science degree from Stanford University, Calif., both in electrical engineering.

He graduated from the Defense Weapons Systems Management School, Wright-Patterson Air

Force Base, Ohio, in 1968, and from the Army War College, Carlisle Barracks, Pa., in 1970.

General Miles entered the aviation cadet program and received his pilot wings and commission

as a second lieutenant at Vance Air Force Base, Okla., in September 1949. He then served as a

flight instructor at several bases in Texas before he was assigned to Nellis Air Force Base, Nev.,

in July 1953, flying F-80 and F-86 aircraft.

In March 1954, General Miles was transferred first to the 16th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron in




Korea, and then to the 4th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron in Japan, flying F-86s as flight

commander.

He returned to the United States in August 1956 and was assigned as a flight commander flying

the all-weather F-86D, then as plans and requirements officer with the 3556th Pilot Training

Wing at Perrin Air Force Base, Texas. During this assignment, General Miles participated as a

primary firing aircrew member of the Air Training Command Weapons Team at the first Air

Force Worldwide Weapons Meet (Project William Tell, 1958).

General Miles then joined the Nike-Zeus and, later, the Advanced Ballistic Re-entry Vehicle

System Office, AFSC, at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., where he served as project officer,

test director and missile site commander in the Atlas Test Operations Branch. He entered

Stanford University in the Air Force Institute of Technology program in June 1964 and received

his master's degree in electrical engineering in July 1966.

He returned to flying duties in August 1966 as an F-100 pilot at Cannon Air Force Base, N.M.,

and deployed to the Republic of Vietnam in March 1967, serving as commander of the 614th

Tactical Fighter Squadron, TAC, at Phan Rang Air Base. During this tour of combat duty he flew

337 missions in the F-100.

In April 1968, General Miles returned to the United States and attended the Defense Weapons

System Management School at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. He then assumed duties

as deputy director of the Airborne Warning and Control System program office at L.G. Hanscom

Field, AFSC, Mass. He left AWACS in July 1969 to attend the Army War College at Carlisle

Barracks, Pa.

In August 1970, he was assigned to the 474th Tactical Fighter Wing, TAC, at Nellis Air Force

Base, Nev., first as vice commander and then as commander. Under his command the unit

became the first combat-ready F-111 wing in the U.S. Air Force.

Moving to Griffiss Air Force Base, N.Y., in August 1972, General Miles assumed command of the

Northern Communications Area, AFCS. In July 1974, he assumed command of the European

Communications Area, AFCS, at Lindsey Air Station, Germany, with additional duty as deputy

chief of staff, Communications-Electronics for the U.S. Air Forces in Europe.




In June 1975 he was named deputy for control and communications systems, Electronic

Systems Division, L.G. Hanscom Air Force Base, Mass.

His military decorations and awards include the Silver Star, Legion of Merit with two oak leaf

clusters, Distinguished Flying Cross with oak leaf cluster, Bronze Star Medal, Air Medal with 16

oak leaf clusters, Air Force Commendation Medal, Presidential Unit Citation Emblem, Air Force

Outstanding Unit Award Ribbon with Combat "V" and three oak leaf clusters, Combat Readiness

Medal and the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with seven stars.

He is a command pilot with more than 6,500 hours of flying time, a registered professional

engineer, and a member of numerous honorary engineering fraternities.

He was promoted to the grade of major general Feb. 6, 1976, with date of rank June 3, 1973.

(Source: USAF Biographies. His tour of duty at Phan Rang was before the Phan Fare started

running biographies of their commanders.)

Colonel Bill M. Richardson

Colonel Bill M. Richardson, 46, from Russellville, Ky., has become commander of the 315th Air

Commando Wing, whose C-123 Provider transports bring supplies to Army Special Forces

camps all over South Vietnam.

A B-26 bomber pilot in World War II, the colonel has eight months in Vietnam. His comment on

taking over the wing: “It’s a very fine outfit...and I have some good people to work with.”

The colonel’s appointment as commander comes at a time of major changes for the Provider

unit, which has four airlift squadrons and a squadron which specializes in defoliation operations

to deny the cover of forests and other hiding places to the enemy.

Recently the wing moved its headquarters and the majority of its personnel and aircraft to Phan

Rang Air Base in a move designed to consolidate its major maintenance operations at a single

base.




The wing’s ‘B’ model Providers are currently being replaced by improved ‘K’ models from the

United States. The new models, according, to Col. Richardson, have two additional jet engines

which comprise a “significant safety factor”. The presence of these engines “Pays off” said Col.

Richardson, “In taking off from short landing strips with heavy loads.”

The air commando wing’s C-123’s use approximately 150 runways and landing strips all over

South Vietnam. They fly approximately 945,000 miles per month, and in the process they airlift

approximately 25,000 tons of cargo and at least 70,000 passengers to places all over the

country.

The airlift squadrons, Col. Richardson stated, provide a “regular airline schedule” for troops in

Vietnam. These squadrons also deliver “combat-essential war cargo: with or without a

parachute.

(Source: Phan Fare, The Phan Rang Weekly, August 13, 1967)

Doug’s Comments

This has been the most labor intensive issue because I’ve had to type every word as the old

Phan Fares don’t convert very accurately to text, but at the same time for me, this has been

one of the most rewarding issues because of having an in-depth look at our leaders. So many

of them have had similar career paths and were in the military before I was even born and were

all military war heroes even before seeing service in Vietnam. I’ve always admired the likes of

Col. Gailer who was held as a German POW for 5 months and many of the others that have

sacrificed so much for our country by flying combat missions in World War II, the Korean

Conflict and then Vietnam. It would have been nice to include a picture, but since this is such a

long issue I wanted to keep the file size manageable. It would also be nice if everyone that

served in a command position at Phan Rang could be listed.

This newsletter was compiled and published by Douglas Severt. Previous issues of the Phan Rang Newsletter are available here for download.

Next week issue is Know Your Airman.

mailto:[email protected]

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