Coming to the Academy with a pair of perfect College Board achievement test scores, Bill was always on the Dean's List and occasionally the Supt's List too (he was a bit less military…). It's too bad the Colorado Rockies didn't exist then, since his Dad, Lt Gen William "Spike" Eckert, USAF (Ret), was the Baseball Commissioner - "free tickets?" After graduation, it was off to graduate school at UCLA where Bill earned an MBA. Then he was assigned to Hq Military Airlift Command - beginning a long and distinguished career as an Air Force Officer.

After serving as a management analyst in HQ MAC and then Comptroller of the 375th Aeromedical Airlift Wing, Bill became Deputy Director, Command Secretariat at HQ MAC. This was when he met, fell in love with and married a Flight Nurse in the 375th named Sue. They PCS’d to Goose Bay AB, Canada together, where he served as the Wing Exec and Chief, Central Base Administration for the 95th Strategic Wing, and Sue was a Staff Nurse in the Base Clinic. Following Labrador, they went to Wright-Patterson AFB, where Sue served as Chief Nurse of the Pediatric Clinic in the big USAF MEDCEN until she departed the Air Force, and Bill was Exec for the AFLC Director of Materiel Management, then TDY as first In-Country Program Manager for Foreign Military Sales in Cairo, Egypt, and then lead project officer to create the AFLC International Logistics Center. Never allowed to fly (20/200 eyes), he gravitated toward unique and creative stuff.

After the Shah of Iran was overthrown in 1979, Bill was recruited by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs and rushed from graduation at the Armed Forces Staff College into the Middle East/Africa Division, Organization of the JCS/J-5, where he became lead Southwest Asia Strategy Action Officer. Staying in the DC area, he served as Military Assistant/Aide to the Vice President for 3½ years. Bill made 110 trips with Mr. Bush to 43 states and 22 countries, including the 1984 presidential campaign. "He has drafted major inputs to many of my speeches dealing with foreign and defense policy, including segments used on national TV news and AP wire reports for major newspapers." --Vice President George H.W. Bush.

After Washington DC, Bill, Sue and three-year-old Katie were off to the NATO Defense College in Rome, Italy, then to HQ USAFE, where he served as Assistant Chief of Staff. From Ramstein, the Eckerts headed to Florennes Air Base in Belgium, where he was the 485th Tactical Missile Wing's Vice Commander. Florennes was the third Ground-Launched Cruise Missile unit in Europe to receive their nuclear certification, and Bill led the certification prep team.

After Belgium, it was back to Ramstein as Commander of the 377th Combat Support Wing. Bill had his biggest career challenge here, on 28 August 1988, as on-scene commander for the rescue after a devastating aircraft crash into the crowd of over 300,000 during the Flugtag '88 Air Show. Three Italian Air Force demonstration team (Frecce Tricolori) aircraft collided in mid-air, and one crashed into the crowd. Although 70 people lost their lives, over 400 injured were on their way to hospitals within 77 minutes. According to CMSgt. Thom Lustik, Senior Enlisted Advisor, "It was a long, long night, and Colonel Bill Eckert as the onsite CP was absolutely awesome. He kept everyone together in the middle of a disaster." Staying at Ramstein, Bill served as USAFE's Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics during DESERT STORM - supporting over 300 aircraft involved in the operation.

Returning to the Pentagon in 1991, Bill was HQ USAF Chief of Bases & Units, then USAF Planner for Roles & Missions in the Office of Joint and National Security Council Matters. In 1993, Bill was sent TDY for a year to be Director of Operations, United Nations Special Commission on Iraq (UNSCOM)--responsible for UN inspection, destruction, monitoring, flight, and emergency operations to find, destroy, and deter development of Iraqi long-range missiles and chem/bio weapons, plus support to International Atomic Energy Agency efforts against Iraq's nuclear weapons program.

His last job in uniform was with the State Department as Chief, UNSCOM Support Office, Bureau of Nonproliferation. He was the lead coordinator of US Government tangible support to UNSCOM, with hundreds of inspectors, laboratory analysis in the nuclear, chemical, biological and missile fields, dedicated U-2 photography, frequent crisis management, and constant diplomatic effort. Bill attended UN Security Council meetings at the request of Ambassador Bill Richardson (later Governor of New Mexico), and White House Situation Room meetings on Iraq. Bill was called at home on Iraq issues by Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. He retired from the Air Force as a Colonel on 30 June 1998.

For the next two years, Bill worked as a consultant for the State Department. In 2000, Bill and Sue moved to Colorado Springs, where--while taking a year off professionally to get a house built--Bill served as a Governor’s appointee to the Colorado Emergency Planning Commission, and as a member of the El Paso County Local Emergency Planning Committee. He signed-on as an associate with Booz|Allen|Hamilton, and served as a contract speech writer for the Commander, NORAD and USNORTHCOM. After seven years with BAH, Bill accepted a Civil Service position in April 2009, as Director of Strategic Communications in, and Deputy Director of, the Commander’s Action Group. The Eckerts are really enjoying living in Colorado Springs, and will be enjoying it even more when Bill finally departs the salaried work force in October 2012.

After Canada, Egypt, six years in Europe, and lots of exploratory car and cruising trips, Bill and Sue look forward to a lot more travel. Having been sailors most of their life together (even when pregnant, Sue was a pretty good foredeck crew), they plan to snowbird between Colorado Springs and Cape Coral, FL, and to find their fourth (trailerable) sailboat for exploring the waterways of America--for which he’ll be looking for crew on the more adventurous parts such as the Lewis & Clark route from the Yellowstone River down to St. Louis.

Bill and Sue are proud of their daughter, Katie, a member of the USAFA Class of 2003 who recently completed a tour at Charleston AFB as an Instructor and Evaluator Pilot in the C-17. Girls being different, when asked what she thought of this monster whose four engines each pack over 40,000 lb of thrust, Katie replied, “I think it’s cute.”

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