While
at the Academy, Dick excelled both militarily and academically and as a result
he was on the Supt's List nearly all the time. He represented us well as a member
of the Golf Team and served as Cadet Squadron 20 Commander. After graduation Dick
was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the US Marine Corps - our only classmate
to receive a commission in a sister service.
Dick's
first assignment was The Basic School at Quantico where he learned to be a Marine.
Following Quantico was pilot training with the US Navy at NAS Pensacola FL followed
by training at NAS Kingsville TX. For the next ten years, Dick flew various models
of the F-4 Phantom: first with VMFA 212 Kaneohe, HI; then with VF 154 aboard the
USS Ranger; then at El Toro Marine Corps Air Station, CA and then he served at
Hahn AB, Germany as an exchange pilot with the 496th Tactical Fighter Squadron. Then
in 1980, after his tour with the US Air Forces in Europe - it was off to the Naval
Test Pilot School at Patuxent River, MD and a follow on assignment as a strike
air test pilot with the Naval Air Test Center. After his tour as a test pilot,
Dick returned to an operational unit as Commander of VMFA-122, an F4S Squadron
at Beaufort Marine Corps Air Station, SC. Next Dick was the Operations Officer,
and an F4S/RF4B pilot for Marine Aircraft Group 15, Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni,
Japan. After
his tour in Japan, Dick was sent to the Pentagon in the Fighter Weapons Requirements
department, however after two years he escaped to the Naval Air Test Center, Patuxent
River, MD as Chief Test Pilot/F/A-18 Program Manager Strike Aircraft Test Director.
In 1989 Dick retired as a Lt Colonel, having earned three Meritorious Service
Medals, three Air medals and a Navy Commendation Medal w/combat "V"
along with having flown the F4 series aircraft for better than 10 years with over
3000 hours in 6 models.
After
leaving the Marine Corps, Dick served as a Engineering Test Pilot with Westinghouse
Electric Corporation in Baltimore, MD. There he flew the BAC 1-11, Sabreliner
(T-39), Pilatus Britten-Norman BN-2T, Cessna 310 and Cessna 206 aircraft doing
Forward Looking Infrared and Radar research. The BAC 1-11 was a test bed aircraft
for the B-1 radar system and also for all the foreign military second generation
F-16 radar development. He flew that plane to Europe and to Taiwan for radar development
flying. Dick's next position was with the Electronic Sensors & Systems Division,
Northrop-Grumman at the Baltimore Washington International Airport. In
1998, Dick became a Research Pilot for NASA at the Dryden Flight Research
Center at Edwards AFB, CA. For the next 13 years Dick has had to fly the F/A-18
again and do lots of fun research with it. He also got checked out in DC-8, B-52,
Gulfstream 2 & 3, Learjet, KingAir, T-34C. Mainly flying the DC-8 and Gulfstream
now and these are on world traveling missions. With the DC-8 he achieved official
bi-polar status with flights over both the north and south poles.
Dick
has flown the Gulfstream extensively the past several years and gotten to take
it to: Thule, Greenland, the Aleutian Island chain in Alaska, Hawaii several times,
and all over the continental United States. It has a high resolution ground mapping
radar on it which is used to map geological events (earthquakes, coastal erosion,
volcanoes, etc). At Edwards, Dick has been with our classmate, Bill Brockett,
CS-21, who also flies the DC-8 and also has bi-polar credentials. Congratulations
Dick on the continuation of an unparalleled flying career as a Marine Aviator
in combat, operations and test followed by another 23 years on the civilian side
in research and development as a test/support pilot and project manager.
Click
on thumbnails for larger images. Dick
has been married to his wife, Sharon, for over 42 years. They have two children
and three young granddaughters.
Left
to Right: Son-in-law Justin Chandler, Regan Chandler, daughter Corie holding Blake
Chandler, me, Sharon, granddaughter Danica, son Gary and Daughter-in-law Desiree.
Click
on thumbnails for larger images.
Dick
and Sharon - Thank-you for sharing your lives with us - we're all proud of you! April
2011 |