Bill joined us, coming from 'coal country' Princeton, West Virginia to 2nd Squadron then on to 12th Squadron. At the Academy his experiences with academics varied from academic probation one semester to being high on the Dean's list. Bill excelled on the Pistol Team, becoming one of the Class of 1968's ten All American Athletes. Following graduation, Bill went to North Carolina State University to study Civil Engineering. He then went to Pilot Training, Class 70-07 , at Vance AFB. After graduating third in Undergraduate Pilot Training, Bill initially had an assignment to the A-37 and Vietnam, but it was cancelled and he was off to be an Instructor Pilot (IP) and remained there until 1974. Following Vance and SOS in residence, Bill went to the United Kingdom where he was an aircraft commander in the F-111E in the 79th Tactical Fighter Squadron and served as a Standardization Evaluation Flight Examiner for the 20th Tactical Fighter Wing (TFW) at Royal Air Force Station Upper Heyford. After the tour in England, Bill was back in the States flying F-111As as an IP with the 388th Tactical Fighter Training Squadron and later served as the Flying Safety Officer for the 366th TFW at Mountain Home AFB, Idaho. While at Mt. Home, Bill earned his masters degree in public administration from Boise State University. Following ASCS in residence, he was off to Izmir, Turkey in 1981 for a one year tour as a Staff Plans Officer at Headquarters, 6th Allied Tactical Air Forces (NATO). His next assignment was at Shaw AFB, South Carolina where Bill was a Forward Air Controller pilot flying the O-2B and served a Operations Officer with the 21st Tactical Air Support Squadron. From Shaw, Bill attended the US Army War College and then went to Cannon AFB, New Mexico, flying the F-111D and serving as the Assistant Deputy Commander for Operations for the 27th TFW. Leaving Cannon in 1990, he went to Howard AFB, Panama Canal Zone, serving as the Vice Commander for the 24th Wing where he flew the A-37B some 20 years after the first try. In 1992, he was again assigned to Shaw AFB, this time at Headquarters 9th Air Force/USCENTAF where he served as the assistant and later as the Director of Operations as well as the CENTAF A3/5 and Commander 609th Air Operations Group. Retiring in 1998 as a Colonel after 30 years, 4600 flying hours and being fully qualified in 5 different aircraft, Bill went to work first for Sumter City/County and then Florence County, South Carolina as Planning Director. Presently, Bill is employed by Alion Science & Technology as a Sr. Military Analyst at USAFCENT at Shaw AFB, SC. On April 21, 2012 Bill married Crys, and together they have five children and five grandchildren. Besides his USAF career, Bill has enjoyed playing golf and has recently begun flying the Cessna 172 (again!). Thanks to his Planning career, he also holds an AICP from the American Panning Association. He has also been an active member of Kiwanis where he was the Sumter Club President, District Lt. Governor, and now serves as the Club Treasurer.

A closing thought from Bill: "As I talk to many classmates for the first time in years and I look back on my USAF career, I realize more every day how lucky I was to have great jobs and bosses while being able to fly for 29 ½ years all because of the great start given to me by the Academy and my classmates - Thanks everyone!!".

Thanks for sharing, Bill - we're proud of you

November 2013