Wow! Has it been 45-years since we all served under Carl "Old Man"
as our Spring Semester Cadet Wing Commander? Carl's journey to the Academy
took a different route, having enlisted in the Air Force after graduating
from high school in Lisbon, Ohio in 1960. In 1962, Carl entered the
USAF Academy Preparatory School and in June of 1963 entered the Academy
as a member of the Class of 1967. Many of us struggled with academics,
and they zapped Carl - resulting in his joining '68 We're Great
in "Fightin' Fourth" in 1964. Clearly, the military side of
the house was Carl's forte, becoming Commander for Cadet Squadron 17
and Wing Commander. While there were many memorable events during our
tenure, a standout was the dedication of the new Field House when Carl
presented a saber to Olympic skater, Peggy Fleming.
After
graduation, it was off to Pilot Training at Vance AFB then to Ching
Chuan Kang (CCK) Air Base, Taiwan where Carl flew the C-130 with the
776th Tactical Airlift Squadron. After his tour at CCK, Carl served
as an instructor and standardization pilot in the 348th Tactical Airlift
Squadron at Dyess AFB, Texas. Back to the Pacific in 1973, Carl served
as a Weapons Director at Detachment 2 of the 51st Composite Wing at
Mangil San, South Korea
.
Returning to the States the following year, Carl did his Rated Supplement
tour at AFMPC as the Weapons Director Career Management Officer and
as Chief, Rated Supplement Management Section. Following MPC it was
off to the Armed Forces Staff College at Norfolk NAS then back to TAC
as the Chief of Stan/Eval and Operations Officer for the 39th Tactical
Airlift Squadron at Pope AFB, North Carolina. Back to Dyess AFB, Texas
in 1982, Carl served as the Commander of the 772nd Tactical Airlift
Squadron and as the Assistant Deputy Commander for Operations for the
463rd Tactical Airlift Wing. School again in 1984 at the Naval War College
in Newport, Road Island, then to Florida at US Central Command where
he served as the Chief of the Strategic Branch. Carl was the C-130 Systems
Program Manager and Chief of the Resources Management Division at the
Warner Robins Air Logistics Center (WRALC), Georgia. Following his AFLC
assignment at Robins, he went back to Dyess AFB, serving as Vice Commander
of the 463rd Tactical Airlift Wing. Carl completed his 35-year military
career at the Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) at Hurlburt
Field as the Deputy Chief of Staff Personnel and lastly as the AFSOC
Chief of Staff.
After
retiring as a Colonel in 1995, Carl jumped into the communications industry
with Excel Communications, a long distance telecom carrier. Carl formed
C.L. McPherson Ventures, Inc., a consulting and network marketing firm
after he retired. He held several consulting positions with Sperry Marine-Northrop
Grumman in Charlottesville, Virginia.; Snow Aviation in Columbus, Ohio;
and SAIC in McLean, Virginia. In 2009, after having spent the last five
years of his military career in AFSOC, Carl returned to the special
operations world, as Senior Systems Analyst - Lessons Learned, with
Scientific Research Corporation at the Joint Special Operations University
(JSOU) at Hurlburt Field, Florida. He transitioned to become a Combating
Terrorism course director at JSOU and went to MacDill AFB, Florida when
the unit move occurred in 2010. Carl has recently moved to a Sales,
Marketing, and Business Development position with VSE Corporation in
Alexandria VA.
Carl
and his wife Susan moved to Niceville, Florida in 1990 where she works
as a real estate agent and staging expert while Carl works in Virginia.
The rest of his family includes Greg, a professor at Western Carolina
University, husband of Jenny, and father of Ivy and Silas; daughter,
Alison, a Director of Faculty at an elementary school in the United
Arab Emirates, wife of David Hamrick, and mother of Britain, Avery and
Carter; and son, Chad, a Mechanical Engineering student at the University
of Florida.
In April 2012, Carl and our classmate CJ Yoos were inducted into their
hometown alumni hall of fame, click here
for the article.
Carl,
we all take great pride in your accomplishments.
June 2013
