Armstrong, Charles William

Charles W. Armstrong

Preferred Name: Bill

Date of Birth: April 4, 1930

Highest Military Grade: 0-5 – Lieutenant Colonel

Hometown: Cumberland, MD

Bill served with the USAF for 22 years, 7 months retiring in 1975. He had 1445 hours in the F100C/D/F, 1335 hours in the T-38 instructing at Randolph AFB, and 755 hours in the F84E/F/G, 165 hours in the F86F. His highest award received is the Bronze Star.

Units Assigned

6/1952 – Enlisted USAF Basic at Sampson AB, NY
Aviation Cadet Training, PreCadet Sq at Selma, AL for six months awaiting class.
7/8/1954 – Cadet training at Lackland AFB, TX, Goodfellow AFB, TX and Williams AFB, AZ. Wings and Commission. Gunnery Training at Laughlin AFB, TX and Luke AFB, AZ (T-33, F-84)
12/1954-11/1955 69th Fighter Bomber Squadron, K-2 and K-55 Korea, Ejected from F-86F while in Korea following an engine explosion (F-86F)
12/1955-8/1961 Gunnery Instructor, 3605 Combat Crew Training Squadron, Luke AFB, AZ (F-84G, F-84F, L-20, T-33, F100 C/D/F (best assignment ever!))
1959 Fighter Weapons School, Nellis AFB, NV. Top gun award in conventional gunnery and second place in nuclear delivery. (F-100)
9/1961-10/1964 492nd Tactical Fighter Squadron, nuclear alert during Cold War, RAF Lakenheath, UK
11/1964-5/1966 12th AF IG Team, James Connally AFB, TX (T-33, F-100)
6/1966-6/1967 366th Tactical Fighter Wing, Head of Current Ops, DaNang AB, Vietnam (F-4)
7/1967-6/1972 3510 Fighter Training Wing, IP, Randolph AFB, TX (T-38)
7/1972-12/74 – 4629 Air Defense Squadron (SAGE)/26 Air Division, Luke AFB, AZ
1/1/1975 – Retired USAF (good assignments no longer available)

Awards & Decorations

Bronze Star

1959 Top Gun

Flight Info

T-33
F-84 E/F/G
F-86 F
F-100
F-4
T-38

1445 hours in the F-100C/D/F
1335 hours in the T-38 instructing at Randolph AFB
755 hours in the F-84 E/F/G
165 hours in the F-86F

Military & Civilian Education

Military Education:

1974 WPAFB, OH

Civilian Education:

BA, Allegany Community College
MS Systems Management, AFIT (Residence)

This Day in History – June 10, 1969 – The X-15 gets a place in history

Charles W. Armstrong

Units Assigned

Awards & Decorations

Flight Info

Military & Civilian Education

Wall of Honor Location

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