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

10 June 1969: The U.S. Air Force donated the first North American Aviation X-15, serial number 56-6670, to the Smithsonian Institution for display at the National Air and Space Museum. The first of three X-15A hypersonic research rocketplanes built by North American for the Air Force and the National Advisory Committee (NACA, the predecessor of NASA), 56-6670 made the first glide flight and

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Clawson, Duane W.

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  • Clawson, Duane W.

Duane W. Clawson

Preferred Name: Dewey
Date of Birth: April 26, 1945
Highest Military Grade: 0-5 – Lieutenant Colonel
Hometown: Enon Valley, PA
Biography
Pilot Information
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Dewey grew up in Pittsburg, CA, and now lives near Pittsburgh, PA. He says his “Dad grew up near Pittsburgh, PA and lived in Pittsburg, CA”.

When asked about his time in the service Lt. Col. Duane Clawson said “22 years of single-seat fighters with a 3-year paid vacation in Hawaii. Wouldn’t change a single thing.”

But there’s more to it.

Clawson flew his F-16A on a mission in Iraq to attack Iraqi military convoys trying to retreat from the battle area. He said he didn’t drop any bombs for fear of hitting rapidly advancing allied forces. From his previous mission over Kuwait, he painted a picture of the battlefield as “a very jagged, convoluted” front line marked by columns of U.S., Saudi, Kuwaiti, and other Arab forces.

‘I wouldn’t want to be an Iraqi,’ he said. ‘It doesn’t look real good for their side. You look down, and everywhere you look there’s tanks and APCs (armored personnel carriers) and they’re all on the move and they’re all our guys’.”

These days you might find Dewey being “volunteered” as the Safety Officer at a Senior Soaring Contest of Glider pilots.

Lt. Col. Dewey Clawson is currently the Election Chair/Membership Chair of the Super Sabre Society.

 

Source: (Https://www.upi.com/Archives/1991/02/26/US-troops-forces-want-to-keep-up-pressure/3073667544400/)

Units Assigned

  • 1968-1969 Pilot Training Webb AFB, TX (T-37, T-38)
  • 1/1970-6/1970 4517 Combat Crew Training Squadron, Luke AFB, AZ
  • 1970 355th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Tuy Hoa AB, Vietnam
  • 1970-1971 615th Tactical Fighter Squadron Phan Rang AB, Vietnam (F-100)
  • 1971-1976 40th Tactical Fighter Squadron, 358th Tactical Fighter Squadron, 357th Tactical Fighter Squadron, 333th Tactical Fighter Training Squadron, 355th Tactical Fighter Wing, Davis Monthan AFB, Tucson, AZ, Chief Test Flight Section, Academic Avionics/Nav/WD computer instructor. (A-7D)
  • 1972-1973 Hired hand with the 354th Tactical Fighter Wing, Korat AB, Thailand
  • 1976-1979 22nd TASS, Wheeler AFB, Hawaii (O-2A)
  • 1979-1991 138th Tactical Fighter Squadron, NYANG, Syracuse, NY (A-10, F-16 A/C)
  • 1991 5 months in the sandbox at Al Kharj AB, Saudi Arabia
  • 1991 Retired USAF

Awards & Decorations

Distinguished Flying Cross
Distinguished Flying Cross with Oak Leaf Cluster
Air Medal
Air Medal with 18 Oak Leaf Clusters
Air Force Commendation Medal
Air Force Commendation Medal

Flight Info

T-37
T-38
A-7D
A-10
F-100
F-16 A/C

Military & Civilian Education

Military Education:

  • 1968 USAFA, SOS-Correspondence
  • Command & Staff – Correspondence

F-100 Celebration Event | NASM Udvar-Hazy Center
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Wall of Honor Location

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