30 September 1966 – LtCol Walter “Mel” Fowler’s F-100 #553502 is hit in the engine by gunfire over SVN. He came close to capture or death by closely advancing Viet Cong before his wingman suppressed the advancing VC and he was picked up from the rice paddy by an Army Helo. Fowler was serving with
“Brigadier General Carl S. Miller’s last assignment was as commander of the 21st North American Air Defense Command Region, with additional duty as commander, 21st Air Division, Aerospace Defense Command, at Hancock Field, NY. He was responsible for operations at Hancock Field, nine radar sites in the northeast, and two units in Greenland.
General Miller was born in 1930, in Birmingham, Ala., where he graduated from high school in 1948. He graduated from the University of Alabama in 1951 with a bachelor of science degree in business administration. He went on to earn a doctorate of jurisprudence in 1961 from Saint Mary’s University Law School in San Antonio, Texas. General Miller completed Air Command and Staff College in 1962 and the Industrial College of the Armed Forces in 1970.
He enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in June 1951. After completing basic training he entered pilot training at Bartow Air Base, Fla., as an aviation cadet. In September 1952 he earned his pilot wings and was commissioned as a second lieutenant. He then completed F-84 combat crew training at Luke Air Force Base, Ariz.
In January 1953 General Miller was assigned to the 474th Tactical Fighter Wing at Kunsan Air Base, Korea, and became operations officer of the 430th Tactical Fighter Wing in May 1953. He flew 57 combat missions during the Korean War.
In December 1953 General Miller was assigned to Air Training Command and served with the 3645th Combat Crew Training Wing at Laughlin Air Force Base, Texas, as a fighter gunnery instructor in the F-84 and the AT-33. He later served as a standardization-evaluation pilot and became assistant group operations officer. In February 1957 he was transferred to Hondo Air Base, Texas, a civilian contract pilot training school, where he served as military training officer for an aviation cadet squadron.
In March 1958 he was transferred to Randolph Air Force Base, Texas, where he served as chief of the T-33 Standardization Board and as assistant deputy for operations of the 3510th Flying Training Wing. In August 1961 he entered the Air Command and Staff College at Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala.
Upon completion of his studies at Maxwell, General Miller joined Headquarters Fourth Allied Tactical Air Force, a NATO military organization, at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, in June 1962. He served as executive officer to the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations.
In July 1966 he was assigned to the 31st Tactical Fighter Wing at Homestead Air Force Base, Fla. The 31st Wing deployed to Tuy Hoa Air Base, Republic of Vietnam, in December 1966. While there he served as chief of the Operations and Training Division and flew 278 combat missions in the F-100.
General Miller returned to Ramstein in January 1968 to serve as assistant director of tactical evaluation and later as assistant director of air control systems with Headquarters Seventeenth Air Force. In July 1969 he entered the Industrial College of the Armed Forces in Washington, D.C. In July 1970 he was assigned as the director of operations for the 57th Fighter Weapons Wing and as the commandant of the Fighter Weapons School at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev.
In September 1971 General Miller returned to Southwest Asia as vice commander of the 8th Tactical Fighter Wing at Ubon Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand. He became commander of the wing in February 1972. While commanding the 8th Tactical Fighter Wing, he led F-4 strike missions in Operation Linebacker over North Vietnam, and flew 189 combat missions in the F-4.
General Miller joined Allied Air Forces Southern Europe (AIRSOUTH), a NATO military headquarters, in Naples, Italy, in January 1973. He was initially assigned as chief of the Tactical Evaluation Section. Then in June 1973, he became deputy assistant chief of staff for operations in AIRSOUTH. General Miller’s next assignment was deputy commander, Fifth Allied Tactical Air Force, NATO, in Vicenza, Italy, in January 1974.
He became commander, Civil Air Patrol-U.S. Air Force at Maxwell Air Force Base in August 1975.
In November 1977, General Miller was assigned to Hancock Field as commander of the 21st NORAD Region, with additional duty as commander, 21st Air Division.”
He retired from the USAF in July of 1979.
“During the Korean War and his two tours of duty in Southeast Asia, General Miller completed 524 combat missions. His military decorations include the Silver Star with oak leaf cluster, Legion of Merit with two oak leaf clusters, Distinguished Flying Cross with eight oak leaf clusters, Bronze Star Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, Air Medal with 29 oak leaf clusters, Joint Service Commendation Medal, Vietnamese Gallantry Cross with palm, and the Republic of Vietnam Air Service Medal (Honor Class).”
source: https://www.af.mil/About-Us/Biographies/Display/Article/106212/brigadier-general-carl-s-miller/
