Skip to content

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

Read More »
Join The SSS
Update My Bio
Main Menu
  • Home
  • History
    • About The SSS
    • Headed West
    • Biographies
    • Today in F-100 History
    • SSS Caterpillar
    • Wall of Honor
    • F-100 Information
    • Friends of the Super Sabre
    • N. American F-100 Super Sabre
  • Galleries
  • The Intake
    • About The Intake: Journal
    • The Intake: Journal of the Super Sabre Society – Archives
  • What’s New
  • Contact

Sanders, Jack N., Jr

  • Home
  • Biography
  • Biographies
  • Sanders, Jack N., Jr

Jack N. Sanders, Jr.

Preferred Name: Jack
Nickname/Call Sign: Dragon
Date of Birth: May 2, 1939
Highest Military Grade: 0-6 – Colonel
Hometown: Little Rock, AR
Biography
Pilot Information
Album

Jack Sanders was living in Denver, Colorado when WWII ended.  He was about 10 years old when the barnstorming pilots who had flown in the war brought their roadshow to Denver’s old Stapleton Airport.  His father took him out to the foothills overlooking the airport, where they sat on the grass to watch the show. And what a show it was! Mustangs, Warhawks, Corsairs, Thunderbolts!  There were also a few bombers, but it was the fighters that stole the show and made a lasting impression on young Jack. Soon he was building and flying (and sometimes crashing!) Monogram SpeedyBuilt model aircraft.  WWII fighter air battles hung from the ceiling in one corner of his bedroom, Korean Warfighters soon fought in another corner. Little did he dare to imagine back then that one day he would be one of the chosen few to “slip the surly bonds of earth” in fighters similar to those that hung from his ceiling.

Upon entering Washington University in St. Louis, MO, Jack signed up for AFROTC, later showed an aptitude for flying on the AFOQT, and passed the flight physical across the river at Scott AFB, IL  He married his high school sweetheart, Elaine, before his senior year, and after graduation and commissioning as a 2Lt., they headed off to Webb AFB at Big Spring, Texas for pilot training and what was to become a 30-year USAF career with assignments in Arizona, South Carolina, Spain, Nevada, Vietnam, Louisiana, Virginia, New York, and Alaska.

Before going to Vietnam, he was selected to attend the USAF Fighter Weapons Instructor Course (FWIC).  His was the last active duty F-100 FWIC class. While flying 211 combat missions with the 615th TFS Bobcats at Phan Rang AB, RVN, he also filled a staff position as the 35th TFW Weapons and Tactics Officer.  Jack says, “The Hun always got me home, although I did get some nicks on a couple.”

When the F-100s were headed for Air National Guard units, Jack checked out in the A-7 Corsair II, then several years later, the A-10 Warthog.  Of his USAF career, he says: “Elaine totaled up 19 moves in 30 years, with me gone for too many of them. We worked, flew, and partied with some of the greatest people on the planet.  Almost 4,000 flying hours, nearly all of them in single-seat fighters, and my number of landings was equal to my takeoffs! It can’t get much better than that.”

Jack was recently honored with his induction into the Arizona Veterans Hall of Fame (AVHOF).  The AVHOF recognizes and honors Arizona veterans who have made notable civic contributions at the local, state, or national level.  Jack is in his 26th year of volunteering in construction with Habitat for Humanity Tucson, has been a volunteer at a local hospital for 16 years, and has served as an official at University of Arizona track meets for 15 years.  He is also an assistant editor of the SSS magazine, The Intake.

Jack and Elaine are now enjoying retirement by splitting the year between Tucson, Arizona and their summer home on Table Rock Lake in the Missouri Ozarks, or as Jack calls it, “the Slozarks.”  They enjoy traveling, their volunteer activities, and spending time with their two daughters, Christy and Tina, and their families. Jack and Elaine will celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary in September 2020.

Units Assigned

  • 1/1962 3560th Pilot Training Wing, Webb AFB, TX (UPT, T-37, T-38)
  • 5/1963 4514thCombat Crew Training Squadron, Luke AFB, AZ (F-100)
  • 2/1964 356th& 355th Tactical Fighter Squadrons, Myrtle Beach AFB, SC (F-100)
  • 4/1966 353rd Tactical Fighter Squadron, Torrejon AB, Spain (F-100)
  • 6/1969 4536th Fighter Weapons Squadron, FWIC, Nellis AFB, NV (F-100)
  • 9/1969 615th TFS/35th TFW, pilot & Wing Weapons Officer, Phan Rang AB, RVN (F-100)
  • 9/1970 4403rd Tactical Fighter Wing, pilot & Wing Weapons Officer, England AFB, LA (F-100)
  • 7/1971 333rd Tactical Fighter Squadron, A-7 IP & Wing Weapons OfficerDavis-Monthan AFB, AZ (A-7 )
  • 2/1974 HQ TAC/DOOW, Weapons Shop staff off. & briefer for COMTAC, Langley AFB, VA (T-39)
  • 6/1977 357th & 354th Tactical Fighter Squadrons A-7 IP and Ops Off.Davis-Monthan AFB, AZ (A-7)
  • 5/1979 333rd Tactical Fighter Squadron, A-10 IP & Commander/A-10 Central Instructor School, Davis-Monthan AFB, AZ (A-10 )
  • 11/1979 357th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Commander & A-10 IP, Davis-Monthan AFB, AZ (A-10)
  • 1/1982 343rd Tactical Fighter Wing, Director of Ops, Eielson AFB, AK (A-10)
  • 7/1983 343rd Combat Support Group, Commander, Eielson AFB, AK
  • 1/1985 24th Air Division, Vice Commander, Griffiss AFB, NY (T-33)
  •  1AF, Langley AFB, VA, Vice Commander, (F-15, F-16…back seats!)
  •  2/1992 – Retired from active duty

Awards & Decorations

Legion Of Merit
Legion of Merit (2)
Distinguished Flying Cross
Distinguished Flying Cross (2)
Meritorious Service Award
Meritorious Service Medal (3)
Air Medal
Air Medal (10)
Air Force Commendation Medal
Air Force Commendation Medal (2)

Flight Info

T-33
T-37
T-38
T-39
F-100
A-7
A-10

Flight Hours: 4000+ (211 Combat Missions in Vietnam)

Wall of Honor Location: Foil: 17 Panel: 1 Column: 2 Line: 32
Wall of Honor Level: Air and Space Friend

Military & Civilian Education

Military Education:

  • AFROTC at Washington University
  • USAF Fighter Weapons Instructor Course
  • Air Command and Staff College
  • Industrial College of the Armed Forces

Civilian Education:

  • BS/Business Administration and Management, Washington University, St. Louis, MO (1961)

Sanders, Jack
Album Slideshow
Slideshow
Click To View

Wall of Honor Location

Our Mission

The mission of the Super Sabre Society is to preserve the history of the F-100 Super Sabre and the men who flew the aircraft.

Follow Us

Copyright © 2025 Super Sabre Society
Website by: Heart and Soul Web Design
Scroll to Top