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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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Sluis, James K.

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  • Sluis, James K.

James Kenneth Sluis

Preferred Name: Jim
Date of Birth: May 30, 1944
Highest Military Grade: 0-6 – Colonel
Hometown: Weslaco, TX
Headed West Date: December 22, 2013
Biography
Pilot Information
Headed West
Album

Having completed a 27-year “distinguished military career and receiving the prestigious “Legion of Merit,” Jim transitioned into a successful 15-year business venture as co-owner of MELOS, a library and school furniture installation firm.” (1)

Source and for more photos of Jim: (1) https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/college-station-tx/james-sluis-66-usaf-retired-5857766 

Units Assigned

  • 1966 Commissioned 2Lt
  • 309th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Vietnam (F-100 – 275 combat sorties)
  • ASTRA pilot program, Pentagon
  • Royal Air Force Unit, Upper Heyford, England
  • DMZ Camp Casey, South Korea
  • Lakenheath RAFB , England
  • 7100th Combat Support Wing,  Commander, Lindsey Air Station, Germany
  • Chief of Staff, Defense Mapping Agency
  • Retired USAF

Awards & Decorations

Distinguished Flying Cross
Distinguished Flying Cross with Oak Leaf Cluster
Air Medal
Air Medal with 2 Silver/2 Bronze Oak Leaf Clusters
Legion Of Merit
Legion of Merit

Flight Info

F-100
F-111

Military & Civilian Education

Military Education:

  • ROTC
  • ASTRA pilot program at the Pentagon

Civilian Education:

  • Weslaco High School, Weslaco, TX
  • 1966 Texas A & M University (ROTC)

James “Jim” Sluis, Col USAF, Ret., “Headed West” on December 22, 2013.

Colonel James Kenneth “Jim” Sluis, United States Air Force {Retired} of Marshall, Virginia was called to a higher mission on December 22, 2013; but his legacy lives on in the hearts and minds of those he served and worked with, and those who love him.

Having graduated from Weslaco High School in Weslaco, Texas, he continued his journey being selected for the Air Force ROTC Squadron Commander, “Hustling One” at Texas A & M University. Graduating in the Class of 1966, he was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force.

A successful 27 years of distinguished service as a fighter pilot and staff officer led him to all parts of the world with increasing leadership responsibilities, awards, and recognitions. Highlights of his successful military career included completing a combat tour in Vietnam with Fighter Squadron 309, completing 275 successful combat sorties and being awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross with Oak Leaf Cluster, and the Air Medal with two silver and two Bronze Oak Leaf Clusters. Having been meritoriously selected to attend the ASTRA pilot program at the Pentagon, he was subsequently assigned to a Royal Air Force Unit in Upper Heyford, England. His career then carried him to Camp Casey on the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), South Korea, and back to Cannon Air Force Base in Clovis, New Mexico where he served as Commander of an F-111 Fighter Squadron, providing support of Operation Bright Star in Cairo, Egypt, and on to Oman, Jordan to make U.S.A.F. history as the first F-111 unit to fly there. Returning to the R.A.F. Lakenheath, England, he was reassigned to Lindsey Air Station, Wiesbaden, Germany as the 7100 Combat Support Wing Commander, and on to the Defense Mapping Agency where he retired as Chief of Staff.

Having completed a distinguished military career and receiving the prestigious “Legion of Merit,” Jim transitioned into a successful 15-year business venture as co-owner of MELOS, a library and school furniture installation firm.

Jim peacefully continued his mission on Earth with family members at his side. Awaiting the end of this mission are his beloved parents, Norman and Cecilia Sluis, leaving behind brothers Norm and wife, Beth of Mooresville, Indiana; and Ken and wife, Linda of Richwood, Texas: also nine nieces and nephews; and his loving caretaker he often referred to as his “adopted daughter,” Kimberly Lykins of Strasburg, Virginia.

Never wanting to leave his beloved Virginia home, a celebration of his life will be held on his estate this spring, followed by final interment in the Texas A & M University “Aggie Field of Honor” in College Station, Texas.

Sluis, James With Friend
Album Slideshow
Slideshow
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Wall of Honor Location

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