William E. Barry

Preferred Name: Bill
Nickname/Call Sign: Doc/Baron
Date of Birth: September 5, 1937
Highest Military Grade Held: 0-6 – Colonel
Hometown: Chicago, IL
Biography

Col. Bill Barry has been flying half the time humans have been taking to the air. His career has propelled him to all seven continents; he has piloted 88 different types of aircraft and has logged over 10,000 hours in the cockpit. He has even hit Mach 3 in an SR-71!

At 78 years old, Dr. Bill Barry received the Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award. This certificate is given only to pilots who have flown safely for 50 years or more. Bill is the first Pilot-Physician in the state of Georgia to have received the award. “It is a delightful and unsuspected capstone to a long flying career,” he told a reporter at the ceremony.

In his illustrious career, he’s been a test pilot, a flight surgeon with NASA, flew 264 missions in Vietnam, worked on several of NASA’s experimental projects including the X-15 Program, and was instrumental in designing an ejection seat for the F-16.

Bill can also boast a few friends in high places. As a member of the White House Fellows program he worked with Buzz Aldrin, the second astronaut to walk on the moon and Frank Borman of Apollo 8 fame.

“I’ve been very fortunate to be around some very talented people who have mentored me,” he says.

His military education prepared him for his civilian profession as a dermatologist, and he settled in Athens, GA where he practiced for 22 years before retiring in 2001. These days you can find him flying one of his three planes, hunting, playing golf, or enjoying time traveling with family and friends. “You never know what tomorrow will bring,” he says. But one thing’s for sure, it’s hard for Bill Barry to keep his feet on terra firma.

Civilian Career:
President, Dermatology Associates of Athens, P.C.
Chief of Staff: Athens Regional Medical Center, Athens, Georgia
President, Crawford W. Long Medical Society (Inventor of General Anesthesia)
Chairman, Medical Affairs Committee, Medical Association of Georgia
President, Georgia Society of Dermatologists
Fellow, American College of Physicians

 

Pilot Information

Units Assigned

  • Bainbridge AB, GA (T-34, T-37)
  • Vance AFB, OK (T-33)
  • 322nd AD, France, (T-33, C-130)
  • Bioastronautic Operational Support Unit, Cape Canaveral (Projects Gemini & Apollo) (F-106, T-33)
  • Flight Test Ops., Edwards AFB, CA ( TBF-102, F-104, T-33, T-38, XC-142)
  • USAF School of Aerospace Medicine, Brooks AFB, TX (F-100, T-33)
  • 366th TFW, DaNang, Viet Nam (F-4)
  • Dispensary Cmdr., AF Special Weapons Center, Kirtland AFB, NM: & Fighter Branch, 4900th Flight Test Group (T-38, F-100, F-4); Naval Weapons Eval. Facility (A-4, A-7)
  • White House Fellow, Washington, D.C., Exec. Asst. to VP (and then President) Gerald Ford (T-39)
  • Special Assistant to the Administrator of NASA, Dr. James Fletcher (Projects Skylab & Apollo-Soyuz Test Project) (T-38)
  • Chief of Aerospace Medicine, Office of the USAF Surgeon General; and Assoc. Attending Physician to the US Congress & the National War College; Clinical
  • Professor, Uniformed Services University of Health Care Science (T-39)
  • Commander, David Grant USAF Medical Center, Travis AFB, CA; and Clinical Professor, University California, Davis  (C-141)

Awards & Decorations

Distinguished Service Medal

Legion of Merit (2)

Distinguished Flying Cross

1972 Julian E. Ward Award, Aerospace Medical Association, (Outstanding Resident in Aerospace Medicine Residency)

John Shaw Billings Award, Association of Military Surgeons of the U.S. (Outstanding Leadership in Federal Executive Medicine)

Flight Info

A-4
A-7
C-130
C-141
F-100
F-104
F-106
F-4
T-33
T-34
T-37
T-38
T-39
TBF-102
XC-142

Aeronautical Ratings:

  • Command Pilot (10,500 hrs. and counting)
  • Sr. Parachutist (112 Jumps)
  • Chief Flight Surgeon (Board Certified in Aerospace Medicine & Dermatology)

Military & Civilian Education

Military Education

  • 1959 BS/Engineering, United States Military Academy, West Point, N.Y.
  • Wilford Hall USAF Medical Center, San Antonio, TX (Surgical Internship)
  • USAF School of Aerospace Medicine, Brooks AFB, TX (Residency, Aerospace Medicine)
  • National Naval Medical Center/ National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD (Residency, Dermatology & Plastic Surgery)
  • Armed Forces Institute of Pathology/ Walter Reed Army Medical Center (Fellowship, Dermatological Surgery)

Civilian Education

  • 1967 MD, AF Regular Officer Medical Student Program, Medical College of Georgia
  • 1970 MPH, Harvard University/MIT
  • 1978 PhD, University of California, Davis