Skip to content

Today in History – January 14, 1970 – William H. Baker ejects from F-100D #563097 and is rescued, 2 years earlier 1Lt Paul Douglas Strahm was not so lucky.

January 14, 2021

14 January 1970 Bill “B Squared” Baker was serving with the 531TFS out of Bien Hoa AB, Vietnam. On a mission flying as Ramrod 9, …

Read More →
  • Home
  • Our History
    • About The SSS
    • Headed West
    • Biographies
    • Today in F-100 History
    • SSS Caterpillar
    • Wall of Honor
    • Unit Patches & Other F-100-Associated Imagery
    • F-100 Information
    • Friends of the Super Sabre
    • N. American F-100 Super Sabre
  • Event Galleries
  • The Intake
    • About The Intake: Journal
    • The Intake: Journal of the Super Sabre Society – Archives
  • Member’s Area
  • What’s New
  • Contact
  • Login
Menu
  • Home
  • Our History
    • About The SSS
    • Headed West
    • Biographies
    • Today in F-100 History
    • SSS Caterpillar
    • Wall of Honor
    • Unit Patches & Other F-100-Associated Imagery
    • F-100 Information
    • Friends of the Super Sabre
    • N. American F-100 Super Sabre
  • Event Galleries
  • The Intake
    • About The Intake: Journal
    • The Intake: Journal of the Super Sabre Society – Archives
  • Member’s Area
  • What’s New
  • Contact
  • Login

Today in History – January 14, 1970 – William H. Baker ejects from F-100D #563097 and is rescued, 2 years earlier 1Lt Paul Douglas Strahm was not so lucky.

January 14, 2021

14 January 1970 Bill “B Squared” Baker was serving with the 531TFS out of Bien Hoa AB, Vietnam. On a mission flying as Ramrod 9, …

Read More →

Hayes, William Kent

  • Home
  • Biography
  • Biographies
  • Hayes, William Kent

William Kent Hayes

Preferred Name: Bill
Date of Birth: March 25, 1939
Headed West: May 28, 2020
Highest Military Grade Held: 0-6 – Colonel
Hometown: West Allis, WI
William Ken Hayes - before
William Ken Hayes - now
Biography
Headed West
Pilot Information
Album
Video
Biography

Bill Hayes loved bluegrass, old Westerns, Coca-Cola, playing golf, and crisp, uncirculated currency. He never entered a room quietly. He was a man of strong faith whose impassioned prayers were for his country and his family, and every day he picked fresh flowers from the garden for Kathleen, his wife of nearly 60 years.

He spent 29 years in the United States Air Force. He was an F-100 and A-7D fighter pilot, a Vietnam War veteran, and Commander of the  75th Tactical Fighter Squadron based at England AFB, LA. His later assignments took him to Saudi Arabia and to the Pentagon, and he retired as a colonel with multiple honors.

After serving his country, Bill flew for Sun Country Airlines, Minneapolis, MN, and made Captain in a little over three years. He then went into Management after seven years (while still flying). In his ninth year, he became VP of Flt Ops. and retired in February of 2002.

Bill and his family moved to Sumter, SC. He had some arrhythmia problems with his heart which a Doctor in Charleston solved with ablation.

He continued to work and taught Operations Management courses, at Shaw AFB, to students enrolled with Webster University. This lasted about two years (“I guess what goes around, comes around,” Bill says).

After another retirement Bill said, “I am now, just retired”.

He was a long-time active member of the Super Sabre Society.

Headed West

William Keen Hayes (Col USAF, Ret) “Headed West” May 28, 2020

William K. Hayes might have died unexpectedly on Thursday, May 28, 2020, but his character and interminable spirit will live on through those who had the privilege of knowing him — and that was a lot of people, thanks to his incredible gift of gab, the sparkle in his eye, and a personality to match.

Bill loved bluegrass, old Westerns, Coca-Cola, playing golf, and crisp, uncirculated currency. He never entered a room quietly and he would tell anyone who would listen about his kids and his aches and pains. He most certainly did not look or act like he was 81. He was a man of strong faith whose impassioned prayers were for his country and his family, and every day he picked fresh flowers from the garden for Kathleen, his wife of nearly 60 years.

Born in 1939 in Milwaukee, WI, Bill spent nearly 29 years in the United States Air Force. He was an F-100 and A-7D fighter pilot, a Vietnam War veteran, and Commander of the  75th Tactical Fighter Squadron based at England AFB, LA. His later assignments took him to Saudi Arabia and to the Pentagon, and he retired as a colonel with multiple honors, including the Defense Superior Service Medal, a Distinguished Flying Cross, a Meritorious Service Medal, an Air Medal, and an Air Force Commendation Medal.

After serving his country, Bill became a commercial airline pilot and later the vice president of operations for Sun Country Airlines. He was a long-time active member of the Super Sabre Society, an elite collection of F-100 pilots.

In addition to the love of his life, Bill is survived by his son, Adam, and his wife, Kyle; his daughter, Hannah; his sister, Karon, and her husband Alvin; as well as a whole menagerie of pets who just don’t understand why the boisterous, energetic man they adore hasn’t yet returned home.

Bill is buried at Ramsey Creek Preserve in upstate South Carolina.

Pilot Information

Units Assigned

  • 1/1960-12/1960 Aviation Cadets (Nav), Lackland AFB/Harlingen AFB, TX
  • 1961-1964 46th Air refueling Sq, K.I. Sawyer AFB, MI, (Nav, KC-135)
  • 6/1964-6/1965 UPT, Vance AFB, OK, Class 65-H
  • 7/1965-8/1965 Survival Tng, Stead AFB, NV
  • 8/1965-3/1966 F-100 Tng, Luke AFB, AZ, Class 66-E-1 (F-100)
  • 4/1966 PACAF Jungle Survival School, Clark AFB, Philippines
  • 4/1966-4/1967 416th TFS, Tan Son Nhut AB/Bien Hoa AB, RVN, (Bean-Flt Lead, F-100)
  • 5/1967-10/1970 4510th CCTW, Luke, AFB (17th, 14th, 17th Sqs), (Inst/Gun IP)
  • 1/1970-7/1970 Bootstrap, UNO, NB
  • 11/1970-4/1971 68th TFS, England AFB, LA(Asst Ops/Flt CC) (F-100)
  • 5/1971-7/1971 A-7D Tng, Luke AFB, AZ,
  • 8/1971-1/1973 354th TFS, D-M AFB, AZ, (Flt CC) (A-7)
  • 1/1973-7/1973 355th TFW, DM AFB, AZ (Wg Current Ops) (A-7)
  • 7/1973-8/1973 A-7D SAR Tng, England AFB, LA (A-7D)
  • 8/1973-8/1974 3rd TFS, Korat AB, /Thailand, (Flt CC) (A-7)
  • 8/1974-4/1981 23rd TFW, England AFB, LA (A-7)
  • 8/1974-5/1975 75th TFS, (Sq Tng Off) England AFB, LA (A-7)
  • 5/1975-6/1977 23d Wg, Chief, Stan/Eval, England AFB, LA (A-7)
  • 6/1977-5/1979 74th TFS, (Sq Ops Off), England AFB, LA (A-7)
  • 6/1979-1/1981 75th TFS, (Sq CC), England AFB, LA (A-7) – Wg Asst Dep CC for Operations
  • 4/1981-4/1983 HQ 9th AF, Shaw AFB, SC, Dir. Stan/Eval
  • 4/1983-3/984 507th TacAir Cont Wg, Shaw AFB, SC, (DO, Air)
  • 3/1984-7/1985 Defense Intelligence Agency, Wash, DC, (Student)
  • 7/1985-7/1987 U.S. Embassy, Riyadh, S.A., (Air Attaché)
  • 8/1987-4/1989 DIA, Wash, DC, (Dep IG) (Army 3-star offered me IG position but opted to end the career instead)

Awards & Decorations

Defense Superior Service Medal

Distinguished Flying Cross

Meritorious Service Medal

Air Medal

Air Force Commendation Medal

Flight Info

KC-35
F-100
A-7 D

Military & Civilian Education

Military Education:

  • Through ICAF (all correspondence)

Civilian Education:

  • B.G.S. Business, University of Nebraska at Omaha, 1970 (Bootstrap)
  • M.A. Management, Webster College, St. Louis, MO., 1977

 

Album

Hayes, Bill Young
Album Slideshow
Slideshow
Click To View

Video

Click here for Bill Hayes interview for the Super Sabre Society.

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 © 2021 Super Sabre Society
Website by: Heart and Soul Web Design
Scroll to Top