More detail on this person: Jack entered the Army in 1955 as an Infantry Lieutenant and went to Fort Benning, Georgia. He was given an orientation flight in a Bell H-13 A/B that was under powered, shook wildly because there were no servos, and was limited in many ways. However, the IP was a Korean War veteran who was an avid enthusiast about the future for air mobility. He convinced Jack to apply for flight school. Jack was in class 56-14 at Gary Air Force Base, Texas because the Army did not have its own primary flight school. He graduated from Ft. Rucker and joined the new, just formed, combat aviation organization in the Fourth Armored Division. He went helicopter school, was assigned to the new Tactical Transport Platoon with H-19's and H-34's, became the training officer, and moved to Germany where he demonstrated and taught Air Mobile Operations from 1958 to 1961. A Captain, he went to Camp Wolters, TX with the small cadre to design, develop, and implement the FIRST armed helicopter school. He was also assigned to be the Chief of the Warrant Officer Candidate Program. He volunteered for Vietnam and arrived there in June of 1964. He joined the 118th Assault Helicopter Company in Bien Hoa in 1964. It had just received the new UH-1B and gun ship C models. He was the SIP and Commander of the 1st Platoon. He led the first 100 helicopter assault in September, 1964. They continually refined the air assault concept in battles such as Binh Gia, where he went down into the Michelin Plantation. He acquired over 1,000+ combat flying hours in that year. Next was Ft Rucker as fleet manager of 1,029 aircraft in 27 configurations until he left for Command and General Staff College where he came out on the list for Lieutenant Colonel after only nine months in grade as a Major. Graduate School followed. Assigned to the Pentagon, he was an Executive Officer to the Asst. Vice Chief of Staff and took every opportunity to push air mobility and the aviation programs: UTTAS, Attack Helicopter, RSRA, ABC and Chinook upgrade. He volunteered for Vietnam and was assigned to the First (AIR) Cavalry where he commanded the 11th Combat Aviation Group and the 227th Assault Helicopter Battalion during the Cambodian Incursion. He acquired another 1,000+ combat flying hours and experienced his engine blowing up during Cambodia. Following Vietnam, it was the Industrial College, where he was kept on a Research Fellowship, and then an assignment to the Pentagon and the Secretary of the Army. He was a Deputy for Research and Development of Aviation Systems and continued to push the Aviation Programs. He received an early promotion to 0-6 and then retired at exactly 20 years. He became the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the American Helicopter Society, then the Director of the new Sikorsky Development Flight Test Center in Florida and then a Group Senior Vice President at Citicorp Diners Club. He was inducted into the Abington Senior High School Hall of Fame in Abington, Pennsylvania.
Burial information: Arlington National Cemetery
This information was last updated 04/09/2024
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Date posted on this site: 10/13/2025
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