Spicer, Howard J., SSgt

Aircraft Maintenance
 
 Service Photo   Service Details
94 kb
View Shadow Box View Printable Shadow Box View Reflection Shadow Box View Time Line View Family Time Line
Current Service Status
USAF Veteran
Current/Last Rank
Staff Sergeant
Current/Last Primary AFSC/MOS
43151E-Aircraft Mechanic
Current/Last AFSC Group
Aircraft Maintenance
Primary Unit
1975-1976, 43151E, 157th Air Refueling Group
Previously Held AFSC/MOS
43131C-Apprentice Aircraft Mechanic
43151C-Jet Aircraft Mechanic
Service Years
1969 - 1976
Official/Unofficial US Air Force Certificates
Cold War Certificate
Staff Sergeant

 Official Badges 

US Air Force Honorable Discharge (Old Style)


 Unofficial Badges 

Cold War Medal


 Military Associations and Other Affiliations
Air Force Memorial (AFM)
  2015, Air Force Memorial (AFM) - Assoc. Page


 Additional Information
What are you doing now:

Work in engineering test lab for developement of automotive oil sealing products.
Job involves set up,  programming, running and monitoring various types of test equipment.
Also responsible for design of tooling required.

   
Other Comments:

I served 3 years active duty USAF followed by 1 year with Conn. ANG and 3 years with NH ANG. Active duty stations after basic and tech scool at Sheppard included Yokota and Kadena Japan with TDYs to Osan and Kunsan Finished my active duty at Webb AFB Texas. While in the NH ANG I attended the Voc-Tec College in Laconia NH graduating in 1975. After Graduation I went to work for an automotive oil seal company where I have been for 39 years, first 20 tears as a maintenance electrician and past 19 as Test Lab Tech. Also been married to my wife Tina for 39 years. both have worked out good. Two children James and Heather. Now have 2  grandsons, Logan James Baker and James Otto Spicer, both born in 2010. I really regret not having taken more pictures of the places and surrounding areas I was stationed at. 


 

   

 Remembrance Profiles -  1 Airman Remembered
 Photo Album   (More...


 1970-1971, F-4 Phantom
From Year
1970
To Year
1971
   
Personal Memories
Many 12 hours shifts needed to keep these birds flying.
Very interesting aircraft, I learned alot during this assignment.
   
Image
 F-4 Phantom Details
 


Aircraft/Missile Information
From Wikipedia:
The F-4 Phantom was designed as a fleet defense fighter for the U.S. Navy, and first entered service in 1960. By 1963, it had been adopted by the U.S. Air Force for the fighter-bomber role. When production ended in 1981, 5,195 Phantom IIs had been built, making it the most numerous American supersonic military aircraft.[7] Until the advent of the F-15 Eagle, the F-4 also held a record for the longest continuous production with a run of 24 years. Innovations in the F-4 included an advanced pulse-doppler radar and extensive use of titanium in its airframe.[8]
Despite the imposing dimensions and a maximum takeoff weight of over 60,000 pounds (27,000 kg),[9] the F-4 had a top speed of Mach 2.23 and an initial climb of over 41,000 ft per minute (210 m/s).[10] Shortly after its introduction, the Phantom set 15 world records,[11] including an absolute speed record of 1,606.342 mph (2,585.086 km/h), and an absolute altitude record of 98,557 ft (30,040 m).[12] Although set in 1959?1962, five of the speed records were not broken until 1975 when the F-15 Eagle came into service.[11]
The F-4 could carry up to 18,650 pounds (8,480 kg) of weapons on nine external hardpoints, including air-to-air and air-to-ground missiles, and unguided, guided, and nuclear bombs.[13] Since the F-8 Crusader was to be used for close combat, the F-4 was designed, like other interceptors of the day, without an internal cannon;[14] In a dogfight, the RIO or WSO (commonly called "backseater" or "pitter") assisted in spotting opposing fighters, visually as well as on radar. It became the primary fighter-bomber of both the Navy and Air Force by the end of the Vietnam War.
Due to its distinctive appearance and widespread service with United States military and its allies, the F-4 is one of the best-known icons of the Cold War. It served in the Vietnam War and Arab?Israeli conflicts, with American F-4 crews achieving 277 aerial victories in South East Asia and completing countless ground attack sorties.[15]
The F-4 Phantom has the distinction of being the last United States fighter to attain ace status in the 20th century. During the Vietnam War, the USAF had one pilot and two WSOs,[16] and the USN one pilot and one RIO,[17] become aces in air-to-air combat. It was also a capable tactical reconnaissance and Wild Weasel (suppression of enemy air defenses) platform, seeing action as late as 1991, during Operation Desert Storm.[4][5]
The F-4 Phantom II was also the only aircraft used by both of the USA's flight demonstration teams.[18] The USAF Thunderbirds (F-4E) and the USN Blue Angels (F-4J) both switched to the Phantom for the 1969 season; the Thunderbirds flew it for five seasons,[19] the Blue Angels for six.[20]
The baseline performance of a Mach 2-class fighter with long range and a bomber-sized payload would be the template for the next generation of large and light/middle-weight fighters optimized for daylight air combat. The Phantom would be replaced by the F-15 Eagle and F-16 Fighting Falcon in the U.S. Air Force. In the U.S. Navy, it would be replaced by the F-14 Tomcat and the F/A-18 Hornet which revived the concept of a dual-role attack fighter.[21]

   
Add your memories to this entry

Last Updated: Sep 23, 2010
   
My Photos From This Aircraft/Missile
The Spook

  1631 Also There at This Aircraft:
  • Abramo, Michael, MSgt, (1966-1990)
  • Adame, Tony, SSgt, (1969-1973)
  • Adams, Kenneth, Sgt, (1966-1970)
  • Adams, Michael, Maj Gen, (1953-1993)
  • Adams, Stanley, Sgt, (1968-1972)
  • Adkison, David, Sgt, (1969-1973)
  • Aldrich, Ron, Sgt, (1968-1972)
  • Alecknavage, Charles, MSgt, (1962-1982)
  • Alexander, Joe, 1stSgt, (1970-2007)
  • Allen, David, MSgt, (1969-1988)
  • Allen, James, Sgt, (1966-1970)
  • Allen, John, SSgt, (1967-1985)
  • Allen, Stephen G., SSgt, (1969-1973)
  • Allen, William, Sgt, (1964-1970)
  • Alquist, Nelson, Sgt, (1970-1974)
  • Amelang, Jerry, SSgt, (1970-1974)
  • Ames, Lawrence, Sgt, (1968-1977)
  • Amos, Louis, Sgt, (1971-1979)
  • Amos, Paul, Sgt, (1966-1971)
  • Amundson, Robert, Maj, (1957-1982)
  • Anders, George, TSgt, (1969-1980)
  • Anderson, Jerome, MSgt, (1956-1978)
  • Anderson, Larry, MSgt, (1969-1991)
  • Anderson, Mark, SSgt, (1969-1973)
  • Anderson, Norman, MSgt, (1960-1980)
  • Anderson, Richard, MSgt, (1961-1981)
  • Andrews, Andrew, Sgt, (1969-1973)
  • Antinetto, Frank, SSgt, (1968-1972)
  • Armstrong, Walter, Sgt, (1967-1971)
  • Arnold, Berle, MSgt, (1950-1970)
  • Arruda, Bradford, SSgt, (1969-1973)
  • Ashabranner, Wesley, Col, (1966-2006)
  • Ashley, Roy, SSgt, (1966-1972)
  • Atkinson, Lawrence, TSgt, (1969-1989)
  • Atteberry, Thomas, TSgt, (1969-1989)
  • Atwood, Jeffrey, Sgt, (1968-1972)
  • Austin, Kenneth, Sgt, (1966-1970)
  • Ayala, Juan, MSgt, (1970-1990)
  • Azevedo, David, MSgt, (1954-1974)
  • Babcock, Michael, SSgt, (1968-1972)
  • Bacik, James J., Maj, (1954-1975)
  • Backscheider, Dennis, SSgt, (1968-1972)
  • Bail, David, MSgt, (1966-2002)
  • Bailey, Don, SSgt, (1965-1973)
  • Bailey, Robert, MSgt, (1970-1994)
  • Bain, Roger, MSgt, (1967-1989)
  • Baird, Eldred, Maj, (1970-1977)
  • Baker, James H.(Jim), CMSgt, (1965-1994)
  • Bakley, Chuck, Sgt, (1970-1975)
  • Ball, David, Lt Col, (1965-1989)
  • BAll, Gene, Sgt, (1966-1970)
  • Barden, Dennis, Sgt, (1969-1973)
  • Barfield, Jimmy, SMSgt, (1968-1990)
  • Barger, William, Capt, (1966-1970)
  • Barnes, Arnold
  • Barrett, George, CMSgt, (1954-1985)
  • Barton, Robert, TSgt, (1970-1975)
  • Baseggio, James, Sgt, (1968-1972)
  • Bassett, David, MSgt, (1968-1988)
  • Bastone, John, CMSgt, (1956-1981)
  • Batchelder, Norman, MSgt, (1963-1989)
  • Bauernfeind, James, Maj, (1966-1994)
  • Baxter, Thomas, SSgt, (1967-1971)
  • Beal, Clinton, MSgt, (1969-1993)
  • Beaver, Phillip, Capt, (1966-1971)
  • Bedus, John, SSgt, (1966-1981)
  • Beerbower, Neil, Sgt, (1970-1977)
  • Behrens, Gerald, SSgt, (1962-1970)
  • Belford, Alfred, Sgt, (1970-1973)
  • Bell, Lyle, SSgt, (1967-1971)
Copyright Togetherweserved.com Inc 2003-2011