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SSgt B. Mark Welsh (Mustang)
to remember
Campbell, Harold Norman, Maj Gen.
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Date of Passing Nov 18, 1996
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MAJOR GENERAL H.N. CAMPBELL Retired June 30, 1993, Died November 18, 1996
Major General H.N. Campbell wass deputy chief of staff for plans and programs, Headquarters Air Force Materiel Command, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.
General Campbell was born in East Liverpool, Ohio, in 1940, and later became a resident of Florida. He was appointed to the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1957 and graduated with a bachelor of science degree in 1961. He earned a master of science degree in systems management from the University of Southern California in 1974. The general completed Air War College as a distinguished graduate in 1975, the Stanford Executive Senior Management Program in 1981, and the Harvard Program for National and International Security in 1988.
Upon graduation from the academy, the general received undergraduate pilot training at Reese Air Force Base, Texas. He remained there as an instructor pilot in T-33s, T-37s and T-38s until August 1966, when he was assigned to Luke Air Force Base, Ariz., for combat crew training. In March 1967 he began a combat tour at Bien Hoa, Da Nang and Khe Sanh air bases, South Vietnam, flying 300 missions in 0-1s and 0-2s, including 100 over North Vietnam. From January 1968 to July 1969 General Campbell was assigned to the academy as an air officer commanding. He then became a tactical officer there. In January 1971, after completing F-4 operational training at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., he returned to Southeast Asia with the 388th Tactical Fighter Wing, Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand. There he flew 150 more combat missions in F-4Es while serving as flight commander, chief of the command post and wing executive officer.
His next assignment was as a tactical forces programs officer, Directorate of Programs, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C., in January 1972. After completing Air War College in July 1975, General Campbell was assigned as deputy commander for maintenance, 50th Tactical Fighter Wing, Hahn Air Base, West Germany. He remained there for a year and then was transferred to the 36th Tactical Fighter Wing, Bitburg Air Base, West Germany, where he successively served as deputy commander for operations, vice commander and commander, flying F-4s and F-15s.
Returning to Air Force headquarters in February 1981, General Campbell was assigned to the Directorate of International Programs, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff, Programs and Resources, He served successively as assistant director for bases and units, director of forces, deputy director of international programs, deputy director of programs and chairman of the Program Review Committee. In October 1984 he was assigned as vice commander of the Ogden Air Logistics Center, Hill Air Force Base, Utah. In September 1985 General Campbell became deputy chief of staff for logistics, Headquarters U.S. Air Forces in Europe, Ramstein Air Base, West Germany. He became deputy director of the Defense Logistics Agency, Cameron Station, Alexandria, Va., in October 1987. In October 1988 he was assigned as assistant deputy chief of staff for logistics and engineering, Air Force headquarters. He became deputy chief of staff for plans and programs, Headquarters Air Force Logistics Command, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, in March 1991. He assumed his current position in July 1992.
The general is a command pilot with more than 4,000 flying hours, of which nearly 1,000 were in combat. His military awards and decorations include the Distinguished Service Medal, Silver Star, Legion of Merit with two oak leaf clusters, Distinguished Flying Cross with four oak leaf clusters, Bronze Star Medal, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Air Medal with 29 oak leaf clusters, Air Force Commendation Medal with two oak leaf clusters, Army Commendation Medal, Presidential Unit Citation, Republic of Vietnam Air Gallantry Cross with silver wings and Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm. He holds an Army parachutist rating, and wears the Senior Missile and Senior Maintenance badges.
He was promoted to major general July 1, 1987, with same date of rank.
General Campbell died on 18 Novembr 1996 and was buried in Section 7-A of Arlington National Cemetery.
Other Comments:
I served under the General (then a Colonel) in Bitburg Germany 1979-1981. Col Campbell was the Wing Commander of the 36th Tactical Fighter Wing. Campbell was a patriotic American with a commanding presence. Even though it was the Cold War during that time and the Soviet Union was only a matter of minutes flight time away, one still felt secure knowing that Col Campbell was in charge. Many times while pulling duty at the Entry Control Point at Bitburg, Col Campbell would enter the area to get in flight time. His mind would be on other things as he silently returned my salute .... but when he returned from flying his F-15 Eagle, he'd be like a kid in a candy store as he exited my control point. Often he would stop and talk about the beauty he'd just been a part of as he had taken his jet up and "touched the face of God". I had and still have a great respect for General H.N. Campbell ... a man that was born to fly!
Rest in Peace, Sir.
Vietnam Advisory Campaign (1962-65)
From Month/Year
November / 1962
To Month/Year
March / 1965
Description November 15, 1961-March 1, 1965 .
On November 15, 1961, the 2d Advanced Echelon (2d ADVON) was activated in Saigon, capital of the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam). The 2d ADVON, administratively part of the Thirteenth Air Force, controlled USAF units operating in Vietnam and reported to the Military Assistance Advisory Group, Vietnam. The 4400th Combat Crew Training Squadron's FARM GATE detachment arrived on November 16. The FARM GATE, organization, although trained for counter insurgency combat, for about 2 months limited its mission to training Vietnamese aircrews and supporting with reconnaissance flights the operations of the Vietnamese Air Force (VNAF). Activation of the 2d ADVON and arrival of the FARM GATE detachment heralded the buildup of the United States Air Force presence in Vietnam.
Responding to the Republic of Vietnam's appeal in December 1961 for increased military aid to counter Communist (Viet Cong) insurgents, the United States gradually increased its forces. From January 2 to 5, 1962, for example, the USAF moved a tactical air control system to South Vietnam and landed equipment and personnel at Tan Son Nhut Air Base (AB) in Saigon; Bien Hoa AB, I5 miles north of Saigon; Da Nang AB, 375 miles northeast of Saigon; Pleiku AB, in the Central Highlands 230 miles northeast of Saigon; and Nha Trang AB, on the coast, a little less than 200 miles northeast of Saigon. Shortly afterwards, on January 7, a flight of C-l23s equipped for aerial spray missions arrived at Tan Son Nhut. Code-named RANCH HAND, this USAF detachment 3 days later began defoliation operations that continued for 9 years.
To manage U.S. forces in Vietnam, the Commander in Chief, Pacific Command, at the direction of President John F. Kennedy and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, created Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV) on February 8, 1962. Army Gen. Paul D. Harkins was named the first Commander of MACV. The 2d ADVON became the air component of the new command. A few months later, on October 8, the USAF activated the 2d Air Division, which replaced the 2d ADVON. In spite of increased U.S. aid, the Viet Cong insurgency grew, and the government of South Vietnam faced growing civil disorder. A year later, on November 1, 1963, a group of South Vietnamese military officers deposed President Ngo Dinh Diem in a coup détat, and not until June 1965 would the South Vietnamese establish a reasonably stable government. Meanwhile, on June 20, 1964, Anny Gen. William C. Westmoreland became Commander of MACV.
Communist insurgents also operated actively in Laos, and in May 1964 United States involvement in Southeast Asia expanded to include military aid to that country. On June 9, F-100s flying from Takhli Air Base, Thailand, about 110 miles north of Bangkok, made the first USAF strike in Laos. Air Force pilots bombed an antiaircraft installation at Xiangkhoang, on the Plain of Jars, about 100 miles northeast of Vientiane, the Laotian capital. In December 1964 the USAF launched an air interdiction campaign against the Ho Chi Minh Trail, a network of roads, trails, and waterways in the southern Laotian panhandle.
The nature of the conflict in Southeast Asia changed dramatically in late 1964. On August 2 and 4 torpedo boats from North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) attacked U.S. naval vessels in the Gulf of Tonkin- On the 5th, U.S. naval aircraft launched retaliatory air strikes against coastal targets in North Vietnam. That same day the USAF deployed B-57s to Bien Hoa AB and F-100s to Da Nang AB. Then in December 1964 the Viet Cong used conventional field rather than hit-and-run tactics to drive South Vietnamese forces temporarily from Binh Gia, near the coast, only 40 miles southeast of Saigon. For both North and South Vietnam governmental authorities this battle marked an escalation of the conflict. As the war rapidly intensified, on February 7, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson ordered American dependents evacuated from South Vietnam. The same day the Viet Cong shelled Pleiku Air Base. In retaliation, the USAF conducted its first raid against North Vietnam on the 8th,
hitting a target just north of the 17th parallel.
