Foil: 9 Panel: 2 Column: 1 Line: 37

Wall of Honor Level:
Air and Space Friend

Honored by:

Captain Robert F. DiPalma USN (Ret) -- A member of the VS staff who works at the Udvar-Hazy Center

Captain DiPalma entered the Navy in October in 1957 and was sent to aviation training in Pensacola Florida. Following his commission as an Ensign he was sent to NAS Glynco Georgia for training as an Airborne Combat Information Center Officer on board the WV2 Super Constellations (also known as WC-121).

He was then assigned to Airborne Early Warning Squadrons Three and One operating out of NAS Agana Guam. He then became an instructor at what eventually became the Naval Flight Officer School (VT-10), at Pensacola, and accumulated flight hours as a copilot in the S2F Grumann Tracker which was used for training future NFOs in navigation. In addition to being a flight instructor, CAPT. DiPalma taught Air Intelligence in the NFO ground school.

Following his Pensacola assignment, CAPT. DiPalma was sent to the Armed Forces Joint Intelligence Training Center in Denver Colorado and was then assigned as the intelligence officer to Carrier Air Wing ONE on board the USS Franklin D. Roosevelt CVA-42. While assigned to the Air Wing staff he flew the E1B Tracer, SNB Beechcraft and occasionally in the P3C Orion.

Following the Air Wing assignment, he was sent to the Fleet Intelligence Center at Pearl Harbor Hawaii and became a computer analyst supporting the command's need for automated intelligence material, with primary focus on Vietnam. He continued to serve the aviation community as an intelligence specialist and was assigned as the Intelligence Officer for the USS Independence CV-62, departing that post for a tour as a student at the Armed Forces Staff College in Norfolk.

His tour in the Norfolk area continued as the Executive Officer and a brief period as the Commanding Officer of the Naval Investigative Office HQ in Norfolk. Following that tour he became the Assistant Chief of Staff for Intelligence for the Commander Amphibious Forces Atlantic which became the Commander Naval Surface Forces Atlantic. His intelligence career continued in the aviation community as the Intelligence Officer for the Commander Carrier Group EIGHT followed by an assignment in the Pentagon at the Defense Intelligence Agency. He returned to the Fleet Intelligence Center at Pearl Harbor as Commanding Officer and concluded his almost 29 years Navy service as Intelligence Officer on the SECDEF staff.

He continued in intelligence matters while employed by E-Systems, Raytheon, and presently works for L-3 Communications Titan Group where he provides intelligence supports to the Naval EOD Technology Division.