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Wall of Honor Level:
Air and Space Friend

Honored by:
Ms. Michelle Hafner

Colonel McDowell entered the Army as an enlisted man from Indianapolis, Indiana in February, 1951 and graduated from the Signal Corps OCS as a Second Lieutenant in April, 1952. In December, 1952 he was transferred to Germany where he served as Message Center Platoon Leader and later Radio Operations Officer for Headquarters VII Army Corps. Upon to the U.S. he attended flight school and became qualified as an Army Aviator. Upon graduation from flight school, he transferred to Fort Huachuca, Arizona home of the U.S. Army Electronic Proving Grounds, (USAEPG), and served as Company Commander of the company providing Aviation Electronics (Avionics) testing and evaluation support.
In February, 1959 he graduated at the top of his class in the Signal Officer’s Advanced Course and moved to Korea as the I Corps (GP) Wire Operations Officer. During this tour he was commissioned Captain, Regular Army. He returned to Fort Huachuca in 1960 where he was appointed Chief of the USAEPG Avionics Test & Evaluation Section.
In June 1962 Colonel McDowell received his degree as BGE, University of Nebraska at Omaha while on detached duty from Fort Huachuca. From September, 1963 to June 1964, he was one of six Army officers to attend the Air Force Air Command and Staff College. His next assignment for two and a half years was as Operations and Training Officer for Alaska’s support battalion, the 19th Aviation Battalion. These duties involved search and rescue operations, support of winter and summer training, and defense readiness.
In March 1966 he was assigned as Executive Officer of the Air Cavalry Troop, 25th Infantry Division, Vietnam. Duties involved armed helicopter support to the division. He was later moved to the 1st Aviation Brigade as Signal Officer and made responsible for all avionics support for non-divisional aviation units. Upon return to the U.S. in March, 1967 he was assigned to Headquarters, Department of the Army as System Staff Officer for Air Traffic Control and Ground Avionics Systems, Office of the Assistant Chief of Staff for Force Development (OACSFOR).
In September, 1969 Colonel McDowell was chartered by the Secretary of the Army as Project Manager, Navigation/Control Systems (NAVCON). His responsibilities included the Army’s program in navigation, position-fixing and air traffic control research, development and production. Six years later, in July, 1975, he was transferred to HQ DARCOM and appointed Associate Director for Industrial Base. During his four years in this position he was responsible for planning for mobilization of the Army’s industrial production capacity, both in private industry and government facilities. During his tenure at DARCOM he furthered his education by obtaining a degree as Master of Arts (MS) in Management & Supervision from Central Michigan University.