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Wall of Honor Level:
Air and Space Friend

Honored by:
Mr. Craig S. German

Col. Paul King German, Jr., USMC, was designated Naval Aviator (NA# V4705) on June 15, 1954. He logged 4655 flight hours during his distinguished career as an aviator, spanning three decades and including service as a fighter/attack pilot, carrier pilot, jet transition instructor, squadron commander in combat in the Republic of Vietnam (RVN), and Chief of Staff. He is a member of the Golden Eagles, The Early and Pioneer Naval Aviators Association.

Col. German began his military career in the U.S. Army Air Corps Reserve (precursor to the U.S. Air Force) while in high school. With the termination of hostilities during World War II imminent, he was discharged and enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in 1945. He served in north China and Guam with the 1st Marine Division before entering the U.S. Naval Academy, from which he graduated in 1952. He was then commissioned into the United States Marines Corps, entered flight training, and was designated Naval Aviator in 1954.

He flew the F9F-5 and FJ-2 in his first fighter squadron. He was subsequently assigned as instructor of Forward Air Control, Leadership, and ABC Defense in Korea and Japan, where he maintained proficiency in the AD-4 and FJ-2. He was then assigned to the Naval Air Training Command, Jet Transition Training Unit, as a jet transition instructor in Olathe, Kansas, where he spent three years teaching senior naval aviators to fly jets. The highlight of this tour was assignment as instructor for Capt. David McCampbell, the Navy's highest ace and Medal of Honor winner.

After receiving a B.S. in Aeronautical Engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, CA, Col. German flew F4D Skyrays on the USS Independence in the Mediterranean. His next assignment was flying logistics and in-flight refueling missions in the KC-130, including in the RVN. After completing this tour, he spent three years with the Bureau of Naval Weapons (BUWEPS), including an engineering mission to Antarctica on Operation Deep Freeze.

Col. German then became commander of two A-6 squadrons, one in the RVN. He flew 284 missions air-to-ground bombing missions in A-6 and A-4 aircraft in North and South Vietnam and Laos. For his service, he was awarded the Legion of Merit with a combat "V", and the Air Medal with Numeral 20. Following his combat service, he spent three years in Hawaii, first with the Fleet Marine Force Pacific (FMF PAC) staff and then as Executive Officer of the resident USMC F-4 fighter group, flying F4-B/-J and TA-4J aircraft.

He then attended the Naval War College in Newport, RI and was subsequently assigned to two Executive Assistant positions at Headquarters Marine Corps in Washington, DC. His final overseas assignment was one year as Chief of Staff of the 1st Marine Air Wing in Okinawa, flying the F-4, TA-4, and T-39. He returned to Washington as Executive Assistant with Operations and Training. He retired from the Marine Corps in 1978.