Foil: 17 Panel: 1 Column: 3 Line: 45

Wall of Honor Level:
Air and Space Friend

Honored by:

Robert R. Shaefer, Col, USAF (Ret) was born 30 Dec 1919 in Lansing, MI. Attended University of New Mexico, 1936-1040.
Graduated Air Corps flying school Kelly Field, TX, December 1940. Flew DC-2s and dropped first US paratroopers at Ft Benning, BA in 1941.
1942-1943 -- Chief, Flight Test, Hill Field, Ogden, UT.
1943-1944 -- Squadron Commander 99th Bomb Group (B-17) Africa and Italy. Led group for 314 combat hours, including leading 15th Air Force on nine missions --two to Ploesti and one, because of extreme weather, was the only aircraft to reach the target. Was authorized the Silver Star, but never received it.
Made LtCol at age 24. Later was group commander, chief of flight operations, Kelly Field, TX.
Commander, Hensley Field, Dallas, TX
Graduated US Army Command and Staff College.
Officer in Charge, Aircraft Storage, Tucson, AZ -- 2000 aircraft, including 750 B-29s.
University of Southern California 1947, AB.
Four years as experimental test pilot, 2 as Operations Chief of all Air Force test pilots. Flew performance and stability tests on XC-99 -- world's largest land plane. 7th or 8th to break the sound barrier (Mach 1).
Air Technology Attaché, Sweden.
Deputy Chief of Operations of Strategic Air Command B-47/KC-97 and B-52/KC-135 wings.
Chief, Operations Plans, Strategic Division, Hq USAF and Operations Officer, Joint Staff J-3. Prepared and gave presentation on general war plan ((Single Integrated Operations Plan (SIOP)) to President Kennedy at the White House.
Flew 6000 hours in 166 different types of aircraft.
“Subsequent assignments took him to NATO Defense College, Allied Headquarters in Paris, France, and the NATO Military Committee in Washington, D.C. where he was on loan to the Transportation Department as an expert in high-speed aircraft.
He retired in 1968.” This information is also listed in his obituary in the Washington Post in Fall, 2008.