Lt Col Richard Holm Ret. USAF

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Wall of Honor Level:
Air and Space Leader

Honored by:
Warren Drumheller

Richard Holm grew up in Iowa and, wanting to fly, enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps for pilot training during WWII at age seventeen. He was placed in the reserves, but because he wanted to fly, he went to a civilian school and in eight months earned his commercial pilot's license and his instructor's rating. Richard worked as an instructor pilot for fourteen months, but he wanted to fly military aircraft, so he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force for pilot training.

Richard completed training in T-6 and B-25 aircraft in 1949 and was assigned to Mather AFB where he flew B-25 aircraft in navigator training. In 1950 he was reassigned to Japan and the Philippines where he worked in radar. He flew T-6, B-26, and C-47 aircraft during that period. Reassigned to Korea, Richard flew 101 combat missions in
T-6 aircraft and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal for his service.

Transferred to Shaw AFB, Richard flew C-47, B-26, T-11 and T-6 aircraft. The wing was reassigned to Germany, where he spent four years and flew C-47, T-33, F-80 and F-84 aircraft. Reassigned to the Pentagon, Richard flew T-33 aircraft for three years, and then transferred on to Hamilton AFB, California, where he flew T-33 and F-101 aircraft.

After attending the Armed Forces Staff College, Richard was stationed at Bentwaters Air Base in England, where he flew C-47, T-33 and T-39 aircraft. In three years, he was reassigned to Vietnam, with en route training in F-100 and 0-1 aircraft. In Vietnam he was an Air Force Advisor to the Korean Army, and flew 0-1 aircraft.

Returning to the U.S., Richard was stationed at the Air Defense Command at Syracuse, N.Y., where he flew F-101, T-33, and T-39 aircraft until his retirement from the U.S. Air Force. Moving to Pittsburgh, Pa., he joined a local flying dub and flew several different light aircraft until he resigned in 1995 at age 69. During his aviation career, Richard flew twelve different military aircraft and approximately twenty different civilian aircraft. He completed over 7600 hours of flying time over that period.