Lt. Cdr. (Ret) Philip Hatfield was born in April 1932, and was drawn to flying and aerospace at an early age. After graduating high school, Phil was employed by the pioneering Seibel Helicopter company in Wichita, KS. where he was involved in both fabrication and flight testing of the Seibel S-3 helicopter. In December of 1951, he joined the U.S. Navy as an electronics technician and Link Trainer instructor. While serving at the Sanford Naval Air Station in Florida, he earned his private pilot license.

Phil's promise led to his selection to the Naval Enlisted Scientific Education Program, under which he attended Purdue University. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering with highest distinction in 1962. Following his commissioning as an Ensign, he attended flight school to become a Radar Intercept Officer for the F4B and was subsequently assigned to the Naval Missile Center Air Development Squadron 4 at Pt Magu, CA. He was instrumental in the flight qualification program for the AIM-7E Sparrow missile, scoring 3 target kills. He was also the first RIO to fire the Sparrow as an Anti-Radiation missile.

Phil embarked on the USS Kitty Hawk in 1966 with Fighter Squadron 213 flying combat missions over Vietnam. He received the Air Medal for his combat flying and ultimately flew a total of 491 hours in the F-4B. Following his flying experience, he served as the Operations Analyst on the staff of the Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Vietnam in Saigon.

Phil obtained a Masters in Aerospace Engineering from the Naval Postgraduate school in 1972, following which he was assigned to the NAVPRO at what was then Westinghouse Electric in Baltimore MD. While at the NAVPRO, he was instrumental in the development and fielding of Electronic Warfare Systems as the Program Manager and the AWACS Radar System Project Manager. Phil retired from the Navy in 1975.

Following his retirement, Phil joined Westinghouse as the manager of Field Performance Evaluation for the F-16 radar programs (APG-66 and APG-68), where he was actively involved in evolving the radar for improved reliability in the field. Phil retired from Westinghouse in 1991 and moved to Seven Lakes, NC.

Retirement has allowed Phil to hone his passion for golf, and to become a master builder of RC model airplanes. He has built a number of finely crafted aircraft models, continuing his passion for aerospace.