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Wall of Honor Level:
Air and Space Friend

Honored by:

Col Samuel T. Dickens USAF was commissioned in the USAF 1 June 1951 upon graduation from the United States Military Academy, West Point, New York. After completing pilot training in T-6 and F-80 aircraft he attended the Tactical Reconnaissance course at Shaw AFB, South Carolina in RF-80 Shooting Stars. During the Korean War he flew 12 combat missions and was awarded the Air Medal.
As Flight Commander and Assistant Operations Officers of the 15th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron he developed flight planning for Top Secret over flight of "denied territory" by RF-86F Sabre aircraft in early 1954. He flew over the Vladivostok area of the Soviet Union in April that year taking photography. The missions flown by the squadron over the next year and a half were personally approved by President Eisenhower. Dickens was awarded a Distinguished Flying Cross for this peacetime mission.
Later, from 1956 to 1958 he was Flight Commander of Royal Air Force fighter squadron No. 263 flying the premier fighter of the day, the Hawker Hunter Mark 6. A three year tour followed at the United States Naval Academy as Air Force Liaison Officer and Company Officer in charge of a company of Midshipmen. He flew the open cockpit N3N-3 sea plane giving midshipmen flight indoctrination. Following graduation from the Air Command and Staff College in 1962 Dickens served as an instructor pilot in F-100 Super Sabre aircraft at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona.
From 1965 through 1967 Dickens served as Assistant Air Attaché Spain flying the assigned C-47 Douglas aircraft. For one year embracing 1968 and 1969 Dickens served as Operations Officer and Squadron Commander of the 615 Tactical Fighter Squadron in South Vietnam. The combat mission was primarily close air support for U.S. and allied ground forces. He flew 226 missions and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and eleven Air Medals.
After a year in the Division of Doctrine, Plans and Objectives with the Air Staff Dickens attended the Industrial College of the Armed Forces in Washington, D.C. Subsequently he was assigned to Torrejon Air Base, Madrid, Spain as Base Commander. Later he served as Deputy Commander, Operations of the 401st Tactical Fighter Wing based at Torrejon AB, flying F-4E McDonnell Phantom aircraft.
In 1974 Dickens served on the Military Assistance Advisory Group staff in a role created to coordinate and enhance military cooperation between the United States and Spain. In 1974 he returned to the United States assigned to the Air Staff, The Pentagon, Washington, D.C. He was the Air Staff participant with the United States diplomatic team negotiating with the Spanish U.S. base rights. Following this assignment Dickens became Chief, Western Hemisphere Division, for Plans and Policy on the Air Staff, the Pentagon. He was Co-Chairman, U.S.-Canada Regional Planning Group, North Atlantic Treaty Organization. He also served as a delegate to the Inter-American Defense Board and the Mexican Commission. He was responsible for providing policy guidance to the Chief of Staff, USAF on matters pertaining to Canada and Latin America.
During his Air Force career he flew as first pilot the T-6, F-33, F-80, RF-80, F-86, RF-86, RF-84F, B-25, Meteor 8, Meteor 7, Hawker Hunter Mark 4, and Mark 6, Vampire, N3N-3, F-100F, F-100C and D, C-47, the T-39 and the F-4E. He flew as co-pilot the C-45, B-17, the P-l, English Electric Lightning, and the Australian Canberra.
Submitted by: Samuel T. Dickens 703-534-6878 Address: 6315 Villa Lane, Falls Church, VA 22044-1616