Page 2 - Bullseye 5-29-15

2 May 29, 2015
www.aerotechnews.com/nellisafb
Courtesy photo moved them to San Francisco’s
Maj. Gen. Dewey K. K. Lowe
Gerald White
99th Air Base Wing Historian
NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE,
Nev. — Maj. Gen. Dewey K. K.
Lowe didn’t set out to be a pio-
neer; like many of his generation,
he just wanted to fly.
Born to immigrant parents
in 1924 in Oakland, California,
his father died when he was just
two, leaving his now-widowed
mother to raise three small
children.
The fact they were Chinese
made it harder. His mother
US Embassy Singapore, AF team up for diplomatic success
By Col. Curtis Walker
Singapore air attaché
SINGAPORE — Singapore’s founding father, Lee
Kuan Yew, recently passed away at the age of 91.
Given Lee’s stature and standing, all of us at U.S.
Embassy Singapore expected a large state funeral and a
high-level U.S. delegation would be named and arriving
soon; the funeral was just a few short days away.
It didn’t take long for President Barack Obama to
select former President Bill Clinton to lead our delega-
tion. That meant the embassy and the Air Force had
roughly 72 hours to build and execute a plan of action
to support our president’s diplomatic mission.
We knew the complexity of the movement and the
compressed timeline meant we would have to come
together quickly as a team, call on the sum of our expe-
rience, and leverage our personal and professional rela-
tionships around the world to pull off such a tall order.
The clock was ticking and failure was not an option.
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Commentary BULLSEYE
Facebook.com/NellisBullseye
Quiet pioneer wanted to fly
flying the C-47 Skytrain in a new Recalled to active duty in for a combat tour in 1966 as
Chinatown and became a seam- unit called Combat Cargo, headed 1952 for the Korean War, he an EC-47 standardization and
stress. By his own account, it was for service in India and Burma. trained first as a transport pilot, evaluation pilot.
an otherwise normal childhood; then in B-26 Marauders. But
he skipped second grade, gradu- His early missions were drop- when the Armistice was signed, When he returned, he spent
ated at 17 and left school after his ping supplies to British forces, he found himself flying the B-45 the rest of his career in Air
first semester as an engineering then airlifting two Chinese di- jet light bomber in England. Af- Force logistics in jobs of in-
student at the University of Cali- visions back to China that were ter three years there, he went to creasing responsibility, moving
fornia, Berkeley. fighting in Burma to help blunt George AFB, California, flying between different Air Force
the latest Japanese offensive in B-25s as target towing aircraft, Logistics Command jobs and
He had grown up making December 1944. then Biggs AFB (now Army the Air Staff before assuming
model airplanes, reading about Airfield at Fort Bliss), Texas, command of the Sacramento
flying and watching airplanes at With the Hump Airlift be- flying a modified Martin B-57 Air Logistics Center in 1979,
the San Francisco airport so he coming more successful, his Canberra light bomber for high- where he served until retire-
and his friends all took the tests flight from 4th Combat Cargo altitude radar testing, not really ment in 1985.
for aviation cadet, which he passed. Squadron was reassigned to conventional assignments.
1st CCS and those crews spent He was promoted to briga-
Not yet 18, he had to wait to the rest of the war flying across With selection for an Edu- dier general in 1974 and major
enlist. After some technical train- China delivering Hump supplies cation with Industry position general in 1976; one of the first
ing, he took a job winterizing and sabotage teams behind Japa- with Convair, he moved into Asian Americans in the Air
P-38 Lightnings at the McClellan nese lines. the world of aircraft contract- Force to become a general of-
Field depot for several months, ing. From there, he went to ficer. Up to his retirement, he
not knowing he would come back Released from active duty after North American Aviation as was also one of the last World
some 37 years later as a two-star the war, he went back to school, their contract administrator War II combat veterans still on
general and commander. earning a Bachelor of Arts degree and continued to fly, checking active duty.
in Economics from Berkeley and out in the F-100 Super Sabre
Once called up, he earned law degree from University of and T-39, both built by NAA After retirement, Lowe
his wings and commission in San Francisco. He also worked and delivering the Air Force’s served on advisory boards for
Arizona and California. He was for United Airlines and stayed 100th T-39 Sabreliner to Yokota several colleges and universities
training as a B-25 Mitchell pilot in the Reserves at Hamilton Air Air Base, Japan. in California, the Mather AFB
in mid-1944 when a new unit Force Base, across the Golden base closure commission and
was formed. He and many of his Gate Bridge in Marin County, He then went to Vietnam other community activities. He
classmates found themselves now California. passed away March 24, 1994.
Watching this mission come together was like Kristen TenWolde worked around the clock wres-
watching poetry in motion. There were thousands of tling with diplomatic clearances, weapons permits,
questions that demanded answers, countless details to airspace requirements, base access and a thousand
be tended to and critical decisions to be made at scores other details too numerous to track.
of separate agencies — each a potential showstopper.
The result of all this extraordinary effort was, first
Working side by side with my embassy colleagues and foremost, a successful mission from beginning to
as the air attaché, I watched with pride as my fellow end. But it was so much more and while it is difficult to
Airmen did what I’ve seen them do for nearly 30 years: put into words, I wish every Airman could share in it.
they enthusiastically tackled what looked impossible
and made it look easy. I want every Airman to know how it feels to stand
on a flightline in a distant land in your service dress
Men and women assigned to the 65th Airlift uniform with a U.S. ambassador and foreign dignitar-
Squadron at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Ha- ies at your side while a big, beautiful Air Force aircraft
waii, flew the former president and his delegation taxies up with those iconic block letters emblazoned
safely halfway around world and back with the pro- on its fuselage that proudly say “UNITED STATES
fessionalism, precision and the dignity befitting our OF AMERICA.”
great nation. Airmen and contractors on the ground
in Singapore from Detachment 2, 730th Air Mobility It makes you stand a little taller and straighter. It
Squadron worked long hours in sweltering heat to makes you realize that you’re part of something spe-
recover, secure, service and launch the delegation’s cial, something much larger than yourself or any one
aircraft. At the U.S. Embassy Singapore, Master Sgt. person, and it makes you understand and appreciate
what a privilege it is to serve our Air Force.
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