Driving News, Crime & Press Releases

March 24, 2008
 
The late Col. William Maxwell of Cheyenne, possibly the only man ever to earn aviator wings in the Navy, Army and Air Force, is the newest member of the Wyoming Aviation Hall of Fame.
 
“We’ve asked the Smithsonian Institution to research the question, and so far they have not found anyone else with the distinction of having earned aviator wings in three branches of the armed services,” said Kent Nelson, director of the Wyoming Aviation Hall of Fame.
 
Maxwell was elected to the hall by the Wyoming Aeronautics Commission, and an induction ceremony is expected in late summer or early fall.
 
During his 37-year aviation career he piloted 18 different military planes and helicopters, flew combat missions in Korea, became the first Army aviation supervisor for Wyoming and helped designate the site for the Guernsey Airport.
 
“Col. Maxwell laid the foundation and provided many of the significant building blocks of the development of Army aviation in Wyoming,” said Maj. Gen. Charles Wing, Wyoming adjutant general from 1987 to 1995. “High standards and expectations were maintained and have stood the test of time. He is certainly worthy of being honored and long remembered.”
 
Born in Lurgan, Ireland, Maxwell came to the United States with his family soon afterward. He was working at Pratt and Whitney Aircraft, flying for the Civil Air Patrol and planning to become an airline pilot until World War II broke out. He accepted a commission in the Navy in 1942 and earned his Naval aviator wings the following year. For the remainder of the war he served as a flight instructor, teaching American, British and French pilots aerobatics and instrument flying.
 
After the war, he moved to Cheyenne and in 1948 pioneered Army aviation in Wyoming as the first group aviation officer for the new Aviation Section of  the Wyoming Army National Guard.
 
When the Korean War escalated, the Army National Guard pilots transferred to the Wyoming Air National Guard, and Maxwell was called to active duty. He was assigned to an Air Force unit in Korea, where he flew an AT-6 “Texan” as a forward air controller directing air strikes for a Turkish regiment.
 
His service in Korea earned him the Distinguished Flying Cross and a citation for exceptional airmanship, skill and bravery.
 
After returning from Korea, Maxwell rejoined the Aviation Section of the Wyoming Army National Guard and in 1953 worked with Gen. R.L. Esmay and Col. Harry Lloyd to designate the site for the Guernsey Airport. “It took years of planning and work to develop that initial meeting into the efficient facility presently located there,” Maxwell later recalled.
 
In 1956 he was awarded the designation of senior Army aviator, and subsequently named the first state aviation officer. He set high performance standards that made the unit one of the best in the nation, and the officers he chose to send to flight school compiled an outstanding record of success.
 
In 1957 he became a charter member and northwest president of the Army Aviation Association.
 
After learning to fly helicopters in 1961 and completing the Army Aviation Command and Staff Officer’s Course in 1962, Maxwell became the first Wyoming pilot awarded the designation of master Army aviator. He then led his unit’s transition from planes to helicopters.
 
Later, Maxwell was named chief of staff of the Wyoming Army National Guard, and finished his career as the National Guard Bureau’s U.S. property and fiscal officer for Wyoming.
 
He retired in 1980 and went on to serve four years as a member of the Cheyenne Airport Board.
 
He died in 2004 at the age of 84.
 
The Wyoming Aviation Hall of Fame was created in 1995 through the efforts of veteran Wyoming pilot R.R. “Red” Kelso. The Wyoming Aeronautics Commission elects one person to the hall each year, and Maxwell joins past inductees Brig. Gen. Roy “Bud” Cooper, Bill Monday, Robert “Handlebar” Johnson, C.L. “Bud” McHolland, Herb Andersen, James Murray, Lester Larsen, Mel Christler, C.D. Jackson, Reuel Call, Gene Powers, Gen. Samuel Phillips, Maj. Dillard “Pic” Walker, Capt. Ralph Johnson and Harold “Slim” Lewis.
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