Gordon E. Williams

Gordon Edmund Williams
Gordon Edmund Williams
	Major General Gordon Edmund Williams
Born	1935
Allegiance	United States
Service/branch	United States Air Force
Years of service	1957-1988
Rank	Major general
Battles/wars	; Vietnam War

Last updated April 04, 2019

Gordon E. Williams (born 1935) is a retired United States Air Force officer. A command pilot with more than 4,000 flying hours, he flew numerous Air Force and Navy aircraft. Upon his retirement on 1 August 1988, he was the director for plans and policy, J-5, Headquarters United States European Command, Stuttgart-Vaihingen, West Germany.

The United States Air Force (USAF) is the aerial and space warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the five branches of the United States Armed Forces, and one of the seven American uniformed services. Initially formed as a part of the United States Army on 1 August 1907, the USAF was established as a separate branch of the U.S. Armed Forces on 18 September 1947 with the passing of the National Security Act of 1947. It is the youngest branch of the U.S. Armed Forces, and the fourth in order of precedence. The USAF is the largest and most technologically advanced air force in the world. The Air Force articulates its core missions as air and space superiority, global integrated intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, rapid global mobility, global strike, and command and control.

United States European Command Unified combatant command of the United States Armed Forces responsible for the European region

The United States European Command (EUCOM) is one of ten Unified Combatant Commands of the United States military, headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany. Its area of focus covers 21,000,000 square miles (54,000,000 km²) and 51 countries and territories, including Europe, Russia, Greenland, and Israel. The Commander of the United States EUCOM simultaneously serves as the Supreme Allied Commander, Europe (SACEUR) within NATO—an intergovernmental military alliance. During the Gulf War and Operation Northern Watch, EUCOM controlled the forces flying from Incirlik Air Base.

Royal Air Force Bentwaters or more simply RAF Bentwaters, now known as Bentwaters Parks, is a former Royal Air Force station about 80 miles (130 km) northeast of London and 10 miles (16 km) east-northeast of Ipswich, near Woodbridge, Suffolk in England. Its name was taken from two cottages that had stood on the site of the main runway during its construction in 1943.

In late December 1980, there was a series of reported sightings of unexplained lights near Rendlesham Forest, Suffolk, England, which have become linked with claims of UFO landings. The events occurred just outside RAF Woodbridge, which was used at the time by the United States Air Force (USAF). USAF personnel, including deputy base commander Lieutenant Colonel Charles I. Halt, claimed to see things they described as a UFO sighting.

Biography

General Williams was born in 1935, in Nashua, New Hampshire, and graduated from Alvirne High School, Hudson, New Hampshire, in 1953. He earned a bachelor of science degree in general engineering from the U.S. Military Academy in 1957 and a master of science degree in systems management from the University of Southern California in 1971. He completed Air Command and Staff College in 1969, National War College in 1975 and Harvard University's executive program on national and international security in 1983.^[1]

Nashua is a city in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States. As of the 2010 census, Nashua had a population of 86,494, making it the second-largest city in the state after Manchester. As of 2017 the population had risen to an estimated 88,341.

Alvirne High School is located in the town of Hudson, New Hampshire, United States, with an enrollment of approximately 1,300 students from grades 9–12. Alvirne gets its name from a prominent Hudson family, the Alfred and Virginia Hills family, who left a large piece of property to the town in the early 20th century to provide land for the building of a high school. A portmanteau of their names provides the name for the school. The school mascot is the bronco, and the school colors are maroon and gold.

Hudson, New Hampshire Town in New Hampshire, United States

Hudson is a town in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States. It is located along the Massachusetts state line. The population was 24,467 at the 2010 census, with an estimated population of 25,139 in 2017. It is the tenth-largest municipality in the state, by population.

Service

Williams entered pilot training in August 1957 and received his wings at Laredo Air Force Base, Texas, in September 1958. After gunnery training at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona, and Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, he was assigned to the 510th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Clark Air Base, Philippines, in September 1959, flying F-100 Super Sabres. He subsequently was assigned to the 612th Tactical Fighter Squadron, 401st Tactical Fighter Wing, England Air Force Base, Louisiana. He represented the wing at William Tell 1962, the worldwide tactical gunnery meet. During this assignment, Williams also attended the Air Force Fighter Weapons School at Nellis Air Force Base and the Army Airborne School at Fort Benning, Georgia.^[1]

Laredo Air Force Base, is a since-deactivated Undergraduate Pilot Training (UPT) installation of the Air Training Command (ATC) in Laredo, Texas. The facility was originally established as Laredo Army Air Field, a World War II U.S. Army Air Force facility that began operations in November 1942, primarily as an aerial gunnery school with an associated gunnery range.

Luke Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located 7 miles west of the central business district of Glendale, in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. It is about 15 miles west of Phoenix, Arizona.

Nellis Air Force Base is a United States Air Force installation in southern Nevada with military schools and more squadrons than any other USAF base. Nellis hosts air combat exercises such as Exercise Red Flag and close air support exercises such as Green Flag-West flown in "Military Operations Area (MOA) airspace", associated with the nearby Nevada Test and Training Range (NTTR). The base also has the Combined Air and Space Operations Center-Nellis.

Selected for exchange duty with the United States Navy in 1964, General Williams flew an F-4 Phantom II combat tour of duty in Southeast Asia from the carrier USS Ranger (CV-61). He then was assigned to the initial Air Force contingent in combat evaluation of the A-7 Corsair II with the Navy, again from the USS Ranger. In May 1968 he transferred to Edwards Air Force Base, California, as Tactical Air Command project officer for A-7D testing.^[1]

The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most capable navy in the world and it has been estimated that in terms of tonnage of its active battle fleet alone, it is larger than the next 13 navies combined, which includes 11 U.S. allies or partner nations. with the highest combined battle fleet tonnage and the world's largest aircraft carrier fleet, with eleven in service, and two new carriers under construction. With 319,421 personnel on active duty and 99,616 in the Ready Reserve, the Navy is the third largest of the service branches. It has 282 deployable combat vessels and more than 3,700 operational aircraft as of March 2018, making it the second-largest air force in the world, after the United States Air Force.

Southeast Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China and Japan, east of India, west of Papua New Guinea, and north of Australia. Southeast Asia is bordered to the north by East Asia, to the west by South Asia and the Bay of Bengal, to the east by Oceania and the Pacific Ocean, and to the south by Australia and the Indian Ocean. The region is the only part of Asia that lies partly within the Southern Hemisphere, although the majority of it is in the Northern Hemisphere. In contemporary definition, Southeast Asia consists of two geographic regions:

Mainland Southeast Asia, also known historically as Indochina, comprising parts of Northeast India, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar, and West Malaysia.
Maritime Southeast Asia, also known historically as Nusantara, the East Indies and Malay Archipelago, comprises the Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India, Indonesia, East Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, East Timor, Brunei, Christmas Island, and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands. Taiwan is also included in this grouping by many anthropologists.

The seventh USS Ranger (CV/CVA-61) was the third of four Forrestal-class supercarriers built for the United States Navy in the 1950s. Although all four ships of the class were completed with angled decks, Ranger had the distinction of being the first US carrier built from the beginning as an angled-deck ship.

In February 1971 he was assigned to the Tactical Fighter Division, Directorate of Operational Requirements, Headquarters United States Air Force, Washington, D.C. He culminated this tour of duty as chief, Advanced Systems Branch, with requirements responsibilities for a broad range of new tactical fighters, including F-15 Eagles, F-16 Fighting Falcons and A-10 Thunderbolt IIs.^[1]

Williams graduated from the National War College in 1975 and then was assigned as commander, The United States Logistics Group, Detachment 118, Izmir, Turkey. He served as the deputy commander for operations, 406th Tactical Fighter Training Wing, Zaragoza Air Base, Spain, from July 1976 to September 1977. He then transferred to the 81st Tactical Fighter Wing, Royal Air Force Station Bentwaters, England, as vice commander. He became commander of the wing in August 1979. In May 1981 he moved to Ramstein Air Base, West Germany, as inspector general, United States Air Forces in Europe.^[1]

Upon returning to the United States in September 1982, General Williams was assigned as director of aerospace safety, Air Force Inspection and Safety Center, Norton Air Force Base, California. In July 1984 he became center commander.^[1] He later chaired the inquiry into the fatal accident of Lieutenant General Robert M. Bond, who died when he lost control of a MiG-23 that the USAF was secretly operating.^[2]

In June 1985 he became commander of the 13th Air Force, Pacific Air Forces, Clark Air Base. In March 1987 he was assigned as assistant deputy chief of staff for programs and resources at Air Force headquarters. He was later assigned as director for plans and policy, J-5, Headquarters United States European Command, Stuttgart-Vaihingen, West Germany.^[1]

He was promoted to Major General on September 1, 1984, with date of rank March 1, 1981. He has more than 4,000 flying hours and has flown numerous Air Force and Navy aircraft. He retired on 1 August 1988.^[1]

Awards and decorations

General Williams' military decorations and awards include the Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit with oak leaf cluster, Distinguished Flying Cross Meritorious Service Medal with oak leaf cluster, Air Medal with 15 oak leaf clusters, and Navy Commendation Medal with "V" device and three service stars.^[1]

Rendlesham Forest incident

In September 1977, then-Colonel Williams was assigned as the Vice Wing Commander of the 81st TFW at RAF Bentwaters, England, and was promoted to Wing Commander in August 1979. He was the commander of the 81st TFW at the time of the Rendlesham Forest incident in December 1980. Williams has never gone on record about this event, but it has been alleged by other Air Force members that he was involved in the incident and allegedly communicated with alien entities (EBEs).^[3]

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Walter Daniel Druen Jr. was a lieutenant general in the United States Air Force who served as commander of Allied Air Forces Southern Europe and deputy commander in chief, U.S. Air Forces in Europe (USAFE), Southern Area, with headquarters at Naples, Italy from July 1981 until his retirement in 1982.

References

This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http://www.afhra.af.mil/ .

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 USAF Biography, Major General Gordon E. Williams
↑ Davies, Steve (1 January 2012). Red Eagles: America's Secret MiGs. Osprey Publishing. pp. 224–226. ISBN 9781849088404.
↑ Bruni and Pope (2001), You Can't Tell the People: The Definitive Account of the Rendlesham Forest UFO Mystery, Pan Macmillan; 2nd edition ISBN 033039021X

External links

Gordon E. Williams on IMDb

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[USAFB-1] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 USAF Biography, Major General Gordon E. Williams

[Red_Eagles-2] Davies, Steve (1 January 2012). Red Eagles: America's Secret MiGs. Osprey Publishing. pp. 224–226. ISBN 9781849088404.

[3] Bruni and Pope (2001), You Can't Tell the People: The Definitive Account of the Rendlesham Forest UFO Mystery, Pan Macmillan; 2nd edition ISBN 033039021X