LTG Thomas McMullen USA (Retired)
Cullum: 18041
Class: '51
Cadet Company: H2
Date of Birth: July 4, 1929
Date of Death: May 20, 2009 - View or Post a Eulogy
Thomas H. (Tom)
McMullen
From the 50th reunion book:
I was born in Dayton on 4 Jul '29, the son of Air Corps pioneer
l/Lt (later Maj Gen) Clements and Adelaide L. McMullen. Raised
in the Army Air Corps, Air 'force wings were always my target
at USMA. On 2 Aug , 52, the AF awarded them to me after training
in the T-6 at Hondo AB, TX, and T-28 and T-33 at Bryan AFB, TX.
At Nellis AFB, NV, I received F-80 and F-86 fighter gunnery training.
In Korea, I flew the F-86 with the 16 FIS, 51 FIW, at K-J3 (Suwon),
Dec '52 - Oct '53 (Flight Commander, 78 combat missions, no Mig'
s): At Kelly AFB for 5 1/2 years, I flew depot flight test on
all AF fighters, bombers, trainers, most transports, some helicopters
- and did the smartest thing I ever did, marry Clara Faye Kirkwood
(No, she didn't write that). From '59-'62, I flyw AF acceptance
tests in the Mach 2 B­58 at GD, Ft Worth, for 31/2 years.
Two years at AFIT (Wright-Patt got me an MS in Astronautical Engineering;
I then spent two years at Los Angeles AFS working launch vehicle
flight crew/safety for NASA's Gemini 2 through 10. After getting
recurrent in the F-100 at Luke AFB, AZ, and checked out in the_O-1
at Hurlburt Field, FL, I spent '67 to early '68 at Cu Chi VN,
as ALO for 25 Inf Div (over 400 missions/l,OOO+ Hours, in, the
0-1 at 75 knots: most dull, some pretty exciting). The next 2
1/2 years were as Assistant Mission Director at NASA Hq on Apollo,
working flight crew and mission issues for Apollo VI through XIII;
I was in the Mission Control Center holdfng my breath when Buzz
and Neil landed Apollo XI. I got an MS in Admin from GWU during
ICAF in '71. I went to Wright-Patt as B-1 Deputy Program Director,
then Director of the ugly but cappable A-10 tank killer of Desert
Storm fame. In '74, I went to Eglin as Vice Commander, then Commander,
of the Tactical Air War Center for 2 years. At Langley, as Hq
TAC DCS Requirements, I spent 2 1/2 years modernizing Tac Air.
At Hq AF Systems Command, I spent a year plus doing a similar
thing for the Air Force at large. In '80, I went back to TAC for
2 years as Commander, when the F-15, F-16 and AWACS were becoming
its main systems. I retired as a Lt Gen in '86 after 4 year Commander,
Aeronautical Systems Division, where I was responsible for acquisition
of all new AF aeronautical systems and an annual budget of $20-25B.
In between, until I retired, I flew 8,300+ hours in 65 or so different
aircraft types. Now, I sp spend more time with my lifetime partner,
Clara, and consult for companies in industry. Our daughter Susan,
an independent artist in Madison for 10 years, is now into optometry;
our two sons, both Lt Cols, are Air Force pilots.
