Neil D. Van Sickle

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Neil D. Van Sickle
Major General
Commands heldDeputy Inspector General of the U.S. Air Force
Awards
Relations
  • Major General (retired) Paul M. Van Sickle, USAF, nephew
  • Colonel (retired) Earl Rosenquist Van Sickle, USAF, brother

Neil David Van Sickle (July 8, 1915 – September 29, 2019) was an American

Headquarters, United States Air Force
, Washington, D.C.

Biography

Van Sickle was born in

Cullum Number was 11191. He was commissioned a second lieutenant of cavalry, assigned to the Fourth Cavalry Regiment at Fort Meade, South Dakota.[1]

In December 1940 he was transferred to the

73rd Wing on Saipan and flew 16 combat missions against Japan. At the end of the war he was deputy commander of the 497th Bombardment Group
.

Van Sickle served successively in diplomatic, arctic, congressional liaison and high-level budget planning, operational and training activities. These included assignments as assistant secretary of the U.S. delegation of the United Nations Military Staff Committee; director of operations, Yukon Air Division; commander, Ladd Air Force Base, Alaska; and chief of aircraft programming in Headquarters U.S. Air Force. From 1955 to 1957 he commanded the 28th Bombardment Wing (Strategic Air Command) at Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota.

In April 1957 Van Sickle was assigned to the United States-Taiwan Defense Command as assistant chief of staff for operations, promoted to brigadier general, and named chief of staff in October 1958. Generaliasimo Chiang Kai-shek personally awarded him the Order of the Cloud and Banner for his service during the 1958 Taiwan Straits crisis. His next assignment was to Headquarters Pacific Air Forces at Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii, where he served as assistant chief of staff for operations until 1961.

He was then assigned to Mather Air Force Base, California, as commander of the 3535th Navigator Training Wing. In August 1963 he moved to Headquarters Air Training Command, Randolph Air Force Base, Texas, as deputy chief of staff, flying training and was promoted to the grade of major general in June 1964.

On January 15, 1965, he assumed command of the U.S. Air Force Recruiting Service, with headquarters at Randolph Air Force Base. In November 1969 he was assigned to Air Force Headquarters in Washington, D.C., as Air Force deputy inspector general.

Van Sickle, a command pilot, rated navigator and radar observer, logged more than 7,000 hours' military flying in all types of aircraft. He graduated in 1949 from the

Air War College
. He is well known in civil and military aviation for his widely read textbook Modern Airmanship, which deals comprehensively with flying in modern aviation. First published in 1957; a third edition of which appeared in June 1966.

He was an associate fellow of the

Air Force Commendation Medal. He turned 100 in July 2015[3] and died in September 2019 at the age of 104.[4]

References

  1. ^ a b "Biographical register of the officers and graduates of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., from its establishment, in 1802 : [Supplement, volume VIII 1930-1940]". United States Military Academy Library. Retrieved 6 November 2017.
  2. ^ "Biographical register of the officers and graduates of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., from its establishment, in 1802 : [Supplement, volume IX 1940-1950]". United States Military Academy Library. Retrieved 6 November 2017.
  3. ^ "Five residents represent a combined 509 years of life". North Kitsap Herald. 2015-08-07. Retrieved 2015-10-03.
  4. ^ Neil David Van Sickle obituary