Kenneth R. Hughey

Ken Hughey was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force and awarded his pilot wings at Williams AFB, Arizona, on December 16, 1953, and he then attended jet instructor training, gunnery training, and F-86D Sabre training at Williams AFB and Luke AFB, Arizona, and at Tyndall AFB, Florida. His next assignment was as an Instructor Pilot with the 3626th and then 3627th Combat Crew Training Squadrons at Tyndall AFB, followed by service as an Academic Instructor with the 3626th Combat Crew Training Group at Tyndall AFB. Captain Hughey served as a Flight Test Maintenance Officer with the 3625th Maintenance and Supply Group at Tyndall AFB, and then as a Flight Test Maintenance Officer with the 3550th Maintenance and Supply Group at Moody AFB, Georgia. He then received an assignment to complete his Bachelor's Degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colorado, followed by service as a Planning Officer with Aerodynamic Configuration for the Space Re-Entry Program Division with the Space Systems Division at Los Angeles AFS, California. Major Hughey then deployed to Southeast Asia, where he served as an O-1 Bird Dog Forward Air Controller with the 6250th Support Squadron at Tan Son Nhut AB, South Vietnam. He then served as an O-1 Forward Air Controller with the 20th Tactical Air Support Squadron at Da Nang AB, South Vietnam, and during his first tour in Vietnam he flew 381 combat missions. While serving with the 20th TASS, he was assigned to the 2nd Infantry Division as a FAC. His next assignment was as a Project Officer in Test Operations of the Space Experiments Division with the Space Systems Division at Los Angeles AFS, when he returned to Southeast Asia as an F-4C Phantom II pilot. Major Hughey served as an F-4 pilot with the 480th Tactical Fighter Squadron at DaNang AB, South Vietnam, from October 1966 until he was forced to eject from his stricken aircraft over North Vietnam and was taken as a Prisoner of War on July 6, 1967.