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'Air Commando One' to be honored for work, impact on AFSOC community

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Ryan Whitney
  • 1st Special Operations Wing Public Afairs
HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. --  The general who pioneered Air Force special operations is scheduled to be honored in a memorial service Friday, July 2 at 9 a.m. at the Hurlburt Field Air Park.

Retired Brig. Gen. Harry "Heinie" Aderholt died May 20 in his Okaloosa County, Fla. home after a 91-year life and more than 30 years of Air Force service.

During his service, he helped mold and develop Air Force special operations into what it is now.

The general's eyes were opened to conventional and unconventional air transport missions in 1950 through his work with the 21st Troop Carrier Squadron during the Korean War while commanding the special air warfare detachment. This was also where then captain Aderholt was first exposed to U.S. Army special operations.

Three years after this assignment, he was stationed at Headquarters U.S. Air Forces in the Directorate of Plans as an unconventional warfare planning staff officer, where he came to the realization that the Air Force was not fully prepared for unconventional warfare.

Following this assignment as a Major, in 1957, General Aderholt was assigned to the 1007th Air Intelligence Service group as a special warfare staff officer, followed by the U.S. Air Force Field Activity Squadron performing a similar billet. While filling these billets, he performed special air warfare planning.

In 1960, then Lt. Col. Aderholt was returned to the operational side of special operations when he was assigned to the 1095th Operational Evaluation Training Group detachment commander in Okinawa. While there, he worked with Takhli Airfield in Thailand, supporting airlift operations in support of the Tibetan rebels, laying groundwork for special air operations through projects like the Laos Lima sites.

These sites were used as special warfare support sites, as well as rescue and recovery operations in Laos and North Vietnam.

From there the lieutenant colonel returned to the states to Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. as a special advisor to the then named USAF Special Air Warfare Center. After two years, Colonel Aderholt moved on to become the 1st Air Commando Wing commander at Hurlburt Field in 1964.

After his tour at Hurlburt, Colonel Aderholt travelled back to the Pacific where he served as the deputy commander for plans and operations at the 6200th Materiel Wing, where he activated the joint Personnel Recovery Center in Saigon as part of US Military Command- Vietnam.

In 1966, the colonel resumed a command position as commander of the newly activated 56th Air Commando Wing in Thailand at Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai Air Force Base. The 56th Air Commando Wing used propeller driven aircraft to conduct low-level night interdiction in Laos and North Vietnam, as well as conducting civil action missions.

Following another brief assignment to the USAF Special Air Warfare Center, renamed the USAF Special Operations Force, at Eglin, Colonel Aderholt returned to Thailand. There he oversaw and assisted the Thai Air Force as the chief of the Air Force Advisory Group, part of the Joint U.S. Military Advisory Group.

In 1972, the full-bird colonel retired after nearly thirty years, but would be called back to active-duty and promoted to the rank of brigadier general only 10 months later.

The new general was recalled to work in the U.S. Military Assistance command in Thailand, where he later became commander. Following this assignment, he retired a second time in August of 1976.

During his storied service, General Aderholt was awarded multiple awards and decorations, including the Legion of Merit with two oak leaf clusters, Distinguished Flying Cross with oak leaf cluster, Bronze Star Medal with oak leaf cluster, Meritorious Service Medal, Air Medal with eight oak leaf clusters, Joint Service Commendation Medal, Air Force Commendation Medal, Presidential Unit Citation Emblem, and the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award Ribbon with oak leaf cluster.

Editor's Note: The information in this article was obtained from the official Biography, and written in collaboration with Mr. David Schepp, 1st SOW historian.