Don Lewis Brooks

Born and raised in East Texas, Don L. Brooks was a member of the inaugural graduating class of the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1959.

Following pilot training, he was assigned to Barksdale Air Force Base (AFB), Louisiana, as a B-52 co-pilot, where he distinguished himself, advancing to instructor co-pilot on the senior standardization crew. During his tenure at Barksdale, he actively participated in air and ground alert operations during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

He was later reassigned to Dyess AFB, Texas, joining the senior standardization crew as their bomb wing transitioned from the B-47 to the B-52. It was during this assignment that he achieved aircraft commander status.

From Dyess, he was selected for a prestigious assignment to the Directorate of Personnel, Strategic Air Command (SAC) Headquarters, Offutt AFB, Nebraska. He also held the additional duty of SAC Liaison Officer to the Air Force Academy, coordinating all command support for Academy programs hosted by SAC. While at Offutt, he served as an instructor pilot in the T-39.

His next assignment took him to Southeast Asia as an Air Liaison Officer/Forward Air Controller (ALO/FAC), flying the OV-10 Bronco in support of the Army's First Air Cavalry Division. He also held the additional duty of supporting a Special Forces team. Operating out of the Quan Loi forward location, he was directly involved in the May 1970 incursion into Cambodia. Due to his experience flying in Cambodia, he was later selected as one of the first pilots assigned to the Third Direct Air Support Center (III DASC) Task Force, flying highly classified missions providing close air support to Cambodian ground forces against the North Vietnamese and Khmer Rouge. He completed a total of 357 combat missions in Southeast Asia.

Upon his return, he served a brief tour as Maintenance Quality Control Officer at Offutt AFB before being selected as Chief of the Brownsville, Texas Field Office, Defense Contract Administration Service (DCAS), where he oversaw aircraft overhaul and flight tests.

After completing Armed Forces Staff College at Norfolk, Virginia, he was assigned as Commander of the 42nd Avionics Maintenance Squadron at Loring AFB, Maine. His next duty station was in Korea, where he served as Chief of Maintenance, 314th Air Division. During this time, he acted as Director of Logistics for Air Forces Korea, overseeing the bed down and support of all U.S. air assets deployed to Korea in response to the North Korean ax murders of U.S. servicemen in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ).

After a brief tour at Carswell AFB, Texas, where he served as Maintenance Control Officer and Chief of Operations and Training, he returned to Korea as Director of Operations, Fifth Tactical Air Support Group, once again flying the OV-10. With the phase-out of the OV-10s, he was selected to oversee the multi-million dollar construction and activation of a tactical bombing range and an air-to-air combat range, both developed as joint installations with the Korean Air Force. His final active-duty assignment was Chief of the Command and Control Division at Holloman AFB, New Mexico.

Following his military retirement, he embarked on another seventeen-year career with the airlines. He and his wife now reside in Colorado, near the Air Force Academy.

He logged 7,000 flying hours in various aircraft, including the T-34, T-28, T-33, B-52, T-39, OV-10, T-29, C-131, DC-9, A-300, A-319, and A-320.