Bio

I'm the son of 1Lt. George D. Kammer of the 353rd Fighter Group who was the pilot of the P-51D Mustang "Baltimore Belle". I am retired from the U.S. Air Force as a Captain (10 years of prior enlisted service), and served at retirement as Air Defense officer for the NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command), Command Director in Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, USA. I'm a licensed Private Pilot and hold a Masters Degree in Aeronautical Science, so I suppose one could say that aviation is in my DNA passed down from my father. On a side note, 1Lt. George Donald Kammer passed away in Fort Worth, Texas on April 24, 1998 at the age of 79 and a half...four days after my 50th birthday (which, unfortunately, I share with Adolf Hitler). Dad's plane was named after our family hometown of Baltimore, Maryland. The "Belle" part is for my mother who will celebrate her 94th birthday this Wednesday, March 11th, in Benbrook, Texas...just a few miles south of Fort Worth. On another side note, after the war, Dad was eventually assigned to the 95th Fighter Squadron at Granier Field in Manchester, New Hampshire. It was there where I was born. Years later, that unit was transferred to Tyndall AFB, Panama City, Florida and was reconfigured as the 95th Fighter Training Squadron. I was assigned to the 23rd Air Defense Sector there in 1986 as an Air Weapons Director (controlled fighter/interceptors in air-to-air combat operations), and controlled the F-15s from that squadron...not knowing at the time that it was Dad's squadron from New Hampshire. As Air Weapons Directors, we were invited by the 95th to take orientation flights in the F-15...WHICH WE DID! My pilot happened to be the Squadron Commander, and during the flight over the Gulf of Mexico, I asked him if we could momentarily go "Super" (super sonic). He obliged immediately and I then became the first and only member of my family to go super sonic, AND in the squadron I was BORN in. That status is directly due to my father's service as a P-51 pilot which started (after training), at the 353rd Fighter Group! THANK YOU, and may our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ richly bless ALL of you!!! G. Don Kammer, Jr., Capt., USAF, Retired.