(July 2000) Maj. Gen. Francis C. Gideon Jr. is the chief of safety of the U.S. Air Force, and commander, Headquarters Air Force Safety Center, Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M. He serves as the senior uniformed adviser to the chief of staff and the secretary of the Air Force on all issues involving the safety of a combined active duty, Guard, Reserve and civilian force of more than 700,000 people serving approximately 2,300 locations in the United States and overseas.
His career has touched many aspects of the Air Force mission as fighter pilot and experimental test pilot, and in acquisition, intelligence and logistics. His assignments span the globe from Thailand to England. He commanded one of the Air Force’s three test wings and its center for scientific and technical intelligence. He is a command pilot with almost 3,000 hours flying in 30 kinds of aircraft. He was a A-10 test pilot and flew 220 combat missions in Southeast Asia in F-100s and F-4s.
EDUCATION
1966 Bachelor of science degree in engineering sciences, U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colo.
1970 Squadron Officer School, Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala.
1971 Industrial College of the Armed Forces, Fort Lesley J. McNair, Washington, D.C.
1974 Master of science degree in systems management, Air Force Institute of Technology, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio
1979 Air Command and Staff College, Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala.
1981 Air War College, Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala.
1988 The Executive Development Program, University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Business, Pittsburgh, Pa.
1990 Defense Systems Management College, Fort Belvoir, Va.
ASSIGNMENTS
1. June 1966 – October 1967, student, undergraduate pilot training, Williams Air Force Base, Ariz.
2. October 1967 – June 1968, student, F-100 combat crew training, Luke Air Force Base, Ariz.
3. July 1968 – July 1969, F-100D fighter pilot, 615th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Phan Rang Air Base, Republic of Vietnam
4. August 1969 – December 1971, F-100D fighter pilot, 494th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Royal Air Force Lakenheath, England
5. December 1971 – March 1973, F-4D fighter pilot, 492nd Tactical Fighter Squadron, Royal Air Force Lakenheath, England
6. March 1973 – July 1973, F-4D fighter pilot and chief, Programs and Mobility, 48th Tactical Fighter Wing, Royal Air Force Lakenheath, England
7. August 1973 – December 1974, student, Air Force Institute of Technology, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio
8. January 1975 – December 1975, student, Air Force Test Pilot School, Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.
9. December 1975 – May 1976, F-4 test pilot, 6512th Test Squadron, Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.
10. May 1976 – August 1980, A-10 test pilot and operations officer, A-10 Joint Test Force, Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.
11. August 1980 – May 1981, student, Air War College, Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala.
12. June 1981 – December 1981, chief, Development Plans Aircraft Division, Air Force Systems Command, Andrews Air Force Base, Md.
13. January 1982 – January 1984, deputy director, Development Plans Tactical Systems Directorate, Andrews Air Force Base, Md.
14. January 1984 – September 1984, deputy director, Fighter Attack Systems Program Office, Aeronautical Systems Division, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio
15. September 1984 – July 1985, chief, F-15 Projects and Test Division, F-15 Systems Program Office, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio
16. July 1985 – December 1986, director, Fighter Attack System Program Office, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio
17. December 1986 – May 1987, director, Strike Systems Program Office, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio
18. May 1987 – August 1988, commander, 4950th Test Wing, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio
19. August 1988 – June 1992, commander, Foreign Aerospace Science and Technology Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio
20. June 1992 – May 1993, vice commander, Sacramento Air Logistics Center, McClellan Air Force Base, Calif.
21. June 1993 – June 1997, director of operations, Headquarters Air Force Materiel Command, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio
22. June 1997 – present, chief of safety, U.S. Air Force, and commander, Headquarters Air Force Safety Center, Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M.
FLIGHT INFORMATION
Rating: Command pilot, parachutist
Flight hours: Almost 3,000
Aircraft flown: A-7D, A-10, A-37, NKC-135, F-4D/E, F-100D, F-16, T-29, T-38 and RF-4C
MAJOR AWARDS AND DECORATIONS
Distinguished Service Medal with oak leaf cluster
Legion of Merit with oak leaf cluster
Distinguished Flying Cross
Meritorious Service Medal with oak leaf cluster
Air Medal with 14 oak leaf clusters
Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with bronze star
OTHER ACHIEVEMENTS
Program Management, Level II Certification
Test and Evaluation Level III Certification
EFFECTIVE DATES OF PROMOTION
Second Lieutenant Jun 8, 1966
First Lieutenant Dec 8, 1967
Captain Jun 8, 1969
Major Jun 1, 1976
Lieutenant Colonel Dec 1, 1979
Colonel Sep 1, 1984
Brigadier General Aug 3, 1991
Major General Sep 28, 1994
https://www.torch.aetc.af.mil/News/Features/Display/Article/365447/even-though-he-had-to-eject-from-one-of-the-first-a-10-attack-aircraft-this-for/
A former A-10 Thunderbolt II test pilot says the “Wathog” is an amazing jet to have done so well so long. (U.S. Air Force photo by Capt. Justin T. Watson/digital manipulation by David Stack)
Moody AFB, Ga. (ACCNS) — Maj. Gen. Francis Gideon holds the dubious honor of being the first pilot to successfully eject from an A-10 Thunderbolt II. Even though the experience destroyed his aircraft and nearly killed him, the general remains a strong advocate of the aircraft affectionately known as the “Warthog.”
In 1978, Gideon, who retired in 2000 as the Air Force’s chief of safety and now resides in Twin Falls, Idaho, was one of the first test pilots assigned to the A-10 joint task force. He retold his story during a visit to Moody Air Force Base, Ga., in March.
During the early years of the A-10A program, a common problem with the gun system was known as secondary gun gas ignition, or unburned propellant re-igniting outside the confines of the gun, the general said. The glitch produced a large fireball and a pocket of hot gas that could snuff out an engine.
“In an effort to combat the risks of (secondary gun gas ignition), the test wing was tasked with validating three different manufacturers of new ammunition,” Gideon said.
The first passes went off without a hitch. But when the general fired the third manufacturer’s rounds, his aircraft experienced the dreaded secondary gun gas ignition.
“I immediately let go of the trigger,” he said. “These gasses went straight into my engines, and I had a dual engine compressor stall.”
While there had been instances of a single engine failure from gas ingestion, this proved to be the first time both engines had failed in this circumstance, the general said.
A compressor stall occurs when airflow through an engine ceases. In addition to the major side-effect of losing all thrust needed for sustained flight, the engines continue to burn fuel and will overheat rapidly if left uncorrected.
“I saw my temperature gauges peg, so I chopped the power, performed all of my emergency procedures and realized I had no steps remaining until the engines cooled down,” he said. “So I sat there, for two long minutes, with absolutely nothing to do but lose altitude and watch the temp gauges slowly fall back into range.”
As the aircraft’s engines cooled enough to start relighting, the plane quickly sank below 2,000 feet. To make matters worse, a mountain ridge loomed in the flight path.
As Gideon began the process of starting one engine, he realized it would take another 45 seconds to produce usable thrust. After doing the math for a successful recovery of his sinking airplane, it just didn’t add up.
He announced his decision to eject.
“Seeing what was coming, the (pilot in the) camera chase-plane was considerate enough to position himself perfectly up-sun for the ideal shot of me coming out of the aircraft,” the general said. “Pretty much every A-10 pilot since that day has seen the footage of my ejection.”
The ejection seat the general used was an older style seat called an Escapac. At the time, it was being replaced in front-line A-10s with the newer ACES-II seat because of safety concerns. His test airframe was not slated for upgrade until the end of the program.
“A number of pilots had already been killed trying to eject from the A-10 in an Escapac, but I was in the proper envelope and prepared in every way possible,” he said. “Still, the ejection slammed my head down into my chest and left me in quite a bit of pain.”
Upon landing, the back of his neck struck a rock. Flight doctors believed this caused his most severe injury — a broken neck.
Following the mishap, the program to upgrade the ejection seat was accelerated, he said.
Additionally, the Air Force began looking at better gun-gas diverters designed to push the blast fumes below the aircraft instead of above it and into its engines. Manufacturers also created new propellant mixtures that were less prone to secondary gun gas ignition, but the general recalls these produced problems of their own.
“The new compounds in the propellant were sticky and caustic after firing,” he said. “They would get on the engine blades and cause damage, so after every flight they had to be scrubbed off.”
Additionally, every time they fired the gun, the windshields would get covered with a sticky film that blocked their vision, Gideon added.
“We ended up strapping a five-gallon plastic tank full of alcohol wash into the nose wheel well and hooking a windshield washer pump to it,” the general said. “You would get five shots of the stuff, and it gave you a small spot on the windscreen so you could fly home.”
That windshield washing system has since been upgraded with engine gasses to blast soot cleaner over the windshield. But the tank is still mounted in the same place they rigged the first one — the nose wheel well.
“(After 28 years), the resources and weapons available to today’s generation of pilots bring a level of complexity and information into the cockpit that I never dealt with,” the general said. “The A-10 is an amazing jet to have done so well for so long.”
Late in his career when Gideon went on to command the Air Force Safety Center at Kirtland AFB, N.M., his aircraft wreckage also was shipped to the center to be used as a training tool for accident investigators. On the last day of his Air Force career, man and mangled machine crossed paths one last time.
“As it turns out, my retirement date was exactly 20 years to the day after my accident,” the general said. “The safety staff at Kirtland removed a blade from one of my engines and mounted it on a plaque that said, ‘Together again, after all these years.’ ”