Allan Palmer - Extended

AFCEA Hawaii February Meeting
Tuesday, February 3, 2004
11:00 AM to 1:00 PM
Location: Pearl Harbor Banyans Club

The Military Aviation Museum of the Pacific (MAMP) The vision of an aviation museum for the Pacific theater has existed for several decades among aviation enthusiasts in Hawaii and finally, in 1997, a group of eight advocates met for the first time to formulate plans for the development of such a unique and relevant museum on Ford Island in the middle of Pearl Harbor, and the site of the first shots fired in the American presence in World War II. Admiral Ron Hays, former USCINCPAC, is the chairman of this board. The group formed a non profit corporation called The Military Aviation Museum of the Pacific. That group was formed into the Board of Directors for MAMP, a board which has now expanded to include 22 members who meet on a routine basis to create the MAMP museum in the three historic main hangars on Ford Island, along with the associated ramp space and control tower complex. An Advisory Board has also been formed composed of 25 influential persons from around the country including Sen. Daniel Inouye and Sen. John McCain. Developmental work has continued at fast pace with creation of internal layouts for the hangars (which will be shown today), and detailed financial and jurisdictional matters with the US Navy and with Fluor Hawaii, the lead contractor for the Ford Island Redevelopment Project. Last year al of the assets of the Hawaii Historic Aviation Assn were turned over to MAMP as well as most of the assets of the former Aviation Museum at Honolulu Intl airport. Virtually all of the aircraft used in the film Pearl Harbor are being held by Disney in California for eventual shipment to the new MAMP location. The museum is currently engaged in a major international fund raising campaign to raise $50M required to move on with phase I of the museum activation with an opening planned for 7 Dec 2006. Come and join us for this highly relevant and important briefing on one of the finest new military facilities to be created in Hawaii in the last 50 years, briefed by one of the key aviation leaders and museum managers in the Pacific & Mr. Allan Palmer.

Commander Palmer was born into a military family in San Francisco, the son of an Army Air Corps officer and the grandson of one of the Air Corps earliest aviators. He grew up with the new U.S. Air Force as his family moved from base to base across the United States and Europe. Upon graduation from East Tennessee State University, he attended the U.S. Air Force Officer Training School where he was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in 1966 and became a third generation Air Force officer.

Following flight training, he was assigned to the 41st Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron at Takhli, Royal Thai Air Force Base where he flew 100 combat missions over Vietnam in the EB-66 aircraft. He was then assigned to fly the F-4C Phantom II at Yokota AFB where he joined the 35th, 36th and 80th Tactical Fighter Squadrons. When Air Force tactical units left Japan in 1971, then-Captain Palmer led the Yokota F-4s to Kadena AB, Okinawa where they joined the reactivated 67th Tactical Fighter Squadron. As the war in Southeast Asia intensified in 1972, Captain Palmer was selected as one of the twelve 67th TFS Wild Weasel crewmembers to take the new F-4 Wild Weasel IV into combat. In September, 1972 Captain Palmer flew the first F-4 Wild Weasel combat mission over North Vietnam. Captain Palmer flew 58 combat missions during the six-month deployment and was credited with destroying 6 Surface to Air Missile (SAM) sites and 7 Anti-aircraft Artillery sites. He flew eight of the ele!
ven nights of Linebacker II over Hanoi and Haiphong, North Vietnam, the most intense campaign in the history of modern air warfare. Among his accomplishments during this period were the first night Hunter-Killer Wild Weasel mission and the only successful night dogfight of the war with enemy MiG aircraft. His combat decorations include the Silver Star, four Distinguished Flying Crosses and eleven Air Medals.

Captain Palmer was granted a rare inter-service transfer to the United States Navy as a regular officer in 1975. Following Replacement Air Group training at NAS Miramar, California as a Navy Lieutenant Commander, he was assigned to Fighter Squadron Twenty Four aboard the aircraft carrier USS Constellation. He completed 200 carrier landings in the F-14A Tomcat fighter and was the recipient of the Thomas Clifton Award as a member of the best fighter squadron in the U.S. Navy. He was subsequently assigned duties on the staff of the Commander, Naval Military Personnel Command in Washington D.C. where he was promoted to the rank of Commander. Commander Palmer retired from active service in 1986 while serving as the Financial Policy Officer and Director of Commercial Activities for the Commander in Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

Commander Palmer has held senior management positions with several non-profit corporations in Hawaii, including the Queen Emma Foundation, Queens Medical Center, Hawaii Kai Computers, Inc., Aeronautical Radio Inc., and the Hawaii Army Museum Society. As the Executive Director of the San Diego Aerospace Museum, he managed one of the top five aviation and space museums in the country. During his tenure, the museum completed an ambitious $5 million capital campaign and construction of three major additions. Commander Palmer has served as a consultant to museums, government and non-profit organizations for the design and construction of new museums. He is currently the Executive Director/CEO of the Military Aviation Museum of the Pacific, a new aviation museum opening soon on historic Ford Island in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. He serves on the board of the Navy League of Honolulu and is a member of the Air Force Civilian Advisory Council.

Commander Palmer is married to the former Susan Gay Kunz of San Antonio, Texas. They have three grown children and three grandchildren.

Source: HITECH Hawaii - The Gateway to Hawaii's Technology Industry