- November 21, 2024
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Branch of Military: U.S. Air Force
Dates of Service: 1961-1984
Rank / Occupation: Colonel / Command Pilot
Hometown: Fort Worth, Texas
Douglass Wood is a veteran of the Vietnam War. He was born in Texas but spent much of his early years in Havana, Cuba, where his father, an Army Air Corps veteran and founder of Braniff Airlines, relocated in 1948 to establish the new company’s South American flight routes. While growing up in Cuba and attending school there, Wood met his future wife, Glenn. They have been married now for almost 63 years.
Wood graduated college in 1961 and through the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) he was commissioned a second lieutenant. He attended undergraduate pilot training at Reese Air Force Base, Texas, and received his wings in 1962. The first aircraft he was assigned to fly was the C-124 Globemaster, a heavy-lift cargo transporter. He flew the C-124 while assigned in Japan from 1963-1966. Wood left Japan for an assignment at Robins Air Force, Georgia, and transitioned to the C-141 Starlifter, a larger cargo transport jet aircraft that replaced the prop-driven C-124.
He served a tour in Vietnam from 1970 to 1971 as the command post duty officer in Da Nang. Following this tour, he was assigned to Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland, in 1971 and transitioned to the C-140 Jetstar, an 8-10 seat “business jet”. Among his duties was personal pilot for President Richard Nixon’s daughters. Later in his career he returned to flying the C-141. He also served two separate tours at the Pentagon in Washington D.C, working for the U.S. Air Force Vice Chief of Staff.
During his career he earned and received numerous awards and decorations. The Bronze Star Medal, Meritorious Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters, and Air Medal are just a few. After his retirement in 1984, he joined the Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation as Director of U.S. Government and International Marketing. He left that position and in 1992 and took a position as director of Washington Operations for the Cessna Aircraft Company.
Wood retired from Cessna in 1998, and he and Glenn moved to Palm Coast. He is a long-time member of the Military Officers Association of America and belongs to the Flagler Chapter.
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