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Stenner, 6 former AFRC commanders gather for Gill memorial

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Linda Welz
MARCH AIR RESERVE BASE, Calif. --  Family, friends and Airmen from the past and present gathered here Nov. 6 to honor one of Air Force Reserve Command's former leaders.

Retired Maj. Gen. Sloan R. Gill, who served as chief of Air Force Reserve and commander of the Air Force Reserve before retiring in December 1989, passed away Aug. 22. He was 81.

Lt. Gen. Charles E. Stenner Jr., chief of Air Force Reserve and commander of Air Force Reserve Command, gave the eulogy at the memorial in the Cultural Resource Center. Joining him for the service were retired Maj. Gens. Homer I. Lewis, William Lyon, Roger Scheer and Robert McIntosh, as well as retired Lt. Gens. James E. Sherrard and John Bradley. All of them held the dual-status role as the top general in the Air Force Reserve.

This was the largest gathering of present and former Air Force Reserve commanders in history of the air reserve component.

After Stenner spoke, honor guard members performed the flag-folding ceremony and presented it to the general, who presented it to Gill's daughter, Roxann.

Gill, a native of Georgia, was a graduate of Staunton (Va.) Military Academy and the Georgia Institute of Technology. He was a command pilot who flew the B-25 Mitchell Bomber, C-123 Provider, C-124 Globemaster II, C-7A Caribou and the C-118 Liftmaster.

In 1955, Gill set a world record in a C-118 for propeller-driven transports when he flew from McGuire Air Force Base, N.J., to Rhein-Main Air Base, Germany, in 10 hours, 22 minutes. He had more than 10,000 hours of military flying time with more than 4,000 civilian hours.

The general participated in Operation Wounded Warrior, the air evacuation of French Foreign Legion troops from North Vietnam, to French bases in North Africa. He was called to active duty during the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Pueblo Crisis.

His duty assignments were Maxwell AFB, Ala.; O'Hare International Airport, Ill.; Selfridge AFB, Mich.; Robins AFB, Ga.; Dobbins ARB, Ga.; Kelly AFB, Texas; McClellan AFB, Calif.; and Headquarters Air Force at the Pentagon.

Gill's biography for the memorial service read, "He was truly an exceptional man who flew his Cessna 172 and shot a round of 84 on the golf course four weeks before his death. He loved his family, loved his friends, and loved his country. He will be sorely missed by everyone who had the pleasure to know him."