The most important SR-71 mission Buz Carpenter flew for President Carter (ZOOM Only)

Retired SR-71 pilot Buz Carpenter will talk about his time in the USAF, SR-71 program and his most important mission. It’s March 1979 and Saudi Arabia and Yemen are at war with each other over an ill-defined border. Joins us to learn about the process from White House decision, through tasking, to deployment, and finally execution, of this incredibly successful precedent setting mission! Get insights into the Blackbird culture, capability generation, outreach capacities, Flight limits, and tanker bases. Finally, learn about all the individual pieces that had to be engaged to facilitate this mission.

Hailing from Oakland, California; Buz graduated from the USAF Academy in June 1967 and then completed pilot training at Williams AFB, AZ Sept 1968. He has flown a wide variety of aircraft including: C-141 worldwide airlift as an Aircraft Commander - 1350 hrs, RF-4C in Vietnam combat with 150 combat hours and later in Japan, served as Flight Commander and Instructor Pilot - 1030 hours, SR-71 Flown worldwide as an aircraft commander with over 230+ flights accruing 777 hours including over 65+ operational missions. Served as an SR-71 Instructor Pilot, T-38 Companion Trainer and Instructor Pilot - 550+ hours, USAF Blackworld programmer in Pentagon involving programs such as F-117, B-2 Bomber, F-22 and others, F-4E Fighter Squadron Commander - 420 hours, and converted squadron into F-16 A/Bs. He was the Wing commander in Europe at Ramstein AB, Germany during the Desert Storm Gulf War and flew U-2 as staff officer - 12 + hours. Buz retired as a Colonel and currently volunteers as a Cold War Museum board member and as a Docent at The Udvar Hazy Center of the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum at Dulles airport. In 2017 he was inducted into the Virginia Aviation Hall of Fame. Buz has appeared in numerous Videos for the Smithsonian, Lockheed Corporation, and the Great Courses series, and participated in Air Museum symposia. He supports STEAM related educational motivation with many schools across the country.

Category: Classes / Courses | Professional Training | Talks and Lectures | Cold War