Air Force Biography

PAUL E. DUPLESSIS, USAF, COL (ret), was born in Manchester, NH April 7, 1933. Upon graduation from Manchester High School (West) in June 1952, he enlisted in the Air Force. In 1953, after completing basic training and Airman's Radar Fundamentals Course at Keesler AFB, MS, he entered Aviation Cadet Training and completed primary air training at Harlingen AFB, TX.

He then completed the airborne Electronic Countermeasures (ECM) Course at Keesler AFB as a distinguished graduate and received his commission as a 2nd Lieutenant at age 20, on 26 Jan 1954 with the aeronautical rating of Aircraft Observer.

His initial assignment was to Misawa AB, Honshu, Japan in 1954. He served as ECM Officer for the lst Radio Squadron Mobile (later named 6921st RMS) and subsequently reassigned, as Commander of a 15-man test team at a remote location on the west coast of Honshu, Japan.

The last 12 months in Japan, he was stationed at Det 2, 6921st Radio Squadron Mobile located on the most northern tip of Hokkaido, Japan 26 miles from the USSR occupied Sakhalin Island.His primary duty was ELINT Officer. He also was assigned 21 additional duties ranging from: Officer in Charge (OIC) of the detachment's 65-member Japanese labor force, ground power, motor pool, supply officer, air police, mess hall personel, etc.

In August 1956, he was reassigned to the 9th TRS at Shaw AFB, SC flying in the RB-66C electronic warfare aircraft. During his ten years at Shaw AFB, he had a number of jobs ranging from combat crew member, senior instructor in the 9th TRS, and Chief Stan/Eval EWO for the 363rd TRW.

Some of his most memorable EB-66 experiences include:
• 1957 to 1965: Training and evaluating almost all electronic warfare officers (EWO) who came to the 363rd TRW for assignments as EWO crew members in TAC, USAFE or PACAF.
• 1958: Going TDY to Izmir, Turkey as the 363rd TRW Representative to participate in planning EW operations for TAC's Composite Air Strike Force (CSAF) in response to upheavals in Iraq and Lebanon.
• 1959: Participated in electronic warfare evaluation tests, known as WEXVAL, conducted by the Institute for Defense Analysis (IDA), to compete with SAC B-29s and RB-47s for scarce DoD EW funds.
• 1960: Participated in "Big Blast" missions to train Air Defense Command (ADC) students at Tyndall AFB, FL.
• Spring 1962: Was on one of two EB-66C crews sent on a 60-day TDY to RAF Chelveston, England to participate in "Swamp Fox" exercises flying electronic reconnaissance missions along the East German, Czechoslovakian and Polish borders.
• October 1962: Was on one of two combat crews that flew electronic reconnaissance missions completely around Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis to detect and report on Soviet radars in Cuba.
• November 1962: Was presented a plaque by Douglas Aircraft Corp, commemorating his completion of 1,000 hours in the RB/B-66.
• 1961- 1964: Was assigned the additional duty of setting up and operating the 363rd TRW EWO Standardization/Evaluation section as the senior flight examiner.
• June 1965: Graduated from the University of Omaha in Nebraska with a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration and returned to Shaw AFB.

In June 1965, he departed Shaw AFB on a "90-day TDY" to Takhli Royal Thai AFB (RTAFB), Thailand as the 9th TRS Staff EWO and combat crew member. Lt Col Willard Mattson was Squadron Commander and Major Robert Long was the Operations Officer. The squadron's mission was to provide electronic warfare support for the fighter-bomber and reconnaissance missions flown against SAMs, MIGs and radar controlled antiaircraft guns flown over North Vietnam during Operation Rolling Thunder.

On 1 Oct 1965, the 9th TRS aircraft and crews at Takhli were redesignated the 41st Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron (TEWS). Lt Col Allen Webb was the Squadron Commander; Major Robert Long, Operations Officer; Major Jim Dawley, Senior Staff EWO; and Col Edward Taylor, Commander of the 460th Tac Recon Wing, Takhli RTAFB, Thailand.

Captain Duplessis voluntarily changed his assignment status from TDY to PCS. In addition to his duties as 41st TEWS Special Assistant for EW Operations and senior EWO instructor for the squadron, Captain Duplessis:
• Was the chief EWO of his assigned EB-66C crew supervising three other EWOs flying into the most sophisticated defense system the United States has ever flown against.
• Served as the EW Representative on the 2nd Air Division (AD) Theater Indoctrination Team that briefed newly deployed fighter squadrons in Thailand.
• Prepared and presented two papers at the 1966 PACOM Electronic Warfare/ELINT Conference held in Manila, PI.
• Was selected by the 2nd AD DCS/I to represent 2nd AD at the USAF ECM Consumables Conference held at Warner Robins AFB, Georgia in 1966.

Captain Duplessis was assigned to the 9th Tac Recon Sqdn at Shaw AFB, SC for approx 10 years, excluding 7.5 months at Tahkli RTAF (July 1965 and March 1966). He flew 100 combat missions over North Vietnam in support of the SEA Rolling Thunder campaign. He also completed 1,763 hours in RB/EB-66B/C/D models.

He spent only 7 months in Thailand because, at that time, the rule for rotating EB-66 crews was: a 12 month tour or completion of 100 missions over North Vietnam, which ever came first. He was on one of the initial EB-66Cs TDY deployments to Thailand and because of a shortage of crews, we had a very heavy flying schedule (often flying 2 and occasionally 3 four-hour missions a day). At the end of their 90 day TDY, all EB-66C crewmembers were given the choice to return to Shaw AFB and be eligible to come back to Thailand at some later date on a 12 month Permanent Change of Station (PCS) tour or to accept a PCS assignment to the 42nd TEWS at Tahkli. Upon completion of 100 combat missions, the PCS crews would get credit for a full PCS assignment and be returned to the States for reassignment.

In mid-March 1966, he flew his 100th combat mission over North Vietnam and immediately returned to Shaw AFB. (Ironically, on the same day that he flew his 100th mission in the morning, the first EB-66C was hit by SA-2 shrapnel and crashed in Tonkin Gulf. The afternoon mission flew the same track as the morning mission. All but two EWOs were rescued safely from the water.)

NOTE 1: Upon Capt Duplessis' return to the US, he immediately applied for a PCS assignment to Europe accompanied by his family, thus ending his ten-year affiliation with the EB-66 program.

NOTE 2: Paul Duplessis is listed on page 85 in the 1989 edition of the Red River Valley Fighter Pilots Association's "River Rats" book.

Click here for extracts from the two Officer Effectiveness
Reports (OERs) he received during his tour in Thailand.

He subsequently was transferred to Headquarters USAFE, Wiesbaden, Germany and was Chief of the Electronic Reconnaissance Branch, DCS/ Intelligence. Concurrent with the completion of his tour in Germany, the Colonel received an MBA degree with the University of Utah and completed his flying career with 3,103 hours total flying time (1,790 in jet aircraft) and the aeronautical rating of Master Aircraft Observer.

The Colonel also held assignments with the:

• National Security Agency, Ft. Meade, MD - Program Analyst on the Director's RDT&E Staff from August 1969-August 1973. Col USArmy (Ret) Bob Sherwood was his supervisor.
• AF Systems Command at Andrews AFB, MD - Development Engineer in the Test and Evaluation Div. from September 1973-August 1974  
• National Security Agency Representative Office at Camp Zama Japan - Deputy Chief from September 1974-September 1977
• Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), Pentagon - Chief of the Command Support Branch, SIGINT and Technical Sensors Division from  September 1977-December 1980.

On Jan. 1, 1981, Col. Duplessis retired after 28-1/2 years in the Air Force with the Legion of Merit Medal, Meritorious Service Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters, and Air Medal with four Oak Leaf Clusters.

Col Duplessis logged flying time in 17 different types of aircraft during his AF career
(in alphabetical order): B-25, B-26, B-36, B-66, C-45, C-47, C-54, C-121, C-123, C-130, C-141, H-19, L-20, SA-16, T-29, T-33, XC-99 (Click on each type of aircraft for more information)

He also started a home-based Internet consulting business (CyberLink Communications), in Northern Virginia and resided in Sterling, VA. He closed the business on Dec 30, 2005 to devote more time with his spouse, children and grand children. He is married to the former Bettie Wadford of Sumter, SC. They have two grown children, Renee and Tony, and three grand children. Two are living in Loudoun County in Northern Virginia and one in Maryland.

Mr. Duplessis developed and continues to host the www.B66.info website at his expense, the purpose of the website is to document as much information as possible on the B-66 program and the men and women who supported the program. He is a Director on the Board of the B-66 Association.