What happens when a group of young men enters U.S. Air Force pilot training at the dawn of the 1960s—and earns its wings just as the Cold War is entering one of its most dangerous periods?
On November 16, the Veterans Breakfast Club hosts a special two-hour virtual reunion of U.S. Air Force Pilot Training Class 62A, bringing together members of an extraordinary group of aviators whose careers would span the Cold War, the Vietnam War, and some of the most consequential chapters in modern Air Force history.
And this won’t be an ordinary panel discussion.
Nor is Class 62A an ordinary reunion group. Its members trained at different bases all over the country under the same class designation. While other pilot-training reunions have generally brought together men who trained at one particular base, Class 62A’s reunions have brought together classmates from all five primary training bases and their subsequent six basic training bases—as one class. To our knowledge, Class 62A is the only pilot-training class in USAF history to have held repeated reunions that include all pilots who graduated from all bases in the year 1961.
Thanks largely to the remarkable work of Shana Intille Wilcox, volunteer historian for Class 62A, we expect dozens of members of the class to join us online from around the country—perhaps 40 or more—for what will be part reunion, part oral history, and part aviation storytelling marathon.
Shana’s connection to the class is personal. Her father, Lt. Col. Michael Intille, was a member of 62A, and in 2021 his fellow pilots made her an honorary member of the class. Since then, she has helped document its history, preserve its stories, and keep alive the friendships formed more than six decades ago. Her work has helped make this unusual VBC gathering possible.
From Pilot Training to Vietnam and the Cold War
The men of Class 62A came from remarkably different backgrounds and trained at five different bases, progressing from civilian contract flying schools into advanced Air Force jet training. After earning their wings, they scattered across the Air Force and around the world.
Collectively, they flew an astonishing range of aircraft and missions: F-102 interceptors, F-4 Phantoms, F-105 Thunderchiefs, Wild Weasels, F-15s, F-16s, A-7s, C-123s, C-133s, C-141s, AC-130 gunships, O-1 Bird Dogs, HH-3 and HH-53 rescue helicopters, and more.
Their stories include combat over North Vietnam, desperate low-fuel landings, carrier operations, forward air control, airlift emergencies, gunship missions, search-and-rescue operations, and the experience of a classmate shot down and held as a prisoner of war for more than six years.
We’ll hear from pilots themselves as well as family members preserving the stories of classmates who have taken their final flight.
Among the stories we hope to explore:
- Col. Cliff Tatum, who flew the F-102, F-4, F-84F, and Navy A-7E and completed 152 carrier landings—including 62 at night—during the final carrier cruise of the Vietnam War.
- Col. David Tippett, a Vietnam combat veteran who flew the F-102, F-4, F-4 Wild Weasel, and F-16 and later commanded an F-16 wing.
- Col. Rod Gunn, recalling an F-4 mission over North Vietnam involving enemy defenses, a pursuing MiG-17, and a dangerously low-fuel return.
- Brig. Gen. Dan Sherlock, whose career took him from the F-102 and F-4 to the F-15 and F-16 and included more than 200 combat missions.
- The story of Col. Murphy Neal Jones, shot down in an F-105 and held as a POW for more than six years before returning home and resuming his Air Force flying career.
- Capt. Bob White, gravely wounded while flying an O-1 Bird Dog yet continuing to direct his aircraft’s return to base.
- Col. William “Bill” Kehler, whose five Vietnam combat tours ranged from C-123 airlift operations to AC-130 gunships.
- Col. Bob Horne, recounting a six-hour HH-53 rescue mission over Laos in 1969.
- Col. Bruce Ware, whose HH-3E crew rescued Charles Lindbergh and 45 others from an isolated jungle ridge in the Philippines in 1972.
- Col. John Attebury, whose 32-year Air Force career included Vietnam service and more than 20,000 flying hours. Now 91, he still builds and flies airplanes and helps fellow members of Class 62A remain in the air.
Shana will also share the story of her father, Lt. Col. Michael Intille, including a harrowing C-133 emergency and the larger story of how the U.S. Air Force gave a young man from South Philadelphia opportunities that would transform his life and his family for generations.
Five Training Bases, One Class
Perhaps the most remarkable story is Class 62A itself.
“62A” began as an administrative designation shared by men training at different locations—not as one group that had all trained together. In 2001, Michael Intille and John Attebury helped turn that shared designation into a lasting community, bringing together approximately 250 classmates from all five primary training bases for a reunion in Colorado Springs.
Reunions every two years since have continued that tradition: bringing the separate training groups together, remembering classmates who have taken their final flight, and strengthening friendships across the entire class. That breadth—and its continuity over a quarter century—is the distinction that sets Class 62A apart from the hundreds of other USAF pilot-training classes.
This special two-hour Veterans Breakfast Club program will bring that reunion online. We’ll hear the featured stories, look at photographs and aircraft from the class’s history, invite other members of 62A to join the conversation, and take questions from our live audience.
It is a chance not simply to hear about Air Force history, but to hear it from the people who lived it—and to watch a remarkable group of old friends come together once again.
Join us for this special USAF Pilot Training Class 62A Virtual Reunion, November 19, live with the Veterans Breakfast Club.
