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| Information > Biographies > BRIGADIER GENERAL THEODORE P. CRICHTON |
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BRIGADIER GENERAL THEODORE P. CRICHTON
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Retired June 1, 1980.
Brigadier General Theodore P. Crichton is deputy for surveillance and navigation systems at the Electronic Systems Division, Air Force Systems Command, Hanscom Air Force Base, Mass.
General Crichton was born in Wilmington, Del., in 1927, and graduated from the Alexis I. DuPont High School in 1944. He began his military career in June 1945 as an enlisted man and served for a brief period at Lowry Field, Colo., as an aircraft mechanic before receiving his appointment to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., in 1946. He graduated from the academy in 1950 with a bachelor of science degree and a commission as a second lieutenant. He received a master of science degree in aeronautical engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, in 1959, and graduated from the Air Command and Staff College in 1963 and the National War College in 1968.
After graduation from the academy, he entered the U.S. Air Force and attended pilot training, receiving his pilot wings in 1951.
From August 1951 to February 1958, General Crichton served in various operational flying assignments, first as a B-25 pilot with the Air Training Command at James Connally Air Force Base, Texas. In September 1953 he became a B-26 pilot at Langley Air Force Base, Va., and in March 1954 transferred to England as a B-45 instructor pilot with the 47th Bombardment Wing at Royal Air Force Station, Sculthorpe. He returned to the United States in November 1956 and was assigned to the B-66-equipped 17th Bombardment Wing at Hurlburt Field, Fla., as an operations staff officer and later was special weapons officer.
From February 1958 to September 1959, General Crichton attended the Air Force Institute of Technology at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. He then served with the 43d Bombardment Wing at Carswell Air Force Base, Texas, as a flight test engineer during the operational testing of the B-58. In September 1962 he entered the Air Command and Staff College at Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala.
General Crichton was transferred to Okinawa in October 1963 and was assigned as a C-130 pilot with the 315th Air Division at Naha Air Base. During this tour of duty, he participated in combat operations in Southeast Asia; commanded the 817th Troop Carrier Squadron; and served as operations staff officer.
He returned from Okinawa in August 1967 to attend the National War College at Fort McNair, Washington, D.C. In June 1968 he was assigned to Headquarters U.S. Air Force as deputy chief of the Airlift and Training Division, Directorate of Operational Requirements and Development Plans in the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Research and Development.
In January 1971 General Crichton was reassigned at Langley Air Force Base as vice commander and later become commander of the 316th Tactical Airlift Wing. He served as commander of the 316th Tactical Airlift Wing until March 1973, at which time he was transferred to Pope Air Force Base, N.C., to assume command of the 839th Air Division.
General Crichton served as vice commander of the Twenty-First Air Force, McGuire Air Force Base, N.J., from March 1975 until July 1975, when he became commander of the 435th Tactical Airlift Wing, Rhein-Main Air Base, Germany. He assumed his present duties in June 1978.
He is a command pilot with more than 6,000 flying hours and completed 100 combat missions, with a total of more than 200 combat hours in Southeast Asia. His military decorations and awards include the Legion of Merit with oak leaf cluster, Distinguished Flying Cross, Bronze Star Medal, Air Medal with three oak leaf clusters, Air Force Commendation Medal, and Army Commendation Medal.
He was promoted to the grade of brigadier general on June 8, 1973, with same date of rank.
His hometown is Wilmington, Del.
(Current as of August 1978)
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