Four names were added to the Air Force Communications and Information Hall of Fame April 12, 2000. The Hall recognizes an elite list of individuals who helped ensure the Air Force has the best communications and information capabilities in the world.
"These visionaries guided the Air Force toward a technological and information-enabled future and began the tradition of excellence," said Lt. Gen. John L. "Jack" Woodward Jr., Air Force deputy chief of staff for Communications and Information.
"Though many are deserving of this award, four have been chosen to enter the Hall of Fame as the Class of 2000," said Woodward. "They are Lt. Gen. Winston D. Powers, Maj. Gen. Robert L. Edge, Brig. Gen. Ivan L. Farman, and Col. Glenn Giddings."
Lt. Gen. Winston D. Powers
"General Powers focused his attention and resources on dealing with the new realities of the technology revolution," said Woodward. "His career spanned from operations as a master navigator to mission support as a technician, staff officer, commander and director of many communications organizations at all levels. As an operator, he had more than 4,000 flying hours and 75 combat missions over Vietnam. As a comm officer, he influenced the growth and direction of the services we provide the warfighter within the Air Force, and ultimately the communications services provided for DOD and other federal agencies when he served as director for the Defense Communications Agency and manager of the National Communications System."
Powers thanked his friends and family for attending and expressed pride in his son who is following in his footsteps as an Air Force officer. "Life has been wonderful to me," he said. "I'm thankful for my career, my wife and my family."
Maj. Gen. Robert L. Edge
General Edge entered the Army Air Force in 1945 as a navigator and graduated from pilot training in 1950. While at the 2nd Bomb Wing at Hunter AFB, Ga., as an aircraft commander, he pioneered ground alert operations procedures for the B-47. Later assignments include Headquarters Strategic Air Command; Electronic Systems Division; staff assistant for communications-electronics in the Office of the Director of Defense Research; commander of the European Communications Region; and deputy chief of staff for Plans and Programs at Air Force Communications Service headquarters. He later moved to Air Force headquarters, where he contributed to several command control projects. In 1975, he became the first AF Assistant Chief of Staff for Communications and Computer Resources. This consolidation of Command Control and Communications Resources and Data Automation directorates was the first step in integrating computers and telecommunications. He also led the way in acquiring automated business systems for the Air Force.
"I am deeply honored to be in the company of the other inductees," Edge said. "I inherited a first class team in every job I had in the communications or command and control field. I didn't recruit them. They were already there. All I had to do was introduce myself and get out of their way."
Brig. Gen. Ivan L. Farman
The third inductee, General Farman, was an early pioneer of aviation communications and meteorological science, and a contemporary of men like Gen. Hap Arnold, Gen. Carl Spaatz, and Maj. Gen. Harold McClelland. "General Farman was one of the few pilots in the Army Air Corps who knew communications and knew it well," said Woodward. In 1943, upon establishment of the first headquarters of Army Airways Communications Service, he was appointed Assistant Chief of Staff, Plans and Operations. "He constructed a worldwide system that enabled American and Allied aircraft to fly anywhere in the world. He was the 'father of the area organizational concept' that endured until 1981. He also introduced the first cryptographic techniques for these airways to keep information from falling into enemy hands."
His son, Dr. Richard Farman, accepted the award. "I'm extremely proud to accept this honor on behalf of my father. He would be extremely pleased. Communications was one of the great passions of his life and he remained an active ham operator up until the end of his life," he said.
Col. Glenn Giddings
Colonel Giddings had a variety of assignments including Air Force Communications Service, Communications Computer Programming Center at Tinker Air Force Base, Okla.; and the 1882nd Communications Squadron at Phan Rang Air Base, Vietnam. He was commander of the 2187th Communications Group at Aviano Air Base, Italy; vice commander of Northern Communications Area, deputy director of Command and Control and Telecommunications, Air Force headquarters; and commander of the Continental Communications Division at Griffiss Air Force Base, N.Y. He moved to the Defense Communications Agency in 1985. He was one of the founding officers of the Air Force C4 Association. "He is a living example of Air Force core values--'integrity first', 'service before self', and 'excellence in all we do'," said Woodward.
"To say I feel undeserving is an understatement. I am honored to be mentioned in the same sentence as these other people. Words cannot express the appreciation I have for the privilege to serve with you," Giddings said.
The induction took place in a ceremony at Andrews AFB, Md., April 12, 2000, as part of the Retired General Officers Conference and Chief Information Officer Summit 2000.
"We established the Hall of Fame to honor and remember those individuals who made significant contributions to the Air Force and our career field while serving the public and private sectors," said Woodward. Lt. Gen. Lee Paschall was the first inductee, honored at the 1999 Retired General Officers Conference.