William A. Hamilton

William A. Hamilton, III (born in 1935), is an American journalist, author, military historian, retired military officer and a world speed record-holding pilot. He is noted for holding a World Aviation Speed Record and for his many contributions to the field of General Aviation safety. On October 22, 1991, he and his wife flew their plane from Lincoln, Nebraska to New Orleans|New Orleans, Louisiana, at a speed of 289.55 km/h in their Cessna 210 Centurion|Cessna Turbo Centurion (Turbo 210), setting a World Aviation Speed Record for their weight class. That speed record was verified by the National Aeronautic Association and the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale.
Hamilton is also a former college professor, and featured commentator for USA Today.
== Career ==
=== Aviation ===
An aviator since 1968, he is noted for his many contributions to the field of General Aviation safety, making Hamilton one of the few pilots to be inducted by his peers into the Aviation Halls of Fame of multiple states: Colorado and Nebraska and the only pilot to receive North Dakota's Outstanding Service Award. He served as chairman of the Nebraska State Airline Commission, as a member of the Kansas State Aviation Advisory Board, as a member of the Colorado Aeronautical Board, and as president of the Friends of the Granby Airport, Inc.
Hamilton served 24 years as a Regional Representative for the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA).He played a key role in drafting the legislation that created the Colorado Aeronautical Board, the Colorado Division of Aviation, and the Colorado Aviation Trust Fund. He and former Colorado Governor Bill Owens were the co-authors of Colorado's 12 AWOS III Program that placed 12 Automated Weather Observation Systems on 12 of Colorado's highest mountain passes, a major contribution to mountain-flying safety. Bill and his wife co-founded the award-winning Emily Warner Field Aviation Museum at the Granby, Colorado, Airport (KGNB).
In 1991, Hamilton and his wife set world land speed record for their weight class, flying from Lincoln, Nebraska to New Orleans, Louisiana in their Cessna Turbo 210. That record still stands today.
William Hamilton was inducted into the Colorado Aviation Hall of Fame in 2008, and the Nebraska Aviation Hall of Fame 2017. In 2012, the North Dakota Aeronautics Commission honored him with its first-ever Outstanding Service Award.
=== Military ===
Hamilton served 20 years on active duty as an Army officer, to include two combat tours in Vietnam. In Europe, during the Cold War, he served as a counterintelligence officer and, and later, as an infantry company commander. During the Vietnam War, he served as an infantry company commander and as an operations officer at the division level in the famed 1st Air Cavalry Division|1st Air 1st Air Cavalry Division|Cavalry Division. Between tours in Vietnam, he was attached to the 19th U.S. Air Force and to Colonel Chuck Yeager's 4th Tactical Fighter Wing, flying as a “guy-in-the-back” of the F-4 Phantom fighter plane. During a second tour in Vietnam, he served a second time as the G-3 operations officer for the 1st Air Cavalry Division and, later, as the operations officer for his former battalion, the 2nd of the 5th Cavalry. Following combat in Vietnam and Cambodia, he attended the U.S. Naval War College where, in 1971. Ordered to the Pentagon, Hamilton spent the summer of 1971 writing the “Adventure Training” doctrine for the Office of the Modern Volunteer Army. Returning to Europe in the fall of 1971, he commanded an airborne battalion and, later, an armored cavalry squadron stationed across the famed Fulda Gap.
==== Military Medals and Badges ====
* Awarded the Silver Star in 1970.
* Awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross in 1970.
* Awarded four Bronze Stars; 1966, 1967, 1969, 1970.
* Awarded the Purple Heart in 1966.
* Awarded 20 Air Medals.
* Awarded the Legion of Merit in 1979.
Bill was inducted into the Oklahoma Military Foundation Hall of Fame in 2018.
=== Journalism ===
In 1982, he created “Central View,” his nationally syndicated newspaper column, for The Sun Newspapers Of Omaha|SUN Newspapers of Lincoln/Omaha, Nebraska. Since then, he has produced over 2,100 newspaper columns. On July 3, 1987, USA Today featured his commentary on the Iran-Contra Hearings. While serving as editor-in-chief of The Capital Times of Lincoln, Nebraska, he served 24 years, writing on assignment, as a featured commentator for USA Today. In 1992, he appeared on the MacNeil-Lehrer News Hour to debate the misreporting of North Vietnamese and Viet Cong troop numbers in Vietnam.
William Hamilton was inducted into the Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame in 2014. In 1992, Dr. Hamilton won the Freedoms foundation at valley forge|Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge medal for his writings on foreign and military affairs.
Bill has also co-authored with his wife under the pseudonym of William Penn, four fiction espionage novels: The Panama Conspiracy, The Grand Conspiracy, The Berlin Conspiracy, and JFK: The Umbrella Conspiracy.
=== Education ===
Bill Hamilton was an Adjunct professor|Adjunct Professor, European Extension Division, for the University of Maryland|University of University of Maryland|Maryland. He was also an Adjunct Professor, for Columbia College (History and Political Science) and an Assistant Professor at Nebraska Wesleyan University (History and Political Science).
=== Business ===
In 1983, Dr. Hamilton left his assistant professorship at Nebraska Wesleyan University and go to Wall Street to serve as the principal assistant to the head of the Public Finance Group for one of the nation's largest investment banking firms. In 1984, he returned to Lincoln, Nebraska, where he and his wife co-founded Advanced Research Institute (ARI) an advertising, public-relations, and political-consulting firm which was recognized by the Lincoln Independent Business Association (LIBA) with its Gambler Award. 
== Personal Life ==
Bill Hamilton was born in Pauls Valley, Oklahoma, in the middle of the Great Depression and grew up in Anadarko, Oklahoma|Andarko, Oklahoma which prides itself on being the cultural 'Indian Capital of the Nation.' Bill married Penny Rafferty, on December 21, 1971. Bill has three children that reside in Texas. Bill and Penny Hamilton now reside near Granby, Colorado.
In 2020, Bill was named Grand County Citizen of the Year.
== Education ==
Bill Hamilton entered the University of Oklahoma on Regent’s and Danforth Scholarships where, in combination with law school, he completed the requirements for a degree in Government. In 1957, Bill Hamilton was called to active duty, leaving law school only half way through. Years later, via distance-learning, he completed a J.D. (Juris Doctor) degree but, other than under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, never practiced civil law.
==== Academic Degrees ====
University of Oklahoma, B.A. (Government); U.S. Army Language School (German), The George Washington University|The The George Washington University|George Washington University, M.S. (International Affairs); U.S. Naval War College (Distinguished Graduate); University of Nebraska, Ph.D.(History), and Harvard University Kennedy School of Government (Senior Executive Program).
== Bibliography ==
 
==== Select Articles ====
“As the World Turns on our TV Screens,” USA Today, July 3, 1987, front page.
“The Decline and Fall of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff,” U.S. Naval War College Review, April, 1972.
"Misty eyes for one old soldier," USA Today, November 11, 2004. 
"First Causes: How History Could Be Different," Skyhinews.com, March 16, 2009.
==== Books ====
Formula for Failure in Vietnam: The Folly of Limited Warfare, McFarland Books, 2019. International Standard Book Number|ISBN: Special:BookSources/978-1476679945|978-1476679945
The Wit and Wisdom of William Hamilton, Pegasus Imprimis Press, 2017. International Standard Book Number|ISBN: Special:BookSources/978-0692949276|978-0692949276
War During Peace: A Strategy for Defeat, Pegasus Imprimis Press, 2021. International Standard Book Number|ISBN: Special:BookSources/978-0-578-96038-8|978-0-578-96038-8
Category:American journalists
Category:American authors