U2 and Blackbird Pilot. Area 51 Commander. Born in Seattle and raised in Los Angeles. Graduated from Dorsey High School before attending the University of Southern California. Joined the Navy ROTC program while in college and obtained a private pilot's license. In March 1942 he left the University of Southern California during World War II to join the Army Aviation Cadet program. In February 1943 at Luke Field, Arizona earning his pilot's wings.
A P-47 pilot, he flew 84 missions with the 36th and 362nd fighter groups in Europe. His combat assignments included 45 days with the 4th Armored Division during the Battle of the Bulge when foul weather had grounded aircraft.
"His wing commander sent him to the front lines as a forward air controller to direct squadrons underneath the weather," his son said.
After World War II, he was assigned as a P-47 gunnery instructor at Selfridge Field, Mich., when he met and married Barbara Clark, a USC graduate.
After a stint with the 36th Fighter Group in the Canal Zone, he supported the Berlin Airlift out of Germany in 1948 before becoming a pilot instructor at Perrin Air Force Base, Texas.
He served in Okinawa and Arizona until he became commander of the Air Force Interceptor Weapons School at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida. He was a fighter jet squadron commander during the 1962 Cuban missile crisis.
In March 1963, he was assigned to the CIA as U-2 training pilot for the Chinese 35th Black Cat Squadron on Taiwan.
In 1964, the CIA sent him to the Nevada Test Site to serve as operations officer under Colonel Bob Holbury for two years, followed by two years as commander at Area 51 during development and deployment of the A-12 Oxcart program for pilots under him who flew missions to find missile sites in North Vietnam and North Korea.
When the CIA A-12 program was terminated to advance the Air Force SR-71 Blackbird project, he was assigned to the 20th Tactical Fighter Wing in Wethersfield, England.
He eventually returned to Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., to usher in the YF-12, an Air Force missile-armed interceptor version of the A-12.
He returned to Tyndall Air Force Base, where he retired in 1972 and spent 23 years boating, fishing and playing golf before returning to the Las Vegas Valley in 1995. He lived in Henderson.
By KEITH ROGERS
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Family and friends will pay tribute to former Area 51 commander and retired Air Force Col. Hugh "Slip" Slater when he is buried Jan. 10 at the Southern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Boulder City.
Slater died Nov. 26 at a local hospice. He was 91.
A World War II fighter pilot, he was joint Air Force-CIA commander at the classified Area 51 installation along the dry Groom Lake bed, 90 miles north of Las Vegas from 1964 to 1968. That was during the heyday of the supersonic A-12 Oxcart spy plane program.
Slater also flew the high-flying U-2 spy plane and trained Chinese nationalist pilots how to fly it during a CIA assignment with the Black Cat Squadron at Taipei, Taiwan, in the early 1960s, according to his son, Peter Slater of Henderson.
"He was a happy-go-lucky guy. He inspired everybody," Peter Slater said Tuesday. "He was gone a lot, but he wasn't gone a lot. He kept the family together. We loved him."
TD Barnes, a former CIA colleague and friend of Hugh Slater for 50 years, described the colonel as "tough but very easygoing. The guys said he was one of the best leaders they ever served under. The pilots were much younger than him. He was like a father to them. He was their boss."
Barnes said the spy plane "driver" was known by his code name, "Dutch 11."
"He led us through the Cold War. He started the birth of reconnaissance, high-flying planes from the U-2s to the Blackbirds," said Barnes, a former CIA special projects, hypersonic flight radar expert.
His awards include the Distinguished Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, the Distinguished Flying Cross with cluster, the Air Medal with 12 clusters and the CIA Medal of Merit.
He once said, "I guess I was lucky because I never had a bad assignment. My association with a great bunch of individuals, officers, airmen and civilians, alike, was especially rewarding," according to Roadrunners Internationale, a website of Area 51 CIA veterans.
He is survived by his wife, Barbara; daughters Stacy Bernhardt of Oviedo, Fla., and Tori Slater of Atlanta; son, Peter Slater of Henderson; sister, Betty Slater Brown of Redondo Beach, Calif.; four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
A P-47 pilot, he flew 84 missions with the 36th and 362nd fighter groups in Europe. His combat assignments included 45 days with the 4th Armored Division during the Battle of the Bulge when foul weather had grounded aircraft.
"His wing commander sent him to the front lines as a forward air controller to direct squadrons underneath the weather," his son said.
After World War II, he was assigned as a P-47 gunnery instructor at Selfridge Field, Mich., when he met and married Barbara Clark, a USC graduate.
After a stint with the 36th Fighter Group in the Canal Zone, he supported the Berlin Airlift out of Germany in 1948 before becoming a pilot instructor at Perrin Air Force Base, Texas.
He served in Okinawa and Arizona until he became commander of the Air Force Interceptor Weapons School at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida. He was a fighter jet squadron commander during the 1962 Cuban missile crisis.
In March 1963, he was assigned to the CIA as U-2 training pilot for the Chinese 35th Black Cat Squadron on Taiwan.
In 1964, the CIA sent him to the Nevada Test Site to serve as operations officer under Colonel Bob Holbury for two years, followed by two years as commander at Area 51 during development and deployment of the A-12 Oxcart program for pilots under him who flew missions to find missile sites in North Vietnam and North Korea.
When the CIA A-12 program was terminated to advance the Air Force SR-71 Blackbird project, he was assigned to the 20th Tactical Fighter Wing in Wethersfield, England.
He eventually returned to Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., to usher in the YF-12, an Air Force missile-armed interceptor version of the A-12.
He returned to Tyndall Air Force Base, where he retired in 1972 and spent 23 years boating, fishing and playing golf before returning to the Las Vegas Valley in 1995. He lived in Henderson.
By KEITH ROGERS
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Family and friends will pay tribute to former Area 51 commander and retired Air Force Col. Hugh "Slip" Slater when he is buried Jan. 10 at the Southern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Boulder City.
Slater died Nov. 26 at a local hospice. He was 91.
A World War II fighter pilot, he was joint Air Force-CIA commander at the classified Area 51 installation along the dry Groom Lake bed, 90 miles north of Las Vegas from 1964 to 1968. That was during the heyday of the supersonic A-12 Oxcart spy plane program.
Slater also flew the high-flying U-2 spy plane and trained Chinese nationalist pilots how to fly it during a CIA assignment with the Black Cat Squadron at Taipei, Taiwan, in the early 1960s, according to his son, Peter Slater of Henderson.
"He was a happy-go-lucky guy. He inspired everybody," Peter Slater said Tuesday. "He was gone a lot, but he wasn't gone a lot. He kept the family together. We loved him."
TD Barnes, a former CIA colleague and friend of Hugh Slater for 50 years, described the colonel as "tough but very easygoing. The guys said he was one of the best leaders they ever served under. The pilots were much younger than him. He was like a father to them. He was their boss."
Barnes said the spy plane "driver" was known by his code name, "Dutch 11."
"He led us through the Cold War. He started the birth of reconnaissance, high-flying planes from the U-2s to the Blackbirds," said Barnes, a former CIA special projects, hypersonic flight radar expert.
His awards include the Distinguished Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, the Distinguished Flying Cross with cluster, the Air Medal with 12 clusters and the CIA Medal of Merit.
He once said, "I guess I was lucky because I never had a bad assignment. My association with a great bunch of individuals, officers, airmen and civilians, alike, was especially rewarding," according to Roadrunners Internationale, a website of Area 51 CIA veterans.
He is survived by his wife, Barbara; daughters Stacy Bernhardt of Oviedo, Fla., and Tori Slater of Atlanta; son, Peter Slater of Henderson; sister, Betty Slater Brown of Redondo Beach, Calif.; four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
U2 and Blackbird Pilot. Area 51 Commander. Born in Seattle and raised in Los Angeles. Graduated from Dorsey High School before attending the University of Southern California. Joined the Navy ROTC program while in college and obtained a private pilot's license. In March 1942 he left the University of Southern California during World War II to join the Army Aviation Cadet program. In February 1943 at Luke Field, Arizona earning his pilot's wings.
A P-47 pilot, he flew 84 missions with the 36th and 362nd fighter groups in Europe. His combat assignments included 45 days with the 4th Armored Division during the Battle of the Bulge when foul weather had grounded aircraft.
"His wing commander sent him to the front lines as a forward air controller to direct squadrons underneath the weather," his son said.
After World War II, he was assigned as a P-47 gunnery instructor at Selfridge Field, Mich., when he met and married Barbara Clark, a USC graduate.
After a stint with the 36th Fighter Group in the Canal Zone, he supported the Berlin Airlift out of Germany in 1948 before becoming a pilot instructor at Perrin Air Force Base, Texas.
He served in Okinawa and Arizona until he became commander of the Air Force Interceptor Weapons School at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida. He was a fighter jet squadron commander during the 1962 Cuban missile crisis.
In March 1963, he was assigned to the CIA as U-2 training pilot for the Chinese 35th Black Cat Squadron on Taiwan.
In 1964, the CIA sent him to the Nevada Test Site to serve as operations officer under Colonel Bob Holbury for two years, followed by two years as commander at Area 51 during development and deployment of the A-12 Oxcart program for pilots under him who flew missions to find missile sites in North Vietnam and North Korea.
When the CIA A-12 program was terminated to advance the Air Force SR-71 Blackbird project, he was assigned to the 20th Tactical Fighter Wing in Wethersfield, England.
He eventually returned to Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., to usher in the YF-12, an Air Force missile-armed interceptor version of the A-12.
He returned to Tyndall Air Force Base, where he retired in 1972 and spent 23 years boating, fishing and playing golf before returning to the Las Vegas Valley in 1995. He lived in Henderson.
By KEITH ROGERS
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Family and friends will pay tribute to former Area 51 commander and retired Air Force Col. Hugh "Slip" Slater when he is buried Jan. 10 at the Southern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Boulder City.
Slater died Nov. 26 at a local hospice. He was 91.
A World War II fighter pilot, he was joint Air Force-CIA commander at the classified Area 51 installation along the dry Groom Lake bed, 90 miles north of Las Vegas from 1964 to 1968. That was during the heyday of the supersonic A-12 Oxcart spy plane program.
Slater also flew the high-flying U-2 spy plane and trained Chinese nationalist pilots how to fly it during a CIA assignment with the Black Cat Squadron at Taipei, Taiwan, in the early 1960s, according to his son, Peter Slater of Henderson.
"He was a happy-go-lucky guy. He inspired everybody," Peter Slater said Tuesday. "He was gone a lot, but he wasn't gone a lot. He kept the family together. We loved him."
TD Barnes, a former CIA colleague and friend of Hugh Slater for 50 years, described the colonel as "tough but very easygoing. The guys said he was one of the best leaders they ever served under. The pilots were much younger than him. He was like a father to them. He was their boss."
Barnes said the spy plane "driver" was known by his code name, "Dutch 11."
"He led us through the Cold War. He started the birth of reconnaissance, high-flying planes from the U-2s to the Blackbirds," said Barnes, a former CIA special projects, hypersonic flight radar expert.
His awards include the Distinguished Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, the Distinguished Flying Cross with cluster, the Air Medal with 12 clusters and the CIA Medal of Merit.
He once said, "I guess I was lucky because I never had a bad assignment. My association with a great bunch of individuals, officers, airmen and civilians, alike, was especially rewarding," according to Roadrunners Internationale, a website of Area 51 CIA veterans.
He is survived by his wife, Barbara; daughters Stacy Bernhardt of Oviedo, Fla., and Tori Slater of Atlanta; son, Peter Slater of Henderson; sister, Betty Slater Brown of Redondo Beach, Calif.; four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
A P-47 pilot, he flew 84 missions with the 36th and 362nd fighter groups in Europe. His combat assignments included 45 days with the 4th Armored Division during the Battle of the Bulge when foul weather had grounded aircraft.
"His wing commander sent him to the front lines as a forward air controller to direct squadrons underneath the weather," his son said.
After World War II, he was assigned as a P-47 gunnery instructor at Selfridge Field, Mich., when he met and married Barbara Clark, a USC graduate.
After a stint with the 36th Fighter Group in the Canal Zone, he supported the Berlin Airlift out of Germany in 1948 before becoming a pilot instructor at Perrin Air Force Base, Texas.
He served in Okinawa and Arizona until he became commander of the Air Force Interceptor Weapons School at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida. He was a fighter jet squadron commander during the 1962 Cuban missile crisis.
In March 1963, he was assigned to the CIA as U-2 training pilot for the Chinese 35th Black Cat Squadron on Taiwan.
In 1964, the CIA sent him to the Nevada Test Site to serve as operations officer under Colonel Bob Holbury for two years, followed by two years as commander at Area 51 during development and deployment of the A-12 Oxcart program for pilots under him who flew missions to find missile sites in North Vietnam and North Korea.
When the CIA A-12 program was terminated to advance the Air Force SR-71 Blackbird project, he was assigned to the 20th Tactical Fighter Wing in Wethersfield, England.
He eventually returned to Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., to usher in the YF-12, an Air Force missile-armed interceptor version of the A-12.
He returned to Tyndall Air Force Base, where he retired in 1972 and spent 23 years boating, fishing and playing golf before returning to the Las Vegas Valley in 1995. He lived in Henderson.
By KEITH ROGERS
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Family and friends will pay tribute to former Area 51 commander and retired Air Force Col. Hugh "Slip" Slater when he is buried Jan. 10 at the Southern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Boulder City.
Slater died Nov. 26 at a local hospice. He was 91.
A World War II fighter pilot, he was joint Air Force-CIA commander at the classified Area 51 installation along the dry Groom Lake bed, 90 miles north of Las Vegas from 1964 to 1968. That was during the heyday of the supersonic A-12 Oxcart spy plane program.
Slater also flew the high-flying U-2 spy plane and trained Chinese nationalist pilots how to fly it during a CIA assignment with the Black Cat Squadron at Taipei, Taiwan, in the early 1960s, according to his son, Peter Slater of Henderson.
"He was a happy-go-lucky guy. He inspired everybody," Peter Slater said Tuesday. "He was gone a lot, but he wasn't gone a lot. He kept the family together. We loved him."
TD Barnes, a former CIA colleague and friend of Hugh Slater for 50 years, described the colonel as "tough but very easygoing. The guys said he was one of the best leaders they ever served under. The pilots were much younger than him. He was like a father to them. He was their boss."
Barnes said the spy plane "driver" was known by his code name, "Dutch 11."
"He led us through the Cold War. He started the birth of reconnaissance, high-flying planes from the U-2s to the Blackbirds," said Barnes, a former CIA special projects, hypersonic flight radar expert.
His awards include the Distinguished Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, the Distinguished Flying Cross with cluster, the Air Medal with 12 clusters and the CIA Medal of Merit.
He once said, "I guess I was lucky because I never had a bad assignment. My association with a great bunch of individuals, officers, airmen and civilians, alike, was especially rewarding," according to Roadrunners Internationale, a website of Area 51 CIA veterans.
He is survived by his wife, Barbara; daughters Stacy Bernhardt of Oviedo, Fla., and Tori Slater of Atlanta; son, Peter Slater of Henderson; sister, Betty Slater Brown of Redondo Beach, Calif.; four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
Inscription
COL USAF
WWII KO VN
Family Members
Siblings
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Advertisement
