AAC historian wins AFA award

  • Published
  • By Kevin Gaddie
  • Team Eglin Public Affairs
EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  Clay McCutchan, an Air Armament Center historian, recently won the Gen. Lewis H. Brereton award.

The award is given annually to a civilian Florida resident who has made the most outstanding contribution to airpower during the past year or over a multi-year period.

McCutchan was presented the award July 9 at the Air Force Association State Convention in Ocala. He also received the AFA's Exceptional Service Citation 2009 and 2010.

"I was very honored to receive the award, particularly in regard to some of the civilians that have received it in the past," he said.

McCutchan, a retired Air Force Reserve major general, has worked at the AAC Office of History since 2006.

"We write the AAC's history every fiscal year - what it does, what the general does, what his staff does and what goes on at Eglin," McCutchan said. "We also write histories for the 96th Air Base Wing and the 46th Test Wing."

Prior to working as an historian here, McCutchan spent 15 years in the Hurlburt Field history office and seven years in the 33rd Fighter Wing history office. He was also a high school teacher for five years.

The Fort Walton Beach, Fla., native has always had ties to the Air Force and to Eglin. His father, a retired Air Force captain, was a staff sergeant pilot here in the 1940s and towed target sleeves for the gunnery school before receiving his commission. He later flew combat missions in China. His mother spent 31 years in civil service here, starting as a secretary and finishing as a procurement buyer.

Of the many history projects he's been involved with since he's been here, McCutchan said working on the Eglin's 75th anniversary last year was particularly interesting.

"It was a lot of hard work, but the research we did leading up to the celebration helped us understand the history of Eglin," he said.

AAC Office of History personnel hosted small events in conjunction with the Open House and Air Show and invited local history organizations to participate. Nearly 5,000 Air Force heritage-related pamphlets were handed out during the celebration, McCutchan said.

At every opportunity, McCutchan happily relates the historical importance of Eglin's memorials and certain structures to anyone who inquires.

"People always ask me things like 'Why is King Hangar named King Hangar? Why is Foster Stadium named Foster Stadium? Why is Duke Field named Duke Field?'" said the 61-year-old. "The auxiliary fields here are named after somebody and the memorials are named after someone who served on Eglin. I always enjoy answering those and other related questions."

Through his years of research, McCutchan discovered one example of history repeating itself at Eglin.

"One of the military's continuous quests is the search for precision weapons," he said. "Eglin developed unmanned aerial vehicles back in the 1940s for use during World War II. Eglin was the only base that had UAVs. They had the JB-2, a forerunner of today's UAVs, the American copy of the German B-1 buzz bomb. We also tested JB-1s here."

McCutchan also parlays his hobby of flying into opportunities to expand the horizons of local school kids.

Among the antique aircraft he flies are a J-3 Cub, a Parks P-3 bi-plane and a Cessna 120. As a member of the local chapter of the Experimental Aircraft Association's Young Eagles Program, he spends several weekends a year introducing local children to flying.

McCutchan said he'll continue his career as an historian, as long as it's fun.

"Being an historian is the thing I'm most passionate about," he said. "It's still fascinating after all these years."