Colt Model 1908 Pocket Hammerless .380 ACP - sn M137878 Issued to Brigadier General Haskell E. Neal

Private Collection

Colt Model 1908 Pocket Hammerless .380 ACP serial number M137878 issued to Brigadier General Haskell E. Neal - right side

Brigadier General Haskell E. Neal, USAF
(b.1924 - d.1981)

Haskell E. Neal was born in Louisville, Ill., in 1904,and moved to Hoopeston, Ill., in 1921. He displayed an early interest in radio communications, completing his first homemade receiver when he was only 12 years old. His inclinations led him to enlist in the Army Air Corps at Scott Field, Ill., March 13, 1928. Almost from the moment of his enlistment he became involved in the development of military communications.

As an enlisted man, he attended service schools in both the Air Corps and the Signal Corps, and also the RCA Resident School in New York in 1932.

His extensive 14 year background of military experience, specializing in the growing field of communications, qualified the then Master Sergeant Neal for elevation to second lieutenant May 5, 1942. As a commissioned officer he was first assigned to the 13th Communications Squadron, a task organization formed at Morrison Field, Fla., to provide communications support for planned invasion and military operations in North Africa.

He served as commanding officer of the 13th Communications Squadron, Africa, and as regional control officer of the 13th Airways Communications Region from May 4, 1942 until Aug. 31, 1943. Accepting new communications responsibilities at a pace commensurate with the speed of the whirlwind African campaign, he was named area control officer for all of Africa and the Middle East Sept. 1, 1943. He held this position until Dec. 13, 1944.

His promotions during wartime paralleled the growth of his responsibilities. He was promoted to first lieutenant May 11, 1942, six days after he was commissioned. He skipped the grade of captain completely, was promoted to major June 6, 1942, to lieutenant colonel Feb. 25, 1943, and to colonel Aug. 28, 1944.

After the communications build-up necessary to the North African campaign was completed, Colonel Neal became commander of the 3rd AACS Wing at Elmendorf Field, Alaska, Dec. 14, 1944. He received the additional duty of air communications officer for Alaska Feb. 4, 1945. In this capacity, he reported directly to the chief of staff, U.S. Air Force, who was, at that time, General H.H. ("Hap") Arnold.

Brigadier General Neal's two dog tags he wore complete with a St. Christopher medal and the bracelet with name, rank, blood type and number.

After serving in Headquarters AACS as assistant chief of staff; operations, training and requirements from May 1945 until August 1947, Colonel Neal was selected to attend the Air Command and Staff School at Maxwell Field, Ala. Upon graduation from the Air Command and Staff School, he was assigned as director of communications and electronics for the Caribbean Air Command.

Returning to the United States in January 1950, Colonel Neal entered the Armed Forces Staff College at Norfolk, Va., from which he graduated in July 1950.

He was named assistant director of communications and electronics, Continental Air Command in August 1950; and, when Air Defense Command and Tactical Air Command were reborn out of the reorganization of CONAC, he was named director of communications and electronics for the Air Defense Command.

In this capacity, he was associated with the build-up of Air Defense Command from an organization embracing only two fighter wings and less than a score of active AC&W sites to the modern fighting force charged with responsibility for the air defense of the North American Continent. As director of communications and electronics, he was the whip behind the development of a modern surveillance and detection system that grew from a jury rigged "lash-up" expedient to an integrated AC&W system composed of hundreds of permanent radar stations, including the Pine Tree Line, the seaward extension of radar by picket ships, Texas Towers, airborne "early warning" aircraft, and the Distant Early Warning (DEW) Line.

On July 11, 1955, Colonel Neal was promoted to brigadier general. Later, in recognition of his outstanding service to the nation through his assignment with Air Defense Command, General Neal was awarded the oak leaf cluster to the Legion of Merit for duty performed between 1951 and 1957. In addition to his two Legions of Merit, General Neal has also been awarded the Commendation Ribbon.

From July 8, 1957 to March 9, 1959 General Neal was assigned as commander, 1807th AACS Wing, Bitburg, Germany. Soon after his arrival, the 1807th was redesignated as the European-African Middle Eastern AACS area with its headquarters transferred to Weisbaden, Germany.

On March 10,1959 General Neal was designated commander of the newly formed Ground Electronics Engineering-Installation Agency with Headquarters at Griffiss Air Force Base, N.Y. Under his direction, GEEIA has grown from a widely separated heterogeneous group of individuals to a modern, unified agency charged with the engineering and installation of the Air Forces entire ground communication systems and facilities. Under his leadership GEEIA achieved the maturity of a "can do" organization. This includes an active role in all phases of ground electronics from the massive, integrated installation of communications at each Atlas, Titan and Minuteman missile site, to the down range tracking facilities of the Atlantic Missile Test Range, the base wire and telephone development schedules at each Air Force installation and integral participation on each of the "L" systems such as Sage and Aircom.

He retired in 1964 as a U.S. Air Force Brigadier General.

Date of Passing: July 15, 1981
Location of Interment: Arlington National Cemetery - Arlington, Virginia Wall/Plot Coordinates Sec: 59, Site: 589

Source: https://www.af.mil/About-Us/Biographies/Display/Article/106058/brigadier-general-haskell-e-neal/

Air Force Communications & Information Hall of Fame Class of 2003 Award - Brigadier General Neal received this award posthumously in 2003. He was one of the first inductees into the USAF Communications and Information Hall of Fame in 2003. The award was received by his widow, Elizabeth M. Neal, on his behalf at a gala in Washington, DC. Four other general officers received the same accolade.

Brig. Gen. Haskell E. Neal
Serving from March 1928 to June 1964, Neal was first an enlisted communicator in the Army Air Corps/Army Air Forces. He received a direct commission during the early days of World War II. From 1951 to 1957, he was associated with the buildup of the newly-created Air Defense Command into a modern fighting force charged with responsibility for the air defense of the North American continent. As director of communications and electronics, he was responsible for development and implementation of U.S. and Canada's warning and surveillance networks, a modern surveillance and detection system that grew to an integrated system Distant Early Warning, or DEW line with hundreds of permanent radar stations. He was also the first Ground Electronics Engineering Installation Agency, or GEEIA, commander. He established an organizational structure that GEEIA followed throughout its existence (1958-1970). GEEIA was charged with the engineering and installation of the Air Force's entire worldwide ground communication systems and facilities. Neal died in 1981.

Source: https://www.afnic.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/401702/hall-of-fame-class-of-2003/

Colt Model 1908 Pocket Hammerless .380 ACP serial number M137878 issued to Brigadier General Haskell E. Neal - left side