13000 VISTA DEL NORTE #131 • SAN ANTONIO, TX • 78216 |  (808) 561-6825  | allan@palmergroup-us.com
 

COMMANDER ALLAN PALMER, USN (Ret)

Commander Palmer was born into a military family in San Francisco, the son of an Army Air Corps officer and the grandson of one of the Air Corps’ earliest aviators. He grew up with the new U.S. Air Force as his family moved from base to base across the United States and Europe. Upon graduation from East Tennessee State University, he attended the U.S. Air Force Officer Training School where he was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in 1966 and became a third generation Air Force officer.

Following flight training, he was assigned to the 41st Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron at Takhli, Royal Thai Air Force Base where he flew 100 combat missions over Vietnam in the EB-66 aircraft. He was then assigned to fly the F-4C Phantom II at Yokota AFB where he joined the 35th, 36th and 80th Tactical Fighter Squadrons. When Air Force tactical units left Japan in 1971, then-Captain Palmer led the Yokota F-4s to Kadena AB, Okinawa where they joined the reactivated 67th Tactical Fighter Squadron. As the war in Southeast Asia intensified in 1972, Captain Palmer was selected as one of the twelve 67th TFS Wild Weasel crew members to take the new F-4 Wild Weasel IV into combat. In September, 1972 Captain Palmer flew the first F-4 Wild Weasel combat mission over North Vietnam. Captain Palmer flew 58 combat missions during the six-month deployment and was credited with destroying 6 Surface to Air Missile (SAM) sites and 7 Anti-aircraft Artillery sites. He flew eight of the eleven nights of Linebacker II over Hanoi and Haiphong, North Vietnam, the most intense campaign in the history of modern air warfare. Among his accomplishments during this period were the first night “Hunter-Killer” Wild Weasel mission and the only successful night dogfight of the war with enemy MiG aircraft. His combat decorations include the Silver Star, four Distinguished Flying Crosses and eleven Air Medals.

Captain Palmer was granted a rare inter-service transfer to the United States Navy as a regular officer in 1975. Following Replacement Air Group training at NAS Miramar, California as a Navy Lieutenant Commander, he was assigned to Fighter Squadron Twenty Four aboard the aircraft carrier USS Constellation. He completed 200 carrier landings in the F-14A Tomcat fighter and was the recipient of the Thomas Clifton Award as a member of the best fighter squadron in the U.S. Navy. He was subsequently assigned duties on the staff of the Commander, Naval Military Personnel Command in Washington D.C. where he was promoted to the rank of Commander. Commander Palmer retired from active service in 1986 while serving as the Financial Policy Officer and Director of Commercial Activities for the Commander in Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Commander Palmer holds a Master of Science degree in Systems Management from the University of Southern California.

Commander Palmer has held senior management positions with several non-profit corporations in Hawaii, including the Queen Emma Foundation, Queens Medical Center, Hawaii Kai Computers, Inc., Aeronautical Radio Inc., and the Hawaii Army Museum Society. As the Executive Director of the San Diego Aerospace Museum, he managed one of the top five aviation and space museums in the country. During his tenure, the museum completed an ambitious $5 million capital campaign and construction of three major additions. He served as the first Executive Director and CEO of the Pacific Aviation Museum – Pearl Harbor, where he led the effort to design, fund and build a new aviation museum on historic Ford Island in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The new $12 million aviation museum opened on December 7, 2006 to rave reviews. He currently serves as President and CEO of The Palmer Group, a consulting firm that provides services to museums, government and non-profit organizations for aviation activities and the design and construction of new museums. He is a member of the PACAF Air Force Civilian Advisory Council, the Honolulu Rotary Club, and serves as a Trustee of the Hawaii Army Museum Society.

Commander Palmer is married to the former Susan Gay Kunz of San Antonio, Texas. They have three grown children and four grandchildren.