Colonel Vernon P. Saxon Jr.

Colonel Vernon P. Saxon Jr., former Vice Commander at the Air Force Test Flight Center at Edwards Air Force Base, is the only aviator whose specific mission was to defend Kern County’s “Aerospace Valley” in a fully-armed F-15 fighter.

Saxon was born to fly. His father, a pilot in the Berlin airlift, moved the family to Germany shortly after Vernon’s birth. As an “Air Force Brat” he honed his skills on aero club aircraft and as an air chauffer on family vacations. Saxon called East Kern home for 17 of his 30 years in the Air Force.

Enjoying many unusual assignments while stationed at Edwards, Saxon was notably responsible for establishing safety measures during “Project Speed of Sound” as driver Stan Barrett propelled his land vehicle thorough the sound barrier --- a project marking the 76^th anniversary of the Wright Brothers’ flight at Kitty Hawk.

Saxon’s successes led him to becoming an Assistant Operations Officer of the F-15 Combined Test Force, a Systems Safety Officer at the Air Force Flight Test Center, and eventually Assistant Operations Officer in the AFFTC Safety Office.

In 1980, he attended Air Command and Staff College. Upon graduation, he returned to Edwards as the Chief of the Operations Division at USAF Test Pilot School. He later became Director of the F-15 Combined Test Force and the center’s director for safety.

Saxon was assigned to intervene should NASA’s Boeing 720 remotely-piloted research vehicle, testing a fire suppressing fuel additive in 1984, become uncontrollable. The aircraft, which was intentionally crashed at Edwards, could have posed a threat to nearby communities had it broken formation.

In 1986, he transferred to Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland as the Director of Programs and Resources, Deputy Chief of Staff for Test and Evaluation. He retired after 29 years of active duty in August of 1996.

Col. Saxon passed away due to melanoma in 1997