Colonel William Carl Koch Jr., USAF, Retired

William C. Koch, Jr. 87 of Raleigh, NC, died Saturday, August 8, 2020 at Hillcrest in Durham. He was a native and former resident of Adams, Massachusetts. Born in Adams on May 9, 1933, he was the son of William C., Sr. and Elsie A. Koch. He graduated from the former Adams High School in Adams, MA in June 1951.

He attended the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, MA and received several scholarships during his four years at the University. He graduated with Honors with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics with a minor in Education in June of 1955. While at UMass, he was a member of the Air Force Reserve Officers Training Corps where he served as a Cadet Lieutenant Colonel serving as the Cadet Wing Executive Officer in his senior year. He attended ROTC summer camp in 1954 at Otis AFB, MA. Upon graduation from UMass he was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force Reserve. He was called to active duty on November 1, 1955. After spending two months at Lackland AFB, San Antonio, TX, he was transferred to Harlingen AFB, Harlingen, TX to attend Navigator training.

He graduated in November 1956, received his Navigator wings and was assigned to McGuire AFB, NJ where he flew over 5000 hours as a Navigator and Instructor Navigator on C-118 (military version of the civilian DC-6) Military Air Transport Command aircraft. During this assignment, he flew all over the world, carrying passengers and cargo to many interesting areas, including Ethiopia, the Congo, Pakistan, Thailand, and South Vietnam. While at McGuire, he was promoted to First Lieutenant and Captain and was sworn into the Regular Air Force. In 1962, his next assignment was to the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI under the Air Force Institute of Technology program. He graduated in May of 1964 with a Master of Science degree in Industrial Administration.

He was subsequently assigned to Ent AFB, Colorado Springs, CO, as a Space Object Identification (SOI) Officer, also known as a Radar Signature Analyst. During his tour at Ent, he was considered a pioneer in this science. He was also Chief, Current Operations for the 73rd Aerospace Surveillance Wing. In July 1967, he was transferred to a satellite tracking station at Diyarbakir AS, Turkey where he was Chief of the Space Object Identification Branch at the site. While in Turkey, he was promoted to Major. Upon his return to the US, he was once again assigned to Ent AFB. This time he was Chief, Data Production Branch responsible for supplying satellite orbit data to many varied organizations. Later during his tour, he was put in charge of the backup Space Defense Computer Center as Chief, Support Computer Branch.

In October of 1971, he was transferred to McClellan AFB, Sacramento, CA as a Navigator on an EC-121 Airborne Radar Aircraft, during this assignment he spent eight months temporary duty in South East Asia and logged 106 combat and combat support missions. He served as Commander of Headquarters Squadron of the 552nd AEW&C Wing and Executive Officer of the 964th AEW&C Squadron. During this assignment, he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and became Assistant Operations Officer for the 963rd AEW&C Squadron.

His next assignment, in January 1975, was to the 26th Air Division, Luke AFB, Phoenix, AZ as the SAGE Programming Agency’s Assistant Director. After promotion to Colonel, he became the Director. In July 1979, he was then sent to NATO’s Allied Forces Central Europe at Brunssum, The Netherlands as Chief, Data Systems and Operations Branch.

His final assignment was to Gunter AFS, Montgomery, AL with the Data System Design Center as Director, Software Development. He retired on Dec 1, 1985 after 30 years and 30 days of service.

During his career he completed many special training courses and completed Squadron Officer School in residence in 1960 and Air War College by seminar in 1977.

He was a Master Navigator with over 7000 flying hours. His flying time was accumulated in the following aircraft: T-29, C-118, C-47, KC-97, KC-135, C-54, C-131, T-39, EC-121, C-121. His awards included the Legion of Merit, two Defense Meritorious Service Medals, three Air Medals, the Meritorious Service Medal, two Air Force Commendation Medals, and many other military awards.

Colonel Koch and his wife moved to Raleigh where he worked for 10 years with Carolina Power and Light (now Progress Energy) as Director of Disaster Planning and Data Security. He retired from Carolina Power and Light in 1998 and was a volunteer with the American Red Cross in Disaster Services and as a First Aider with Health Services. He was President of the Jean Koch Evangelistic Association.

He is a member of the American Legion, the University of Massachusetts Alumni Association, and a life member of the Air Force Association, the Military Officers’ Association of America, the University of Michigan Alumni Association, the Air War College Association, The Air Force Navigators Observers Association and the Peterson Air & Space Museum.

While a resident of Raleigh, he had attended the First Assembly Church, but was a lifelong member of the First Congregational Church of Adams, MA.

He was pre-deceased by his parents, William C. Koch, Sr. and Elsie A. Kleiner Koch and his wife, Rev. Jean A. Koch. He is survived by several cousins, their families and nieces and nephews by marriage.

The virtual funeral service will be held on Saturday September 5th, 2020 at 1:00pm via the Facebook page of Brown-Wynne Funeral Home, East Millbrook Road. Please visit our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/BrownWynneMillbrook/. The live-stream service will appear anywhere between 12:45pm and 1:00pm. The recording will be available after the service has concluded for any guests that were unable to watch the live streaming in progress.