Captain Kernan Nelson Chaisson, USAF Ret
09/26/1941 - 12/19/2015
Kernan Nelson Chaisson was born September 26, 1941 to Henry Clay and Ida Frances Chaisson in New Orleans, LA. His early years in Algiers revolved around
schooling at Holy Name of Mary Catholic Church. He finished his last year of schooling in Pennsylvania.
He joned the US Air Force right after and spent his early years as one of the original Cold Warriors on the DEW Line, spending a year in Alaska as a radar
operator. His Air Force career took him to many locations - Keelser AFB, Biloxi, Mississippi (closest to home); Bangor, Maine; Madison, Wisconsin; Tampa, Florida;
San Diego, California; and his longest time spent at Nellis, AFB in Las Vegas, Nevada. He served for 24 years and was classified as a "mustang", one who started in the
enlisted ranks and ended his career in the officer corps until his discharge on 31 January 1985.
While at Nellis, he was very involved in the original setup of Operation Red Flag, the training for Air Force fighter pilots. His time was spent on the range as the
agressor force commander and briefed crews as to results. He also performed the same function for the yearly Operation Maple Flag exercises with the Candian Air Force.
After returing from the Air Force, he married Nadine Mildice and resided in the Washington DC area.
He spent may years as a defense reporter on Capital Hill working for Jane's International, then Forecast International. He wrote both for their magazines and then their
yearly summary reports. He advised and wrote for other publications, too many to note here.
He also completed two books:
MAD CATS, The Story of VP-63 is a World War II historical account of a squadron of submarine chasers flying PBY-5 MAD equipped Catalina Flying Boats (hence the name Mad Cats).
Our uncle Adam Chaisson was the MAD (Magnetic Anomoly Detector) operator on the second submarine kill.
Red Flag From The Ground Up is a semi-autobiographical story of the formation and then advancement of Operation Red Flag for Air Combat training.
Kenan and Nadine were active volunteers for many oreganizations, but most significantly the Smithsonian. He also continued to be an advocate for full
rights for women and minorities. They also did significant traveling to many locations throughout the world.
We lost Kernan December 19, 2015 due to accumulated health issues. He will be sorely missed by Nadine, his family and manuy friends. He was honored with burial at
Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors on August 29, 2016.
