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Bill, a native of New York, was born on February 22, 1926. He enlisted in the Air Corp in 1944 along with many others hoping to go through cadets. His group of hopefuls didn't make it as the war was coming to an end and he was out of the service in 1945. He went to UCLA for two years and then back into the Air Force in 1948 to go through the cadet program. Graduated at Las Vegas Air Force Base (now Nellis) July 1, 1949. He went to Korea in January of 1951 and was stationed at K-2 where he flew 100 missions in an F-84 with one probable kill on a MIG. While in Korea, he spent two months as a Forward Air Controller with the Army. He graduated in the first class to receive diplomas at the Institute of Technology United States Air Force (Wright-Patterson) with a BA of Science in Aeronautical Engineering August 1956. In April 1970 he went to Vietnam where he served at Tuy Hoa for five months and then transferred to Saigon for the next seven months. He flew 98 missions in F-100s.
Flying was Bill's life. He was a member of the Air Force Association, the Quiet Birdmen, the professional Race Pilots Association, and the Nevada Air Museum. He was one of the original CIA/Lockheed selectees taken out of the Air Force and employed by the CIA for the A-12 Oxcart Program at Groom Lake, Nevada. Bill was the first non-Lockheed pilot to fly the A-12. He flew the A-12 trainer early on with the J-75 engines. While at Groom Lake, Bill switched from A-12 testing to the YF-12. When he requested return to the Air Force he was awarded the rank of Lt. Col. On 11 April 1969, Bill and his RSO Major Noel Warner had to eject from a Blackbird that had blown out its wheels on takeoff. After retirement, Bill continued to fly Formula One racing craft. On 18 August 1988, our fellow Roadrunner was killed when his racing plane lost a wing and crashed nose-first into the desert about eight miles north of Stead Airport.
Link to documents relating to Skliar's being sheep dipped from the Air Force to the CIA: Sheep Dip Documents
REMINDERS OF AN AVIATION PIONEER AND ICON
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CIA 60TH ANNIVERSARY - 19 September 2007
Jane "Skliar" Welsh attending A-12 Article 128 Dedication
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