Howell Estes
General Howell M. Estes, III, USAF Retired, died March 18, 2024 of old age. He was 82 at the time of his death.
General Estes was born in San Antonio, TX on December 16, 1941, the first of three sons to parents General Howell M. Estes, Jr. from Fort Oglethorpe, GA and Anna Holcomb Verbeck from Syracuse, NY. Since his father was in the U.S. military, he travelled extensively in his youth living in Wiesbaden, Germany immediately following World War II; Montgomery, AL; Riverside, CA; Albuquerque, NM; Los Angeles, CA; Washington, D.C.; and Belleville, IL.
His high school years were spent at The Manlius School in Manlius, NY where he struggled with academics, taking five years to graduate. Even then, he had to attend The Millard School in the hills near Langlois, OR to get his college board scores high enough to be accepted at the college of his choice. In April 1961, he accepted a nomination to the U.S. Air Force Academy where, as a member of the Class of 1965, he again proved he wasn’t an academic genius graduating on June 9, 1965 in the top 90% of his class. He would say his greatest accomplishment at the Academy was being named the captain of the basketball team his senior year. Speaks volumes.
From the Academy, it was off to pilot training at Moody AFB, GA. A year later he transitioned into his first fighter - the F-4C at MacDill AFB, FL. Moving to Seymour Johnson AFB, NC in 1966 he began his career as an operational fighter pilot, first as an F-4E backseater and shortly thereafter, as a front seat pilot. He flew 169 combat missions in the F-4E out of Korat RTAFB, Thailand during the Southeast Asia Conflict (1969). Then he was sent to a dream assignment at Soesterberg AB, The Netherlands (1970), the land of windmills, tulips, bike paths, and incredible cheese. It was extra special because the base was very near a city called Zeist, which was the birthplace of his great, great grandfather, Guido H. F. Verbeck, who in the late 1800s, as a Christian missionary, was instrumental in assisting Japan’s move from a feudal society to the country we know today.
Following the Soesterberg assignment, he spent time at the Headquarters U.S. Air Force Europe, first as a weapons and tactics officer at Lindsey AS, Germany (1972) and later as a command briefer at Ramstein AB, Germany (1973). Following graduation from Air Command and Staff College at Maxwell AFB, AL in 1975, he paid the price for many years of operational flying by being assigned to the Air Staff at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. From there he moved to George AFB, CA in 1979 where he served as a fighter squadron commander, a maintenance squadron commander, and a deputy commander for maintenance of a fighter wing. After enjoying sunny southern California, it was back to Washington, D.C., first attending the National War College at Ft. McNair in 1983 and then returning to the Pentagon as an AF planner. As luck would have it, that staff assignment was only 8 months long. In 1984 he took command of one of nation’s most top secret units, the 4450th Tactical Group at Nellis AFB, NV, which was charged with bringing online the nation’s first operational stealth fighter - the F-117A. He said many times this was the most exciting, challenging, and rewarding assignment of his entire Air Force career.
Next came a string of assignments starting in 1986 as a Special Assistant to the Chief of Staff to the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE), Mons, Belgium; Commander 14th Air Division, Beale AFB, CA (1987); three assignments at Strategic Air Command, Offutt AFB, NE culminating in the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations, a position held during the first Gulf War (1991); Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff Plans and Operations, the Pentagon (1991); Commander 7th AF and Deputy Commander-in-Chief United Nations Command, Osan AB, Republic of Korea (1992); Director of Operations, the Joint Staff, the Pentagon (1994); and Commander-in-Chief North American Aerospace Defense and U.S. Space Command and commander of Air Force Space Command, Peterson AFB, CO (1996). General Estes retired from the U.S. Air Force on October 1, 1998.
He then started a new phase of his life as the president of Howell Estes Associates where he served on the boards of the Aerospace Corporation, Analytical Graphics, Space Foundation, DigitalGlobe, and MAXAR Technologies. He also was a consultant to Northrup Grumman (16 years) and ITT (8 years).
Once fully retired, he could be found visiting family, enjoying a basketball game, riding his mountain bike, reading the Wall Street Journal, or just putting his feet up thinking about the life he was privileged to have lived.
General Estes is survived by his wife Karen and his three children: Howell M. Estes, IV living with his wife Chrissy and their children Cason, Hayden, and Reagan in TN; Susan V. Estes in VA and her children Ryan and Kalyn; and Jordan L. Estes who lives where ever he wants.
A private service for General Estes will be held at the Verbeck Gravesite in the Manlius Village Cemetery, Manlius, NY. Instead of sending flowers, please help a student in need by contributing to the Verbeck Scholarship at the Manlius Pebble Hill School, 5300 Jamesville Road, Syracuse, NY 13214.