Theodore P. Crichton of Wilmington served in the U.S. armed forces for 36 years, then worked in private industry. He was an Air Force pilot, staff officer and operational unit commander, serving as a squadron commander, wing commander, and air division commander. He served as vice commander of the 21st Air Force.
Crichton retired in 1980 as a brigadier general and for the next 20 years served as a top executive with two aerospace companies.
A West Pointer, he was graduated in 1950, then joined the Air Force and won his wings in 1951. He was promptly dispatched to England with the first operational multi-engine jet bomber, the B-45. Equipped with atomic bombs, the mission of the B-45 fleet was to thwart possible incursions into Western Europe in the early stages of the Cold War.
From the mid-1960s forward he engaged in air transport operations. He flew combat missions in Southeast Asia in the C-130. He was appointed commander of the 316th Airlift Wing at Langley Air Force Base in 1972, then 839th Air Division commander at Pope AFB responsible for airlift organizations in the eastern half of the United States. From 1975 to 1978 he was airlift commander in the Europe-Middle East-North Africa theater.
Crichton, who holds a master's in aeronautical engineering, served as deputy for surveillance and navigation systems, Air Force Systems Command, Hanscom AFB, Mass., from 1978 to 1980. He attended the National War College in Washington D.C., and served with headquarters USAF in the office of the deputy chief of staff for R&D in the Pentagon.
A command pilot with more than 6,000 flying hours, he flew 100 combat missions in Southeast Asia. His decorations include the Distinguished Service Medal, the Legion of Merit with two oak leaf clusters, the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Bronze Star Medal, and the Air Medal with three oak leaf clusters.
In retirement, he flew a B-25 in Air Shows; he worked as a volunteer at the Oshkosh Air Show for the past 15 years.
Ted and his wife Stella Peterson from North Dakota live in Greensboro, N.C. Their daughter Teresa Audilet and husband Alex are the parents of Emily, Matthew and Claire. They too live in Greensboro.
