AF Capt. William Howard Hughes; deserter arrested
According to AF.mil the Air Force’s Office of Special Investigations has arrested their most wanted fugitive, Capt. William Howard Hughes who has been a deserter since 1983;
On June 5, during a passport fraud investigation, the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service interviewed an individual claiming to be Barry O’Beirne. After being confronted with inconsistencies about his identity, the individual admitted his true name was William Howard Hughes Jr., and that he deserted from the U.S. Air Force in 1983.
Capt. Hughes claimed that in 1983 he was depressed about being in the Air Force so he left, created the fictitious identity of O’Beirne and has been living in California ever since.
Capt. Hughes deserted the Air Force in July 1983 after returning from temporary duty in Western Europe. Hughes was last seen in the Albuquerque, N.M., area withdrawing $28,500 from his bank account at 19 different branch locations.
At the time of his disappearance Capt. Hughes had a Top Secret/Single Scope Background Investigation clearance, but only had access to U.S. Secret and North Atlantic Treaty Organization Secret information.
Thanks to Bobo for the link.
Category: Air Force
“Howard Hughes Jr”
Yeah, sure you are pal now what’s your real name.
There’s always been snowflakes in the military. We had a guy on the boat in 1973 that couldn’t stand the “pressure” of going to sea so he deserted and went back to Texas. He got caught when he decided to run for county commissioner. I guess he never thought they would actually do a background check. In his defense, he was a TM. 🙂
Glad they got him. Maybe the recruiter said, “Hey if you don’t like it, just, you know, leave.”
He must have been stationed at Cannon AFB, I felt like deserting when I was stationed there, the place sucked, plus it had the overwhelming odor of cow poop in the air which was also visible…1 place you should always be wearing a gas mask even if you’re not under attack
If he was stationed at Kirtland AFB and deserted, then he’s a typical California pussyboy
When Hack Stone was still active duty, he was on a Joint Command assignment in the National Capital Region. Pulling an overnight shift, he was shooting the shit with an Air Force Major who enlightened Hack about the Air Force resort known as Cannon AFB. Highlights included that the town had exactly one tree, which was damaged when the mayor/undertaker was driving his hearse through the cemetery while a military funeral was taking place, and during the rifle salute, he was distracted and hearse met tree. He also mentioned that the Chief means of income for town residents was to get their daughters knocked up by some wing nuts, then marrying them off. Sounds almost as appealing as 29 Palms.
MDW!
“Chief means of income for town residents was to get their daughters knocked up by some wing nuts, then marrying them off.”
You just described what it was like going to prototype in Idaho Falls in the 1980’s.
I had an ex-Navy roommate in college who told me stories about “Idahogs”.
Back in the 80’s I had just left Cannon AFB after calling on the clinic there and was driving east back into the Texas Panhandle headed for Reese AFB in Lubbock. Suddenly the bright, clear blue sky darkened in the north and within minutes I was engulfed in a “Blue Norther”.
The wind was blowing 90 degrees across the highway and suddenly turned brown with what I later learned the locals call “Snust’ snow turned brown by dust. Tumbleweeds were flying across the highway like cannonballs when suddenly I saw one that looked different. A closer look showed it to be a male pheasant. Unable to gain control of his wings, he was being tumbled end over end just like the tumbleweeds.
Yeah, I agree, you can have the place.
Sure you weren’t already in TX when that happened, PT? Farwell, TX is only about 12 miles east on US60/70 from Cannon AFB’s main gate. And the TX panhandle looks a helluva lot like the adjoining part of NM. (smile)
Stayed at Cannon AFB once or twice while traveling. Never made it to Reese AFB before it closed.
Kind of makes me feel real secure when a shitbag like this can get a passport under a phony name. Jail the sonovabitch and throw away the key.
At least console yourself that a number of the “most wanted” USAF fugitives are only wanted because they deserted while holding a security clearance. So we got that going for us.
Here are the other US Air Force’s Most Wanted (not a joke):
http://www.businessinsider.com/air-forces-most-wanted-fugitives-2015-2
And the US Army’s most wanted (not a joke):
http://www.businessinsider.com/us-armys-most-wanted-fugitives-2015-2
Well, scratch one from the USAF list . . . . (smile)
another site that demands you turn off your ad blocker so they can spam the ever loving crap out of you.
the irony that the practice that led to creation of ad blockers is now gutting the media companies who created the problem is excellent.
Turd.
And shaming the Officer Corps.
Did he work for Hidabeast?
No.
All-Points Logistics.
Idiot.
Word.
Simple, succinct and sufficient.
You win the day!
Many/most took a hike when charged with being a perv. It would be a shame if they resisted when found. A real shame.
You didn’t even know they guy existed before the news came out; now you want his head handed to him. What gives?
I get some education on TAH reading all this stuff. DooWopp University was okay but this site is really BOSS. (NYC word)
Something in the linked article has me thinking, “Oh, sh!t.”
Immediately before deserting, this guy was at Kirtland AFB, NM. He was assigned to a command with the acronym “AFOTEC”. And he deserted during one of the hotter years of the last part of the Cold War, 1983.
Anyone who’s ever worked in the USAF’s material development community – or in the DoD test and eval community – is probably experiencing an episode of high APF about now. I seriously hope OSI thoroughly wrings this guy dry concerning any and all foreign travel and connections he’s had since he deserted.
AFOTEC= Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Command. Army equiv was OTEA. Forget the Navy equiv. Spent the last years of my working years in the OT world.
sj: I’m pretty sure OTEA became OPTEC circa 1990 (Operational Test and Evaluation Command) – and then was reorganized into ATEC (Army Test and Evaluation Command) at the beginning of FY2000. The later reorganization brought TECOM (Test and Evaluation Command, who’d done developmental testing only) under ATEC, unifying Army T&E activities.
https://www.atec.army.mil/aec/history.html
Navy is COMOPTEVFOR, Commander, Operational Test and Evaluation Force.
Link
APF?
I would certainly ask him how a Captain has $28,000 lying around in a bank account. Sounds like he was in a hurry, too.
The last two letters stand for “Pucker Factor”.
The polite way of phrasing what the first letter stands for is “Anal”. (smile)
Incest, rape, indecency with a child. Who the hell is Army recruiting.
Just resign. As a captain, any academy or ROTC service obligation would be close to expiring or have expired. What sense does it make to go AWOL? Maybe he knew he was under investigation back then for some real shady stuff?
AWOL? I believe in ‘83 it was called UA. At least by those in the military. And no one really cared much except for top brass.
Um, no – that is incorrect. Two different ways.
First: having troops AWOL was of concern to others than “top brass”. During the 1980s, I saw many a troop lose stripes and cash as the result of going AWOL when they received an Article 15 for same. (You probably don’t recognize the term “Article 15”; think NJP. Article 15 was the common term for NJP in the Army.) So yeah – plenty of individuals other than “top brass” have always cared about AWOL – including, presumably, those who lost some stripes (and cash) as a result.
Second: during the early 1980s, personnel in the Army indeed referred to being absent without authority as AWOL. Almost positive that the USAF used the same term as the Army and the USMC used the term UA to refer to being absent without authority. Not sure about the Navy during that same period; I didn’t have much contact with Navy personnel then.
Pretty sure all services still use the same terms today for absence from duty without authority as they did 35 years ago.
It’s always a good idea to have your facts straight before running your yap. Might want to remember that, Tietz.
…I would love to be a fly on the wall when they start questioning this dude. And question #1 is going to be, “Where the hell did an O3 in the early 80s get twenty-eight grand…?”
you know exactly where an O-3 got 28 grand in 1983.
THAT shitbird ain’t flying around anymore!
Here’s a thought (and it is completely in jest):
Since this “Captain” is now back under government control (pre-trial confinement) and has been carried on the books (albeit in a Deserter status) for the past 35 years, knowing the AF’s slant toward awarding their personnel as much bling as possible, will he be awarded a couple of Bronze Service Stars to wear on his Viet of the Nam era NDSM before he gets shipped off to Leavenworth?
Yeah, Yeah, I know it’ll never happen, but it’s just something to think about./smile
Damn good question, Claw.
If I had to guess, I’d say no for the Gulf War NDSM period. He had zero credible military service during that period since he was in deserter status the entire 5+ years (lost time while in AWOL or deserter status isn’t credible service).
However, he may well receive one for the GWOT NDSM period since he’s returned to military control. Or maybe not. Dunno.
A related question that comes to mind: will he be eligible to receive the GWOTSM? Technically, one is supposed to serve “in support of the GWOT” in order to receive that service medal. Is the status “casual/awaiting trial by court-martial” considered service in support of the GWOT? (smile)
Oh, and Capt. Hughes? Please be so kind as to GFY.
Current duty status: Being provided three hots and a cot courtesy of the Federal Government at a military installation confinement facility and keeping the cell Spic and Span = Creditable Service./s
No. Just NO!
Okay, Hondo, why didn’t this IDIOT just resign his commission or ask to go into the reserves?
He was under no obligation to be in the military at all, but he spent 35 years “in hiding” in plain sight, so unless he was providing some kind of info to the Soviets, what is the big deal?
This episode is awash in pure stupidity.
This article, with his mugshot picture, stated it was unknown if his family members had any contact with him since 1983 (he has 3 sisters):
https://scallywagandvagabond.com/2018/06/william-howard-hughes-jr-missing-air-force-officer-found-barry-o-beirne/
The Washington Post seems to think he is more than just a deserter:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2018/06/11/airman-with-top-secret-clearance-who-disappeared-in-1983-is-discovered-living-in-california/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.eb294a4f5b00