Hawk Composite Squadron is proud to announce the change of command and new Commander Col William Moran. We thank Maj Scott Davis for his service to Hawk Squadron over the past three years.
Col. William J. Moran, Jr
Bio: Col. Moran graduated from the University of Rhode Island in 1973 and immediately entered the USAF.He was a Distinguished Graduate of Officers Training School and completed Pilot Training in 1974. During his 26 year career he flew the B-52G, FB-111A, F-111A/D/E, B-1A/B as an aircraft commander, instructor pilot and evaluation pilot.He flew over 300 developmental test hours in the B-1 program at Edwards Air Force Base, CA and subsequently gained membership in the Society of Experimental Test Pilots.
He commanded the 46th Bomb Squadron, a nuclear certified B-1B squadron with 17 aircraft assigned and over 450 aircrew members, maintainers and munitions loaders.He led his squadron during the transition from the Strategic Air Command to the Air Combat Command
(ACC) earning an “Excellent” rating during the first ACC Inspector General Evaluation.He also led his squadron to 12 “Time to Climb” aviation world records flying the first three record breaking flights.
He also served as deployment manger for the B-2 at Strategic Command Headquarters, Offutt AFB, Omaha NE and head of the Strategic Concepts Policy branch at Pacific Command Headquarters Camp Smith MCB, Honolulu, HI .His final assignment was as the Vice Commander of the Air Warfare Center at Nellis AFB in Las Vegas, NV where he led a command staff and was the senior advisor to the Center Commander on advance bomber test and training matters.
Colonel Moran moved to Gilford, NH in 2001 and was a Small Business Account Executive at Melcher & Prescott Insurance Agency in Laconia.He returned to flying as a Pilatus PC-12 captain for Alpha Flying Inc in 2007.He was commander of the Hawk Composite Civil Air Patrol Squadron for four years earning the Squadron Commander of the Year award in 2004 and Merit Squadron award in the 2005. In 2006 he was named the vice commander. He is currently a CAP mission pilot, aircraft instructor and flight check pilot and holds FAA ATP, CFIA, CFII and MEI certificates/ratings.The Colonel was then named New Hampshire Wing Commander in the fall of 2010. Since his time as Wing Commander form 2010 to 2014 Col Moran has served as Dir of Emergency Services and Commander for the Mt Washington Squadron until stepping back into Command for Hawk in December of 2022
Bio: Col. Moran graduated from the University of Rhode Island in 1973 and immediately entered the USAF.He was a Distinguished Graduate of Officers Training School and completed Pilot Training in 1974. During his 26 year career he flew the B-52G, FB-111A, F-111A/D/E, B-1A/B as an aircraft commander, instructor pilot and evaluation pilot.He flew over 300 developmental test hours in the B-1 program at Edwards Air Force Base, CA and subsequently gained membership in the Society of Experimental Test Pilots.
He commanded the 46th Bomb Squadron, a nuclear certified B-1B squadron with 17 aircraft assigned and over 450 aircrew members, maintainers and munitions loaders.He led his squadron during the transition from the Strategic Air Command to the Air Combat Command
(ACC) earning an “Excellent” rating during the first ACC Inspector General Evaluation.He also led his squadron to 12 “Time to Climb” aviation world records flying the first three record breaking flights.
He also served as deployment manger for the B-2 at Strategic Command Headquarters, Offutt AFB, Omaha NE and head of the Strategic Concepts Policy branch at Pacific Command Headquarters Camp Smith MCB, Honolulu, HI .His final assignment was as the Vice Commander of the Air Warfare Center at Nellis AFB in Las Vegas, NV where he led a command staff and was the senior advisor to the Center Commander on advance bomber test and training matters.
Colonel Moran moved to Gilford, NH in 2001 and was a Small Business Account Executive at Melcher & Prescott Insurance Agency in Laconia.He returned to flying as a Pilatus PC-12 captain for Alpha Flying Inc in 2007.He was commander of the Hawk Composite Civil Air Patrol Squadron for four years earning the Squadron Commander of the Year award in 2004 and Merit Squadron award in the 2005. In 2006 he was named the vice commander. He is currently a CAP mission pilot, aircraft instructor and flight check pilot and holds FAA ATP, CFIA, CFII and MEI certificates/ratings.The Colonel was then named New Hampshire Wing Commander in the fall of 2010. Since his time as Wing Commander form 2010 to 2014 Col Moran has served as Dir of Emergency Services and Commander for the Mt Washington Squadron until stepping back into Command for Hawk in December of 2022
Col. Bill Moran, former New Hampshire Wing commander, flew his 1,000th Civil Air Patrol Instructor Pilot/Check Pilot sortie Nov. 22.despite the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic,
"A big congratulations to one of our own," said Mike Moyer, CAP's senior program manager for standardization and evaluation, who announced the feat and described Moran as "a consummate professional to Civil Air Patrol."
Moran, who once flew bombers for the U.S Air Force, said the milestone wasn’t a personal goal.
"Last January I was totaling my 2019 flight hours/sorties and I saw that I had flown 124 IP/CP sorties in 2019,” he said. “I was surprised by that number and decided to add up all the previous year’s IP/CP sorties, and the total came to 924.
“I never expected such a big number of sorties, and I didn’t expect to reach 1,000 sorties in 2020 as COVID-19 caused many members to reduce their flying. However, we had to keep pilots trained and qualified for all our missions, and I flew another 80 IP/CP sorties in 2020,” said Moran, now deputy commander of the Mount Washington Flight.
John Desmarais, CAP's director of operations, said reaching 1,000 IP/CP sorties is quite an accomplishment. "Most active IPs and CPs fly 60-65 hours a year for us across all of their flying, with an average sortie being one to 1½ hours, and a lot of that time is for their own flying or missions, too," he said. "Most probably fly 1-2 IP or CP sorties a month, maybe 25 a year."
Moran flew another 17 sorties for aerial photography in 2020 in addition to other missions, totaling 199.
"That number blew me away," he said, contemplating the restrictions in place during the year. "I will continue to fly as pilots request, but I have no number of sorties in mind."
"A big congratulations to one of our own," said Mike Moyer, CAP's senior program manager for standardization and evaluation, who announced the feat and described Moran as "a consummate professional to Civil Air Patrol."
Moran, who once flew bombers for the U.S Air Force, said the milestone wasn’t a personal goal.
"Last January I was totaling my 2019 flight hours/sorties and I saw that I had flown 124 IP/CP sorties in 2019,” he said. “I was surprised by that number and decided to add up all the previous year’s IP/CP sorties, and the total came to 924.
“I never expected such a big number of sorties, and I didn’t expect to reach 1,000 sorties in 2020 as COVID-19 caused many members to reduce their flying. However, we had to keep pilots trained and qualified for all our missions, and I flew another 80 IP/CP sorties in 2020,” said Moran, now deputy commander of the Mount Washington Flight.
John Desmarais, CAP's director of operations, said reaching 1,000 IP/CP sorties is quite an accomplishment. "Most active IPs and CPs fly 60-65 hours a year for us across all of their flying, with an average sortie being one to 1½ hours, and a lot of that time is for their own flying or missions, too," he said. "Most probably fly 1-2 IP or CP sorties a month, maybe 25 a year."
Moran flew another 17 sorties for aerial photography in 2020 in addition to other missions, totaling 199.
"That number blew me away," he said, contemplating the restrictions in place during the year. "I will continue to fly as pilots request, but I have no number of sorties in mind."
