Item:
ONSV8809

Original U.S. Cold War Era Named HGU-26/P Flight Helmet with Dual Visor, Oxygen Mask and Carry Bag - Named to Major General William H. Sistrunk

Item Description

Original Item: Only One Set Available. Now this was an incredible discovery! This is a near unissued condition 1979 dated HGU-26/P Flight Helmet with Dual Visor, Oxygen Mask and Carry Bag, which was all once owned by Major General William H. Sistrunk. The set is from when he was a Colonel and a name tape can be found on the oxygen mask and a faint name can be found on the front of the helmet.

The HGU-26/P request for nomenclature is dated Jan 14, 1970 and is based on the HGU-22/P Helmet Shell. There is no military specification detailing exactly what goes into an HGU-26/P but until the appearance of the single visor HGU-26/P both USAF and manufacturer information was consistent in describing the HGU-26/P as an HGU-22/P helmet shell with a PRU-36/P side-actuated double visor. Sierra Corp and Gentex Inc sold single and dual visor HGU-26/P helmets.

The HGU-2/P, HGU-2A/P and HGU-26/P helmets have been modified and upgraded to meet every user's whims over the years. The most common modifications are custom fit liners instead of the standard fitting pads and the single visor cover gull wing cut to improve the pilot's upward visibility. Both these features are included in the helmet prepared by Protection Inc. for the USAF Thunderbirds display team.

A modification kit known as PRU-36/P visor housing kit is to provide the same improvement in upward visibility as the gullwing cut on the single visor housing. It can be supplied with tinted, gradient, clear or anti laser visors.

The customers would then install comfort liners, oxygen mask retention receivers and communications to suit their operational needs. The helmet circulated with US Armed Forces, NATO, FMS etc.

This example is on very good condition and consists of a HGU-26/P Flight Helmet with Double Clear and Tint Visors and Oxygen Mask. Both visors are complete and fully functional. Gas mask also in very good condition. Inside of helmet is in excellent wearable condition complete with ear cups and full lining, size is stated as a large.

Flight helmets issued to jet pilot helmets during the Vietnam war and the early 1980s are very hard to find!

Major General William H. Sistrunk
Major General William H. Sistrunk was chief of staff, Headquarters Military Airlift Command, Scott Air Force Base, Ill. General Sistrunk was born in 1937, in Utica, Miss., and attended public school in Drew, Miss. He earned a bachelor of science degree in geology from the University of Mississippi in 1960 and a master's degree in management from Central Michigan University in 1976. The general completed Squadron Officer School in 1963, Armed Forces Staff College in 1971, Industrial College of the Armed Forces in 1972, Air War College in 1978 and the National War College in 1981. He also completed the Executive Development Course at the University of Pittsburgh's Graduate School of Business in 1984.

Upon graduation from the University of Mississippi in 1960, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant through the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps program. He completed pilot training in May 1961 and was assigned to the 63rd Military Airlift Wing, Donaldson Air Force Base, S.C., flying C-124s. In April 1963 he transferred to Hunter Air Force Base, Ga., where the 63rd Military Airlift Wing had been relocated. He served as a C-124 instructor pilot and was also command post controller and base operations officer.

In February 1967 the general was assigned with the 63rd Military Airlift Wing, Norton Air Force Base, Calif., as a C-141A Starlifter aircraft commander and also served in the wing's current operations section. He was assigned to Military Airlift Command headquarters in July 1968 as an operations staff officer and as an aircraft commander in C-9 aeromedical evacuation aircraft. In January 1972 the general was assigned to Tan Son Nhut Air Base, Republic of Vietnam, as a command post controller.

Returning to the United States in December 1972, the general served as a plans officer in the War and Mobilization Planning Division, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff, Plans and Operations, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C. In the summer of 1976 he was assigned to the 6th Military Airlift Squadron, McGuire Air Force Base, N.J., as the operations officer, and, in December 1978 became squadron commander.

General Sistrunk completed National War College in July 1981 and returned to the 63rd Military Airlift Wing, Norton Air Force Base, as deputy commander for operations. He became vice commander of the 436th Military Airlift Wing, Dover Air Force Base, Del., in March 1982 and took command of the wing in February 1983. In January 1985 he was assigned as inspector general for Military Airlift Command. He became vice commander of 22nd Air Force, Travis Air Force Base, Calif., in July 1986. In June 1988 he became commander of the 322nd Airlift Division, Military Airlift Command, and deputy chief of staff for airlift, U.S. Air Forces in Europe, Ramstein Air Base, West Germany. He assumed his present duties in January 1990.

The general was a command pilot with more than 7,300 flying hours. His military awards and decorations include the Legion of Merit, Meritorious Service Medal with three oak leaf clusters, Air Force Commendation Medal with two oak leaf clusters, Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with two oak leaf clusters, and Combat Readiness Medal.

He was promoted to major general Oct. 1, 1988, with same date of rank.

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