An unusual formation flew over Nellis AFB to honor retired U.S. Air Force Col. Gail Peck, “Bandit 1”, who passed away recently.
On Oct. 10, 2024, retired Col. Gaillard R. Peck Jr., the first commanding officer of the 4477th Test and Evaluation Squadron (TES) at Tonopah , better known as the MiG-equipped ‘Red Eagles’, callsign “Bandit 1”, passed away, few weeks short of his 84th birthday.
Gail Peck was born at Brooke Army Medical Center, Fort Sam Houston, Texas, the first son of Air Corps Lt. Gaillard and Lois Peck. He was raised in the military, attending school in occupied Japan and the Territory of Alaska, and, following graduation from Francis Hammond High School in Alexandria, Va., in 1958, he immediately entered the Air Force Academy, graduating in 1962 as a member of the fourth graduating class, known as the “Red Tags”.
Peck’s aviation career began with pilot training at Laughlin AFB, Texas, where he graduated first in his class in 1963. He was a T-33 instructor pilot and later he transitioned to the T-38 Talon, later serving as a T-38 Instructor Pilot at Randolph AFB.
Assigned to MacDill AFB, Florida, in late 1967 for F-4 gunnery school, Peck was on his way to Southeast Asia. By 1968, he was stationed with the 433rd TFS at Ubon Royal Thai Air Base, flying 163 combat missions over North Vietnam and Laos, including 100 at night. Returning to MacDill after his tour, he continued as an operational fighter pilot and graduated from Fighter Weapons School in 1970.
In 1972, he joined the 414th Fighter Weapons School at Nellis AFB, teaching air-to-air tactics. After serving in the Pentagon as the Air Force Tactics Officer, he initiated CONSTANT PEG, a project named in part after his wife Peggy, combining the AF/XOO “call sign” Constant with her name. This program led to the transformation of the Tonopah Test Range into an airbase where pilots covertly trained in air combat against real Soviet MiG fighter jets: MiG-17s and MiG-21s. Peck’s work was instrumental in preparing U.S. pilots for encounters with adversarial aircraft, reaching levels of skill that had previously been unattained.
Promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1977, Peck became the second commander of the 4477th Test and Evaluation Flight (Constant Peg) and the first to command it at Tonopah. Later, he was assigned to Saudi Arabia as the U.S. Military Training Mission’s tactics officer, contributing to the movement of AWACS and KC-135 aircraft to the Kingdom and the establishment of the ELF 1 control system during the Iran-Iraq War.
After attending the National War College, Peck qualified on the F-15 before heading to Kadena AB, Okinawa, Japan, as Deputy Commander for Operations, then Vice Commander of the 18th TFW. During this time, he flew both F-15 and RF-4C aircraft. In 1985, Peck was appointed Wing Commander of the 26th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing in Germany, later returning stateside as Deputy for AF Safety at Norton AFB.
Peck retired on July 31, 1988, with more than 26 years of continuous commissioned service and over 5,000 flying hours on several different aircraft types. His decorations include the Silver Star, multiple awards of the Legion of Merit, Distinguished Flying Cross, Meritorious Service Medal, and the Air Medal.
After retiring from active service, he spent over 15 years as a defense contractor at the USAF Weapons School.
Gail wrote two books about his career in the U.S. Air Force with the first title, “America’s Secret MiG Squadron: The Red Eagles of Project CONSTANT PEG”, published in 2012, tells the story the formation of the “Red Eagles” from the eyes of its founding father. A great book and one of our all-time favorites.
C.J. “Heater” Heatley, one of the world’s most famous U.S. Navy fighter pilots (author of the famous book “The Cutting Edge” and the iconic photo of his RIO and three wingmen over the South China Sea, called “Tomcats on the Prowl,” that inspired Hollywood producer Jerry Bruckheimer to make the movie “TOPGUN” ) as well as a Red Eagle (“Bandit 8”) wrote a heartfelt post on Facebook to honor Col. Gail Peck highlighting also the risks of radioactivity exposure faced by the military personnel who worked in Area 51 and 52: “The cancer rate among Red Eagles is far above the national average. There was a total of 514 Red Eagles involved with the program from 1976 to 1988. Including Gail, 345 of the 514 have already died. Many of the survivors have cancer like me. Gail’s battle of many months is finally over,” Heater wrote commemorating his friend.
More from The Aviationist
Nellis Air Force Base paid homage to Gail Peck with a memorial flyover on Nov. 6 carried out by a civilian-owned MiG-21, the MiG-29 owned by tech billionaire Jared Isaacman and two U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptors.
A memorial flyover was held earlier today dedicated to Retired U.S. Air Force Col. Gail Peck who passed away a couple of weeks ago.
In 1978 he was at Nellis as an Air Force Aggressor pilot and the 4477th Test and Evaluation Squadron commander.@usairforce @aircombatcmd pic.twitter.com/2W7nzx1ueO
— Nellis Air Force Base (@NellisAFB) November 7, 2024
The MiG-29 could be tracked online as it flew over Nellis AFB thanks to its ADS-B transponder.
Not something you see everyday at Nellis! Of course I’m not there! pic.twitter.com/yYDUOdv3RQ
— Colin Clark (@CCFOC1) November 6, 2024
