George Hamilton Milligan III died on January 11 2020 at the age of 77 from complications of renal failure. He was born on February 25 1942 to George Hamilton Milligan II and Margaret Meloney Milligan in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. George Milligan is survived by his wife, Juliet Sears Milligan, his daughter, Juliet Katherine Milligan, his three grandchildren, and his younger siblings, Bruce Andrews Milligan and Margaret Elanor Bagdonas. He was preceded in death by his son George Hamilton Milligan IV, known to his friends as Joe, who was killed at age 23 in the terrorist attack in Bali, Indonesia, on October 12 2002.

In his youth, George Milligan III was an Eagle Scout, Senior Class President of Bellville High School (Michigan), Captain of the swim team, where he set a backstroke swimming state record that stood for fifteen years, and played the cello. He received his Bachelor of Science at Ripon College in 1964 and his MBA at the Wharton School of Business in 1966.

George spent his career in the private sector, ultimately serving as the CEO of two technology companies in Florida – first at Piezo Technology in Orlando and then Computer Science Innovations in Melbourne - for nearly two decades before his retirement in 2004. He also served twenty-two years in the Air Force Reserves, achieving the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and master navigator for AC-130 gunships before his military retirement in 1989. One of his unit’s missions was to fly range security clearance for NASA’s space shuttle program at Cape Canaveral. He was member of the AC130 crew for the launch of the first space shuttle, Colombia, in 1981.

George was an avid outdoorsman, fisherman, hunter, and golfer. His passion for fly-fishing in particular took him and his wife Juliet to exotic fishing destinations on six continents, including north of the Arctic Circle in Russia, the Seychelles, the Bahamas, the Amazon, the Yucatan, Central America, Patagonia, Chile, Namibia, New Zealand - and to Alaska twenty-two times. As his longtime fishing partner Mike Borling remarked, “There are probably only a handful of people in the world who have caught more fish (in terms of sheer numbers and diversity of species) in more countries than George Milligan.”

George Milligan III is deeply missed by his family, friends, neighbors, former colleagues and servicemen. His memorial service will be held on February 17 at 11.00 AM at Capen House in Winter Park. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to The Mission Continues, a non-profit serving U.S. veterans.

Another Gunship Flyer from our early years, George Milligan passed away last Saturday 11 January after a long battle with many health issues, including Brain Cancer a month ago. He was one of our most respected and well liked Aviators  who served his country and the 711SOS honorably for several years as a Master Navigator on the AC-130A Gunship. He was also a very talented writer who has wrote a number of OERs and APRs helping other flyers during his time at Duke.  George was one of a few that truly made a difference, and will be missed by all.