Summary

  • Chad Hennings flew A-10 missions in the Persian Gulf before joining the Dallas Cowboys, winning three Super Bowls.
  • Joe DiMaggio, a sergeant in the Seventh Air Force, holds the MLB record for consecutive hits.
  • Chad Hall, once a USAFA star, transitioned to the NFL and later became an NFL coach.

I’m a big-time sports nut, especially college football, pro football (American football, that is, not soccer AKA “fútbol” AKA “association football”), and Major League Baseball. So, when I saw that my Editors had assigned me to write about athletes who served in the same beloved branch of the US Armed Forces that I did, I naturally jumped at the chance.

Let’s examine the military and sports careers of five athletes who served in the US Air Force.

1

Chad Hennings

Chad Hennings, who played for the Dallas Cowboys, earned the rank of captain in the US Air Force. As noted by the Yardbarker website:

“Before winning three Super Bowls with the Dallas Cowboys in the 1990s, defensive tackle Chad Hennings served in the United States Air Force during the Gulf War. Hennings was deployed twice in the war and flew a total of 45 missions before being promoted to captain prior to his discharge.”

Hennings earned his commission via the USAFA where, not surprisingly, he was a standout on the Fighting Falcons’ football team.

During his sophomore season in 1985, Chad earned starter status and made the All-WAC (Western Athletic Conference) second team. Fortuitous timing, as that 1985 squad was the greatest in Air Force football history, 12-1. It won a share of the WAC conference championship, defeated the Texas Longhorns in the Bluebonnet Bowl and placed fifth in the final coaches poll. Fast-forward to Chad’s senior year, 1987, and he led the nation with 24 sacks, was a unanimous first-team All-American selection, received the Stan Bates Award as the conference’s top scholar-athlete, earned defensive player of the year honors from the Western Athletic Conference and the Outland Trophy as the nation’s top interior lineman.

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After graduating and earning his commission in June 1988, he reported to Undergraduate Pilot Training (UPT) at Sheppard AFB in Wichita Falls, Texas. Long story short, he became an A-10 Warthog driver with the 92nd Tactical Fighter Squadron (TFS). Those aforementioned two deployments and 45 missions were in support of Operation Provide Comfort, an effort that helped provide relief and humanitarian aid to Kurdish refugees in northern Iraq who had been suffering under the jackboot of then-strongman Saddam Hussein.

Capt. Hennings was drafted in the eleventh round of the 1988 NFL draft but had to put his pro career on hold due to his active-duty service commitment. Normally, an Air Force pilot’s contract carries an eight-year obligation, but as luck would have it, after the Persian Gulf War, the US Armed Forces had a huge across-the-board post-Cold War drawdown. So, Capt. Hennings got the remaining four years of his military commitment waived, and he was finally freed to pursue his professional career. He played a total of nine seasons with the Cowboys, from 1992 to 2000.

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2

Joe DiMaggio

Seventh Air Force and MLB’s New York Yankees

There’s no doubt that Mr DiMaggio is one of the sport’s all-time greats and an American icon. Besides being featured in the Simon & Garfunkel classic song and briefly being married to fellow American icon Marilyn Monroe, DiMaggio also made his mark by serving in the US Army Air Force during the Second World War.

“Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio?

A nation turns its lonely eyes to you, whoa, whoa, whoa

What’s that you say, Mrs. Robinson?

Joltin Joe has left and gone away, hey, hey, hey

–“Mrs. Robinson” (1968) by Simon & Garfunkel

To quote Yardbarker:

“New York Yankees legend Joe DiMaggio served in the U.S. Seventh Army Air Force from 1943-1945. The star that he was, DiMaggio was initially given preferential treatment — so much so, that at one point DiMaggio demanded to see live combat from his superiors. His request was denied. DiMaggio still holds the major league record for most consecutive games with a hit, at 56.”

Yes, this was a couple of years before the US Air Force became a separate and independent branch of service, but the USAF still counts those days as part of its official history.

Joe enlisted as a private in the USAAF on February 17, 1943, and attained the rank of sergeant six months later. According to Howard E Halvorsen, Air Force Sustainment Center Historian:

“DiMaggio was assigned to Special Services and stationed at California’s Santa Ana Air Base. The only major league player on his military team, he and his teammates played against semipro clubs, local college teams and Pacific Coast League teams. DiMaggio reached the rank of sergeant in August 1943.

“To ensure the professional players had some time overseas, DiMaggio and other major league players were transferred to Hawaii in spring 1944. In time, the best military baseball players were stationed in Hawaii. Big names like Johnny Beazley, Joe Gordon, Pee Wee Reese and Red Ruffing, along with DiMaggio, were split into different teams. DiMaggio joined the 7th Army Air Force team, which played a nearly full major league schedule, while serving as a supply sergeant. The day after he arrived in Hawaii, he played for the Hickam Bombers and blasted a 435-foot home run out of Honolulu Stadium.”

Suffering from stomach ulcers, DiMaggio was given a medical discharge on September 14, 1945.

3

Chad Hall

From USAFA football star to NFL player and NFL coach

Coming back to football, Chad Hall played as a wide receiver with the Eagles from 2010 to 2012, followed by one year apiece with the San Francisco 49ers (2012), Kansas City Chiefs (2013), and Jacksonville Jaguars (2014; practice squad only). He also served and played for the US Air Force.

Chad’s all-time NFL career statistics were as follows:

  • Receptions: 16
  • Receiving Yards: 155
  • Yards Per Reception: 9.68
  • Receiving Touchdowns (TDs): 2

Just like that other Chad H. (as in Hennings), Mr Hall earned his bachelor’s degree and his military commission from the Air Force Academy (Class of 2008) prior to his pro football career. During his “doolie” (freshman) year, he played quarterback. He switched to running back his sophomore year, stayed at that position for his junior year, and became a jack-of-all-trades his senior year, playing wide receiver, running back, and return specialist.

That senior year was especially productive for then-Cadet Hall. He was the only player in the nation to lead his team in both rushing and receiving in 2007, finishing third in the nation in all-purpose yards. Perhaps most significantly, from an interservice academy bragging rights standpoint, he set a Fighting Falcons record with 275 yards rushing in a 30-10 win against Army on Nov. 3, 2007. He racked up one touchdown, caught three passes for 19 yards, and returned three punts for 39 yards. Hall was seen as a potential contender for the 2007 Heisman Trophy. However, ultimately, the most prestigious of American college football’s individual accolades was awarded to the University of Florida Gators’ Tim Tebow.

Upon his graduation and commissioning, then-2nd Lieutenant Hall entered into active duty in the Air Force as a maintenance officer stationed at Hill AFB, Utah, assigned to the 421st Aircraft Maintenance Unit of the 388th Maintenance Group.

After two years of active service, he transferred to the US Air Force Reserve (USAFR). He had gone undrafted by the NFL in 2008 but was signed by the Philly Eagles in 2010 as an undrafted free agent (UFA). Since 2023, he has worked as the wide receivers coach for the Jaguars. As reported by David Vergun in a February 2022 article for DOD News, Chad attributes his career success to his Air Force service:

“‘The rigors of the Air Force Academy just furthered my discipline and my work ethic… For the cadets at the academy now, I’d say just because you go to the academy, it doesn’t mean you can’t follow your dreams and do anything you want, whether it’s right away or after finishing your service commitment. Whether it’s flying an aircraft or playing professional sports, you just keep on grinding and keep on fighting for that goal. If you work hard enough, your dreams can come true.'”

4

Enos Slaughter

WWII Army Air Corps and MLB St. Louis Cardinals

Enos Slaughter played for the Cardinals from 1938 to 1942 and again from 1946 to 1953.

On a personal note, I still have a soft spot in my heart for the Cardinals from when I was stationed at Scott AFB, Illinois (roughly 20 minutes from St. Louis proper on Interstate 64) from 2003-2006 and was able to get complimentary standing room only (SRO) tickets at Busch Stadium with my military ID.

He also played for the following teams:

  • Yankees (1954–1955) (ugh again)
  • Kansas City Athletics (1955–1956)
  • Yankees (1956–1959) (ugh yet again!!)
  • Milwaukee Braves (1959)

That four-year gap in his Cardinals career in the 1940s was due to WWII service. As Yardbarker notes:

“Enos Slaughter enlisted in the Air Force [actually, still the Army Air Corps] with the plan of being a pilot. However, he found out he was colorblind so he became a physical education instructor. As a Hall of Fame outfielder, he won two World Series with the Cardinals.”

Enos attained the rank of sergeant and, during his military stint, helped set up baseball teams on Tinian and Saipan. Their games inspired the troops while drawing upwards of 20,000 spectators.

After his return to civilian life and MLB, Slaughter famously scored the winning run in Game 7 of the 1946 World Series for the Cardinals. A ten-time All-Star, he was elected to both the National Baseball Hall of Fame and the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame.

5

Bobby Jones

Intelligence officer and all-time great golfer

Bobby Jones (March 17, 1902 – December 18, 1971) was the most successful amateur golfer ever to compete at a national and international level and one of the most influential figures in the history of the sport. Among other things, Bobby founded and helped design the Augusta National Golf Club, and co-founded the Masters Tournament; the innovations that he introduced at the latter venue ended up being copied by virtually every professional golf tournament in the world.

As for Mr Jones’s military service, he joined the Army Air Corps during WWII in 1942. Bobby’s superiors wanted him to join the Special Services and play exhibition golf Stateside, but he insisted on eschewing that cushy assignment and serving overseas instead. Accordingly, he became an intelligence officer, reaching the rank of Major by 1943, and was attached to the 84th Fighter Wing, Ninth Air Force, in England.

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As luck would have it, during that England stint, then-Maj. Jones made the acquaintance of General Dwight D. “Ike” Eisenhower. Landing in Normandy on June 7, 1944 (the day after the D-Day invasion), Jones spent two months with a frontline division as a prisoner of war (POW) interrogator, reaching the rank of Lieutenant Colonel before mustering out of the service later that year.

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