Unique formation salutes former Constant Peg commander
November 8, 2024
A former frontline F-4D pilot (who flew 163 combat missions over North Vietnam and Laos), and later an F-15C Eagle ‘driver’, Peck is best remembered as one of the driving forces behind the establishment of the 4477th Test and Evaluation Flight (TEF) ‘Red Eagles’ under the ‘Constant Peg’ programme.
Constant Peg was so named because it combined his then callsign (‘Constant’) as Director of Operations and Readiness and the name of his wife Peggy. The new unit operated in great secrecy and used clandestinely acquired MiG-17s and MiG-21s (and later other Soviet and Chinese fighters) to expose selected Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps aircrew to the likely real world threat. The USAF’s MiG pilots were given sequential ‘Bandit’ callsigns (later also used by pilots of the F-117) Peck becoming ‘Bandit One’ and the unit’s first commander at the unit’s remote, isolated and unacknowledged base at Tonopah.
Peck went on to fly F-15s and RF-4s at Kadena Air Base, Japan, before being selected as the Commander of the 26th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing at Zweibrücken Air Base. ‘Evil’ retired from active duty on 31 July 1988, after more than 26 years of continuous service.
After retirement, he taught at the USAF Weapons School, as an academic instructor and as the F-15, F-22 and MC-130 subject matter expert.
Peck earned a BSc in engineering from the Air Force Academy, an MA in management from Central Michigan University, and an MBA in marketing and finance from the University of Nevada Las Vegas. His decorations include the Silver Star, two Awards of the Legion of Merit, three awards of the Distinguished Flying Cross, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, multiple awards of the Meritorious Service Medal and the Air Medal.
RIP Colonel Gaillard R. ‘Evil’ Peck, Jr.
31 Oct 1940 – 10 October 2024
