Sigma Phi Epsilon - Colorado State University

COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY SPRING 2024 S P EA R The Hal in the SR-71 cockpit. 30TH ANNUAL SPE COLORADO ALUMNI GOLF TOURNAMENT Join Colorado Gamma alumni, undergraduates, and friends on Friday, August 23, at the Meadows Golf Club in Littleton for another great day of golf! By playing, you will raise funds to support the chapter Learning Community. The Endowment provides grants for academic programs and equipment for the chapter. The fund is structured to grow over time while available annual grants also grow. All proceeds from the event go to the chapter's endowment. As always, you don't want to miss this chance to reconnect with old brothers and meet the new ones. HOMECOMING/PARENTS WEEKEND TAIL-GATOR October 26 at 121 E. Lake Street Join us for another Margaritaville celebration! We will be serving crew burgers in paradise with beer and margaritas served by the tap truck. SAVE THE DATES B rother Harold (Hal) Confer was born in 1924 in Culbertson, Nebraska. He was the youngest of 7 children, grew up on a farm, attended a rural grade school, and graduated from Nebraska's Culbertson High School in 1942. He matriculated to Colorado A&M, where he joined SigEp before answering the nation's call to service and enlisting in the U.S. Army Air Corps. Hal completed pilot training and received his wings, later being commissioned as Second Lieutenant in the Air Corps in February 1945. Hal became a flying instructor, received transition training in the B-29 aircraft, and served with the 2nd Bombardment Squadron at Kadena Army Air Base in Okinawa, where he was a B-29 pilot. During the Korean War, Hal completed 26 combat missions with a total of 263 flying hours. In 1951, he returned to March Air Force Base, where he was Officer in Charge of the 22nd Bombardment Wing Standardization Board. In 1958, he was a pilot in the test program of B-58 Hustler aircraft, the world's first Mach 2 supersonic bomber. It was in this plane that he set three records at the 1961 Fédération Aéronautique Internationale competition at Edwards AFB in California. Hal averaged 2,067.58 kilometers per hour (1,284.73 miles per hour) over a 1,000-kilometer closed circuit and was awarded the Thompson Trophy. Hal went on to become Commander of the 63rd Bombardment Squadron, the first supersonic bombardment squadron, and served as Deputy Director of Evaluation and Testing for the 4200th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing. There, he was a pilot in the SR-71 Blackbird Test and Evaluation Program. The SR-71 was the world's first Mach 3+ aircraft and cruised above 80,000 feet at more than 2,000 miles per hour. In 1973, Hal was transferred to the Pentagon as Deputy Director for Strategic Forces Research and Development. In 1975, he assumed duties as the Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics, Air Training Command at Randolph Air Force Base in Texas. He retired from Randolph in 1978 after 35 years of active duty military service. Hal's military decorations and awards include the Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal with two oak leaf clusters, Air Force Commendation Medal, Presidential Unit Citation Emblem with three oak leaf clusters, Air Force Outstanding Unit Award Ribbon with oak leaf cluster, and the Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation Ribbon. As a Command pilot, he logged over 10,000 hours of flying time. While his time in SigEp was brief, Hal embodies the best of our fraternal values, and we salute his service to the country. Brother Confer passed away March 6, 2017. Brigadier General Harold E. "Hal" Confer '46: A Pioneer in Supersonic Flight Salute to Service

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