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and said he remembered me from the baseball team,” Zickert
continued. “He was the cadet basketball team coach and
figured I could play basketball as well. Since I wasn’t the
smartest in the class, I played and became the sports guru
until graduation.”
Zickert graduated and went from flying trash haulers to
flying B52’s and tankers. He married a girl from Mississippi
and moved to a base in the Upper Michigan peninsula where
they had 280 inches of snow. They left three years later with
two children in tow after he was selected to work on special
airplanes and got a promotion to first lieutenant.
“I knew that was about as far as I could advance without
a four-year degree, so I left the Air Force, joined the Tennessee
National Guard and attended Memphis State to finish
my education.”
When his mother-in-law became ill, the family moved
back to Mississippi where he completed his bachelor’s degree
in chemistry from Delta State University and a master’s from
Golden Gate University.
During those three years, he went to school in the morning,
worked in an entomology lab in the afternoon and flew every
other weekend with the Tennessee Air National Guard.
“I missed flying so much that I re-enlisted with Air Force,”
he said. “They were actively recruiting navigators so I was
accepted immediately and sent on refueling missions in Thailand
during the Vietnam War. When the opportunity to fly on
the F4 Phantom arose, I jumped on it.”
After a year’s training stateside, he was redeployed to
Thailand.
“In August 1973, I was flying F-4Es out of Korat Air Base,
Thailand, as part of the Air Force’s last military action in
Cambodia,” Zickert reminisced. “Our flight of four dropped
12 each 48 500-pound bombs just outside Phnom Penh Airport
as we shut the chapter on hostilities in Southeast Asia.”
Zickert’s illustrious career included tours in Thailand, the
Philippines, Germany and numerous stateside locations. He’s
accumulated more than 4,500 flying hours in the KC/RC-135,
C-124 and the F-4 Phantom.
He was chief of plans at Spangdahlem Air Force Base in
Germany where he planned for nuclear war against Poland
and Czechoslovakia and later served as Spangdahlem Base
commander. As the Air Force Operations Test and Evaluation
Center Detachment commander at Edwards Air Force Base,
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California, he oversaw the successful testing of the B-2 Stealth
Bomber, the C-17 Cargo aircraft, the Fly-Off of the F-22 and
F-23 Fighter aircraft and other aircraft testing. After serving
more than 30 years, he retired in 1992.
Zickert moved to Vero Beach in 2004 and quickly became
involved in the Veterans Council of Indian River County
where he served as president from 2010 to 2014 and is the
current chairman of the board. During his tenure, the council
procured two buses to transport county veterans to the VA
Medical Center in West Palm Beach.
He helped establish programs to assist financially distressed
families and integrate veterans into the community.
He also helped set up the Victory Center Military Store in the
Indian River Mall, which is not only a retail store but a gathering
place for veterans to share coffee and stories.
With his extensive military experience, Zickert acts as a liaison
for the Blue Angels when they perform at the Vero Beach
Air Show. His job is to secure the equipment they need before
they arrive and to introduce them to the community.
“The pilots and crew love to interact with the public so
we created an event at Riverside Park where everyone can
meet all of the performers while dining on take-out meals
from gourmet food trucks,” he said. “Unfortunately, this
year’s show was canceled due to COVID but we are looking
forward to seeing them again in 2022.”
Zickert recalls his military career
for a film crew from USA Warrior
Stories, an organization that records,
archives and shares videos of veteran
stories online to help them make a
connection with one another.
MARTIN J. ZICKERT
Age: 70-something
Lives in: Vero Beach
Family: Three children, five
grandchildren and three greatgrandchildren
Education: Bachelor’s degree in
chemistry from Delta State University;
master’s degree from
Golden Gate University
Hobbies: Golf
What inspires me? “Seeing the results of something
you’ve done.”
What most people don’t know about me: “I’m so competitive
that I can’t play board games with friends or family.”