Born Aug. 14, 1928 in Bridgeville, PA.  Steve Seele enlisted in the Army Air Force on Sept 6, 1946. Following basic training he moved.to Keesler Field, Mississippi, for basic Aircraft & Engine training, then to Chanute Field for P-47 specialist training, He embarked from San Francisco (via Hamilton Field) to Yokohama, Japan, thence to Tachikawa AB and finally to Kisarazu, Japan, (formerly JNAB) where he assembled F-15s ... the high altitude photo recon version of the P-61 Black Widow fighter, also the P-51s and early F-80s.  With the completion of assembly of those aircraft, Seele and the other mechanics who were specialists on radial engines were assigned to the 18th Fighter Group at Clark Air Base in the Philippine Islands.  Seele was sent to the 67th Fighter Squadron where, as assistant crew chief on P-47s, he was also assigned as squadron painter.  (Modeling had been his hobby, so he presumed that interest might have had something to do with the ‘artistic’ assignment.)  As the P-47s of the 18th Group were phased out during mid-1948, and P-51s replaced them, he became crew chief on AT-6s until his Philippine tour was completed.

Returning to the United States, civilian life didn’t set too well initially, so he applied for OCS and was accepted, but missed the transportation bus, and instead went into the manufacturing work force.  On June 25, 1950, he married for the first time .. with unsuccessful results.  During that time he served his apprenticeship as a machinists and during the next 49 years, was able to provide for his family of 3 boys and 3 girls,  while working in the aircraft, aerospace, electronic, and military weapons industries, and other special projects being his main efforts.

Seele credits the training that he received from his military instructors, who shaped so many trainees at basic A & E school, and on the Flight Lines.  Discipline and commitment to the task at hand became his by-line. 

Many years after leaving the Air Force, Seele became interested in locating some of his former friends from the 67th Fighter Squadron in the Philippines.  Coincidentally, he placed an ad to that effect in Military Magazine during 1993, and discovered a similar ad placed by a Col. Biteman, who was also searching for former pilots of the 18th Fighter Group.  He contacted Biteman, and after several lengthy conversations, convinced him that they should be searching for former 18th veterans ‘of all ranks’, rather than looking only for surviving ‘18th pilots’ of the Korean War Era. He became a Charter Member of the 18th Fighter Wing Association, and the 18FWA’s first Life Member.

Working closely with Bud Biteman, and with various vendors, Seele arranged for manufacture, procurement and sale of various squadron and 18FWA patches, caps, decals and sundry sale items.  He continues to serve as the ‘Haberdasher’ and ‘Supply Master’ for 18FWA.