Neil enlisted into the Air Corps in November 1939 for a two-year 'hitch' in Hawaii. There he was an air traffic controller. In November 1941 he broke a bone in his hand during a boxing match and was actually in hospital when the Japanese hit Pearl Harbour. They were 'hustled out' to make room for battle casualties and he took the cast off himself. He was then sent to Christmas Island where he was in charge of control tower operations until he was accepted for officer training, sent back to the USA and commissioned in December 1942. He was then assigned to the 55th in the ETO. He afterwards worked in electronics and stayed in the Reserves until 1980