Phil Dickey began his military career as a member of the Oklahoma National Guard in the 1930s. When WWII began he attended USAF Officers School in Miami, FL where he graduated as an armaments officer. Assigned to the 118th TRS, a CT Guard Squadron, he deployed to the China-Burma-India theater of operations in Jan 1944. The squadron then went to China in June 1944 where they were assigned to the 23rd Fighter Group.

Phil was known as an artist and in October 1944 he created the "Black Lightning" markings worn by the squadron airplanes in China. He also painted the nose art and pilot's and crew chief's name on the P-51 Mustangs for the flight crews.

Phil served in China during WWII, Okinawa during the Korean War, as a member of the MAAG Indo-China (Vietnam) in 1955, several tours in Germany and several combat tours in Vietnam in the 1960s. He retired from the USAF in 1972 with the rank of LtCol.