 A career officer and Naval Aviator, he served in the United States Navy from 1942 until 1974.He is most famous for his role in the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962.On October 23, 1962, as Commanding Officer of Photo Reconnaissance Squadron 62 (VFP-62), then-Commander Ecker led the first low-level reconnaissance flight over Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis and (together with his wing man, Lieutenant Bruce Wilhelmy, and four other VFP-62 pilots) took the first close-up photos of the Soviet missile bases in Cuba.