Chester B. Hackett, Jr. was born on September 3, 1919 in Meridian, Mississippi, the son Chester B., Sr. and Fannie Yerger Julienne Hackett. He attended Clemson College from 1936-1940, switching his major from architecture to textile engineering. He married Betty Nell Beaty in 1947 and they had six children: Steven, Harriet, Lynn, Betsy, Roy, and James.

Hackett joined the Army Air Corps in 1940. After flight training he became a basic training flight instructor. He underwent B-17 bomber training in 1942 and became an instructor pilot in B-17s. In 1943 Hackett was chosen to form the 713th Bombardment Squadron of 448th Bomb Group (Heavy) of the Eighth Air Force and late that year the squadron was sent to Seething Airfield (Royal Air Force Seething) near Norwich, England. The 448th Bomb Group became part of the 20th Combat Bombardment Wing, flying B-24 bombers. He had at this point attained the rank of major. Hackett was reassigned as commander of the 715th Bombardment Squadron in 1944 after a short stint as 713th Squadron Equipment Officer. On June 20, 1944 he was shot down and taken prisoner while on a bombing mission to Pölitz, Poland. He was sent to Stalag Luft III near Sagan, Germany (now Żagań, Poland) and in 1945 transferred to Stalag VII-A near Moosburg, Germany. Hackett was liberated in May 1945, returned to the United States in June, and was promoted to lieutenant colonel in October.

He remained in the Air Force and eventually earned the rank of colonel, commanding combat squadrons in both the Strategic Air Command and the Tactical Air Command that were stationed at bases in Texas, Idaho, Florida, Maryland, the District of Columbia, Kansas, Arkansas, Iceland, South Africa and England. Hackett retired from the Air Force in 1962. He was associated with the U.S. Weather Service in Cleveland, OH and then as a statistician at the University of Florida before moving to South Carolina in 1982. Hackett died on September 23, 2018 in Columbia, SC.