Commissioned in 1971 through AFROTC, Dave Lay flew various models of the B-52 as a co-pilot, pilot and both an instructor and evaluator pilot. Assignments included SAC Headquarters, Air Force liaison to the Commander Second Fleet, various B-52 wing staffs, commander of an AFROTC detachment and as deputy commander of the Iceland Defense Force. He retired at Barksdale AFB in 2001 after 30 years of active service. He has an MS from USC and since retiring, completed a two year course of study in computers. Currently working at Air Force Global Strike Command Hq in the Air Operations Center. He is president of the Ark-La-Tex Chapter of the Military Officers Association of America.

John Collier served with the USAF for twenty-three years, both active and reserve. He was commissioned through the AFROTC at Kansas State University. He holds a Master’s degree in Heath Education and a Bachelor’s degree in Biology and Health Education. Assignments included several with Security Police at bases in the CONUS and USAFE; assignments in Personnel included CONUS bases and Southeast, Southwest Asia, and Middle East. His last two assignments were as the Commander of the 4404th Support Squadron and Director of Personnel at 8th Air Force. Lt Col Collier currently teaches AFJROTC at Benton High School. He has been a board member since 2000.

Jim Kendall entered the Air Force as an aviation cadet in November 1949 and retired as Chief of Staff, 8th Air Force with 31 years of service. He then worked in the oil and natural gas industry, retiring completely in 2004. Jim has served as Vice President and Director of the Ark-La-Tex Chapter of MOAA.

Col. Frank Moritz, USAF retired at Barksdale AFB in 1978 after completing a thirty year military career. For the next fifteen years he was the Officer Manager for the La. State Racing Commission at Louisiana Downs. Currently he is involved in volunteer duties both on base and in the Shreveport-Bossier City. Frank was born in PA., spent two years in the Army in WWII, enrolled at Penn State and graduated with a BS in Education and a 2nd Lt's Commission in the Air Force Reserve. He acquired over 4,200 hours in the B-26, B-47, and B-52 aircraft. He had over 35 combat missions. He made regular Full Colonel in 1973. He was awarded 21 decorations which include 2 battle stars, The Bronze Star, Air Medal, and Meritorious Service Medal. He and his wife Jerrie have been married 54 years. They have two sons and three grandchildren.

Tony was born in Shreveport and graduated from LA Tech, with an AFROTC commission in 1953. He served as a KB-29 Radar Operator then as a B-47 instructor navigator. In January 1961 he trained in the B-58 where he served as an instructor navigator and Standardization Evaluator. He was then assigned to 1stCEG at Barksdale as StandEval in the B-58 and FB-111 aircraft. Served as Chief of Bomber Operations, U-Tapao Airfield, Thailand in part of 1973 and 1974 retiring after rotation as a Lt Col. He went back to school and received two additional degrees from Louisiana Tech. Tony worked as a Independent Petroleum Landman since retirement. He has been married for 55 years and have 5 children, 11 grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren. He has been involved in many organizations as an officer/Board Member, military and civic since retirement.

Lt Col Phil Blaufuss was born in West Des Moines, Iowa and entered the Aviation Cadet program at Harlingen AB in 1954. He was awarded his commission and Navigator wings and married his home town sweetheart in 1956. From 56 to 59 he flew B-29s in Japan and Okinawa and assisted in the production of two daughters, LeeAnn and Sheryl, between shopping trips to Tokyo. He amassed over 7000 hours in the B-52 at Travis AFB, CA; Kincheloe AFB, MI; U-Tapao AB, Thailand; Anderson AB, Guam and Barksdale AFB. He is the recipient of two Distinguished Flying Cross medals and the Bronze Star. He retired in 1979 after 24 yrs of service. Since retirement he has taught mathematics and Computer Science in both the public school and university level. He recently lost his wife to Pulmonary Fibrosis after 53 years of marriage.

Lt Col Phil Blaufuss was born in West Des Moines, Iowa and entered the Aviation Cadet program at Harlingen AB in 1954. He was awarded his commission and Navigator wings and married his home town sweetheart in 1956. From 56 to 59 he flew B-29s in Japan and Okinawa and assisted in the production of two daughters, LeeAnn and Sheryl, between shopping trips to Tokyo. He amassed over 7000 hours in the B-52 at Travis AFB, CA; Kincheloe AFB, MI; U-Tapao AB, Thailand; Anderson AB, Guam and Barksdale AFB. He is the recipient of two Distinguished Flying Cross medals and the Bronze Star. He retired in 1979 after 24 yrs of service. Since retirement he has taught mathematics and Computer Science in both the public school and university level. He recently lost his wife to Pulmonary Fibrosis after 53 years of marriage.

Col Steve dePyssler, has been a Board member since 1980. He is editor of The Military Officer (the Chapter newspaper) as well as the Chapter Recruiting Officer, the Dues Collector and the Chapter Casualty Officer. In his spare-time, Steve is Director of the Barksdale Retiree Activities Office where he works probably over 60 hours a week!

Kevin spent 26 years in our U.S. Air Force earning a commission through Officer Training School. A Command Navigator with over 2100 hours of prior experience as an Instructor Weapons Systems Officer RF-4C & F-15E with over 500 combat hours. His duties also included J-3E Exercise Action Officer USCENTCOM; Senior Wargame Exercise Director for the Air Force Wargaming Institute at Maxwell AFB; Inspector General for the 4th Wing, Seymour Johnson AFB (responsible for implementing Nuclear Surety Exercises/Inspections) and fulfilling a Numbered Air Force Chief of Safety position at Barksdale AFB for an award winning “Best in AF” Safety program. He has been a Group Commander both in garrison and in combat leading Air Support Operations Groups.
Kevin graduated with a Bachelor’s of Business Administration in Management (Engineering Route to Business degree program) from the University of Texas at Austin.  He was the Outstanding Pledge with Delta Sigma Pi Professional Business Fraternity and served as Resident Assistant for the UT Athletic department. He received his Masters of Science in International Relations from Troy State University’s Overseas program while stationed in Germany in 1990.  His PME includes Lieutenants Professional Development Course; Distinguished Graduate of Squadron Officer’s School, Air Command & Staff College (In-Residence/Seminar) and completed Air War College by Seminar. Additional Courses included the Operational Risk Management Instructor Course; Installation Inspector General (IG) training course –Xerox Document University. Active in our community, Kevin sits on the Board of Directors for MOAA, AFCEA, and the Cyber Information Technology Advisory Board at BPCC.

Henry Lee Burns retired from the United States Army with the rank of lieutenant colonel. He then served fifteen years as a member of the Bossier Parish School Board. Subsequently, Henry won the Louisiana House of Representatives District 9 seat on October 20, 2007. He also owns and operates the Wooden Spoon bakery in Bossier City and is a thoroughbred owner and breeder. Until the latter 1980s, Burns was an independent petroleum and natural gas operator. Burns received his bachelor of arts degree in upper elementary education from Northwestern State University in Natchitoches and his master of arts in education administration from Pepperdine University.

Director George Finck, Lt Colonel, USAF (Ret) currently serves as Chapter Chairman of Scholarship and Letters to the Front Programs. He graduated from Syracuse University in 1955 where he received a commission in the USAF through AFROTC and graduated from pilot training in Class 57-0 at Vance AFB, OK. He spent most of his AF career in Flight Operations flying a variety of transport type aircraft. He is a Vietnam veteran serving at Cam Ranh Bay in 1968. He retired from the USAF in 1978 as a Command Pilot with over 11,000 of flying time. From 1980-1996 he commanded the AFJROTC program at Haughton High School, LA. He is former member and past president of the Bossier Parish School Board. He is an active volunteer in a number of local agencies. George and his wife Janet have four children, four grandchildren and one great grandchild.

Lt Col Stan Johnson has served in the Korean War, Vietnam War and the Cold War. He has 25 years of military service. Stan retired as a command pilot with 14,500 flying hours having flown B-29`s, B-36`s, B-52`s, C-45`s, C-119`s, C-123`s and C-130`s. After retiring from the US Air Force, Stan worked as Supt. Of Operations for Shreveport Regional Airport for 20 years.

Ivan McKinney enlisted in USAF as a Private 1949. After basic training, he spent five years performing control tower & GCA duties. He was a Distinguished Graduate from OCS 1954. He was rated as Navigator 1957 and has over 4,000 hours in KC-97 & KC-135 aerial refueling aircraft. He has held various staff & command duties in operations and logistics. McKinney retired 1976 at 8th AF Hq and then worked for many years as a profession stockbroker. He holds Bachelors and Masters Degrees from Eastern Michigan, LA Tech and University of Oklahoma.

Dave Bird joined the Air Force in 1953 and served as a navigator in B-47 and B-58 aircraft, logging 4,400 hours of flying time. He was then assigned as an intelligence officer, and had several intelligence and plans assignments, retiring in 1973.  After retirement, he got into the healthcare field, where he worked as a hospital CEO until retiring in 1994. Dave was then employed by LSU Health Sciences Center until retiring again 1n 2004.  Since that time he has been active in MOAA and the AFA.

Walt completed his Bachelors degree in Business at Kansas State University then served as an enlisted air traffic controller at Luke AFB, AZ. After completing OTS and navigator training, Walt served as a B-52 navigator, radar navigator, instructor and evaluator at Barksdale. He then returned to Mather AFB to teach new B-52 navigators and Navy P-3 naval flight officers. A tour in Hawaii as a general's exec followed. He returned to the B-52 just in time for Operation Desert Storm from Jeddah, Saudia Arabia. Following the Gulf War, he served as commander of the 379th Services Squadron, Wurtsmith AFB until the base closed. He finished his career at Langley AFB with ACC Services, coordinating personnel and equipment for deployments. Since retirement he has been an instructor at the B-52 schoolhouse at Barksdale AFB. He has been married for 30 years and has four children. He has a Masters degree in Public Administration and has been a local MOAA board member since 1998.

Dave quit high school and enlisted in the Air Force is 1954. During his career, he earned his High School GED, Bachelors on Bootstrap and Masters degrees. His 27 year career was split with 17 years enlisted and 10 as an officer. His most memorable assignments were Vietnam, where he helped set up the Weather Detachment at Tuy Hoa AB; the Air Force Academy (where he met his wife and where his two children were born), RAF Upper Heyford in the UK, 5th Air Force HQ in Japan, where he climbed to the top of Mt Fuji and his final assignment at Eighth AF HQ at Barksdale. After retirement Dave taught computer science at Bossier Parish Community College for fourteen years until he retired for the second time. Dave is webmaster of the award-winning Chapter website.