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.

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.

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.

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.

Commissioned in 1985, Don flew in B-52's and KC-135's as a Radar Navigator, instructor and evaluator navigator. After 13 years, and 2800 hours of flying including combat and combat support hours in Desert Storm and Provide Comfort, Don served in a variety of staff jobs. His final assignment was to Maxwell AFB where he was the Director, Joint Flag Officer Warfighting Course. Don retired after 22 yrs, 4 months, and a day to return to the hometown of he and his wife, Johnette. Don's second career is as a Financial Advisor/Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor for Wells Fargo Advisors (the former AG Edwards).

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!

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.

Russ entered the Air Force in 1956 through the ROTC program at Western Kentucky University. He was assigned to Air Traffic Control School at Will Rogers Field in Oklahoma and upon course completion, he was assigned as Flight Facilities Officer at Lake Charles AFB. From October '59 to October '60 was Commander Det 32-1 Frobisher Bay, Northwest Territory, Canada, then as Air Traffic Controller at Turner AFB until '63 when he was drafted by SAC to attend Missile Operation School. He was assigned as a Missile Crew member, then Staff Officer at McConnell until '68. He served as Missile Staff Officer with 8th Air Force, 17th Air Division and 351st Missile Wing until '73. He came to Barksdale as 8th AF Chief of Programs until retirement in 1976.

Lees Broome enlisted in the Army Air Corps in April 1943 and flew 40 combat missions as a B-24 Aerial Gunner in the South Pacific. Stayed in the Army Air Corps Reserve and received his commission as a 2Lt through ROTC in 1950. After graduation from Ole Miss in 1951, Lees went back on active duty as a Navigator-Bombardier in B-26's and flew 40 combat missions in Korea. He flew as a Navigator-Bombardier in B-47's and B-58's for 13 years. In 1967 he worked in 2nd Air Force Headquarters and became Chief of Mission Division in 1968. In 1972 he went to Thailand and became B-52 Bomber Mission Director at U-Tapow AFB and flew 30 combat missions in KC-135's and B-52's. He retired as a Lt Col In March 1974.

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.

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.

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.

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.