Air Force Association Names New Executive Director

Arlington, VA, June 13, 2002 -- The Air Force Association (AFA) Board of Directors has approved Donald L. Peterson to become the next AFA executive director as of August 1, 2002. Peterson succeeds John A. Shaud, who will step down after completing seven years in the job.

“We are very pleased to have someone of Don Peterson’s caliber as the next executive director of our association,” said National Chairman of the Board Thomas J. McKee. “Don is committed to helping AFA promote public understanding of aerospace power and the pivotal role it plays in the security of the nation. We look forward to his advocacy on behalf of our members, the United States Air Force and the Air Force family.”

As top staff executive, Peterson will direct AFA's professional staff in all functional areas and be responsible for the management and operations of the association and its educational affiliate, the Aerospace Education Foundation. He will also hold the position of publisher of Air Force Magazine, the official journal of the 146,000-member association.

A retired lieutenant general, he previously served as director of plans and assistant deputy chief of staff for air and space operations at Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, DC, and later as deputy chief of staff for personnel.

Peterson began his career as a KC-135 pilot and later flew the EC-135, F-4, F-15 and F-111 aircraft. He is a command pilot with more than 4,000 flying hours, including 597 combat hours. His command assignments included tours as commander of a tactical fighter squadron, a tactical fighter wing, and a flying training wing. He also commanded the Cheyenne Mountain Operations Center of the North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Space Command.

Among his military decorations are the Distinguished Service Medal, Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit with oak leaf cluster, Distinguished Flying Cross, Meritorious Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters,
Air Medal with 10 oak leaf clusters, Air Force Commendation Medal, Vietnam Service Medal with three service stars, Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm and Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal.

Peterson graduated from Texas A&M, Class of 66, with a bachelor of business administration degree in finance and completed pilot training in October 1967. He is a 1980 graduate of the Air Command and Staff College and a 1982 distinguished graduate of Air War College. Peterson also holds a master's degree in management from Auburn University, which he received in 1982. He attended the Executive Development Program at Carnegie-Mellon University and Program for Senior Executives in National and International Security at Harvard University. Peterson and his wife, Gayle, currently reside in Fairfax, VA.

Shaud, who is a retired general and former chief of staff of Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe, helped propel the association into the national spotlight supporting military operations such as Operation Allied Force and Enduring Freedom, and advocating programs to gain support for Air Force modernization and quality of life improvements. During his seven-year tenure, the association championed a host of initiatives with the Congress in support of quality of life and service such as improvements in pay and allowances, housing, education benefits and healthcare reform.

As executive director, Shaud worked toward developing public outreach programs such as AFA symposia, and oversaw an increasing use of the Internet as a vehicle to help communicate aerospace issues to the public and improve overall AFA management. In 1997 he directed Air Force Fifty, the historic weeklong AFA 50th Anniversary Celebration of the U.S. Air Force. Eighty-one foreign air chiefs, five national aerobatic teams, and nearly half a million people attended the event.

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Contact: Napoleon Byars, director of policy and communications, The Air Force Association, 1501 Lee Hwy, Arlington, VA 22209, 703.247.5850, e-mail: nbyars@afa.org. For more information on AFA visit www.afa.org. Peterson’s current U.S. Air Force official biography can be obtained online at http://www.af.mil/news/biographies/peterson_dl.html.

Donald L. Peterson's e-mail address is: dpeterson@afa.org.

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