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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 10, 2004
Two Aviation Pioneers Recognized by the Air Force Association
Arlington, Virginia – Aviation pioneers Florene Miller Watson and Russell E. Dougherty will receive the
Air Force Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award on September 14, 2004, at the 57th Air Force Anniversary
Dinner in Washington, D.C.
Watson, a licensed pilot at age 19, was one of the nation’s few women aviation instructors to teach men to
fly in the period leading up to WWII. She went on to become the first commanding officer of the Women Auxiliary
Ferry Squadron (WAFS)/Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) at Love Field, Texas.
Watson was a test pilot and she ferried fighters and bombers across the country during the war. She piloted
mostly combat aircraft, such as the Boeing B-17 Fortress and the North American P-51 Mustang. She flew more
than 60 different aircraft types used by the Army Air Forces.
A native of Odessa, Texas, Watson was a graduate of Baylor University, a commercial pilot, a college
professor for 30 years, and national chaplain of the WASP organization. She currently lives in Borger, Texas,
with her husband Chris and speak to audiences around the country on the topic of women in aviation in WWII.
A retired U.S. Air Force general, Dougherty was the Commander-in-Chief of the Strategic Air Command and
director of strategic target planning (Joint Strategic Target Planning Staff) at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska,
in the mid- 1970s.
An attorney, pilot, and airpower leader, he oversaw the most lethal nuclear arsenal in the world including
bombers, tankers, reconnaissance aircraft and intercontinental ballistic missiles. “The issue is not war and
peace, rather, how best to preserve our freedom,” Dougherty once said.
A native of Glasgow, Kentucky, Doughtery has served on various government and commercial-defense related
boards. He is a graduate of Western Kentucky University and the Law School of the University of Louisville and
is an “Old Master” of Purdue University. He currently lives in Arlington, with his wife Barbara and remains
active in aerospace issues.
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For more information, contact Queenie Byars, National Aerospace Awards Program Manager, Air Force Association,
1501 Lee Hwy, Arlington, VA 22209, (703) 247.5800, x. 4825, e-mail:
qbyars@afa.org.
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