As AFA's top staff executive, Shaud will direct the association'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.

Since his retirement from the Air Force in 1991, Shaud has been director of the Air Force Aid Society, the Air Force's only official charity. Using private donations, the Aid Society helps active-duty, retired, Guard and Reserve members in financial emergencies. The Society operates through local units on all major Air Force installations worldwide, providing interest-free loans, education grants, and tuition assistance.

As a senior officer in the Air Force, he also served as the service's director of plans, deputy chief of staff for personnel, and as the commander of Air Training Command. Shaud began his career as a B-47 pilot and later flew B-52s. After qualifying in the RF-4C, he was assigned to Southeast Asia on the operations staff of the 388th Tactical Fighter Wing at Korat Royal Thai AFB, Thailand, and later became a flight commander with the 12th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron at Tan Son Nhut AB, South Vietnam.

Shaud's command assignments included tours as commander of the 92nd Bombardment Wing and 47th Air Division at Fairchild AFB, WA, and the 57th Air Division at Minot AFB, ND. He also served tours in the Pentagon and taught at the Air Command and Staff College.

Among his military decorations are the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, Air Force Distinguished Service Medal with oak leaf cluster, Legion of Merit with oak leaf cluster, Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Force Meritorious Service Medal with oak leaf cluster, Air Force Medal with five oak leaf clusters, and Air Force Commendation Medal with oak leaf cluster.

Shaud graduated from the U.S. Military Academy, Class of 1956, with a bachelor of science degree and received his pilot rating in August 1957. He is a graduate of the Air Command and Staff College and the National War College. Shaud also holds a master's degree from George Washington University and doctorate from the Ohio State University, which he received in 1971.

Hatch, an Annapolis graduate, rose to the Air Force's number two position during the course of a distinguished 35-year career. During AFA's National Convention, held September 18-20, AFA's Board of Directors and delegates unanimously approved Hatch's appointment to the AFA Board as a permanent director. Hatch guided AFA through a period of Air Force downsizing and drastic cuts in the defense budget. He also propelled the association into the national spotlight during a highly visible campaign to force the National Air and Space Museum to change its initial plans to display the Enola Gay, the B-29 that dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima near the end of World War II. Hatch criticized the plans as lacking balance and historical context. The Museum relented under pressure and substantially revised the exhibit.

At the conclusion of AFA's National Convention, Hatch received the Air Force's top civilian award, its Exceptional Service Award. Hatch was cited for his 40 years of advocacy for a strong national defense, including effective public information programs to gain support for weapons modernization and quality of life initiatives in the areas of pay and allowances, health care reform, housing, education benefits, and child care.