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The Veterans/Retiree Council is comprised of both Air
Force veterans and retirees who served on active duty,
in the Guard and Reserve, and/or as civilians in the
defense establishment. They represent this broad
constituency and articulate their issues to the Air
Force Association.
The responsibilities of the Veterans/Retiree Council
are as follows:
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Develops Association policy recommendations on
quality of life issues which impact military veterans
and retirees at Federal, state, and local levels.
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Identifies and prioritizes quality of life issues
which impact veterans and retirees.
- Defines an action plan to address the issues
defined above.
- Represents the Association on issues which impact
veterans and retirees at the request of the Chairman
of the Board.
- Makes recommendations to the Chairman of the Board
on policy issues which impact veterans and retirees.
- Identifies and makes recommendations to the
Association to enhance more effective involvement of
the Veteran and Retiree membership in the Association.
- Performs other duties that may be assigned by the
Chairman of the Board.
Walter S. "Woody" Hogle, Jr.
Council Chairman
 Mr. Walter S. Hogle, Jr. is Senior Vice President, AF and FAA Services Group of ACS Defense, Inc. He is responsible for engineering, information technology, and
staff support services for numerous clients in the Air Force and the Federal Aviation
Administration. He directs a 1,100 person technical workforce at more than 26 US
sites and is responsible for a business base of over $120M in annual revenue. Before
joining the ACS team, Mr. Hogle was Vice President of Operations, L3 Communications,
Integrated Systems, in Greenville, Texas.
Mr. Hogle is a Command Pilot who served as a Lieutenant General in the US Air
Force. He was last assigned as the Commander of the 15th Air Force at Travis AFB,
California. As commander of the 15th AF, he was responsible for approximately half
of the nation’s air mobility forces including more than 25,000 people and 320 aircraft
providing rapid and flexible global airlift and aerial refueling from six major Air
Force bases in the central and western United States and for locations throughout the
Pacific.
Mr. Hogle earned a bachelor’s degree from Hartwick College in Oneonta, NY and
holds a master’s degree from Troy State University in Troy, AL.
Mr. Richard E. Fitzhugh
Rick Fitzhugh works for The Boeing Company as Business Development Manger for the U.S. Air Force Tanker program.
He is responsible to the tanker program manager for the day-to-day campaign effort to recapitalize the U.S. Air Force
tanker aircraft fleet. Prior to his position at Boeing, Rick served in the Air Force for 30 years as a command pilot,
staff officer and operational commander. He graduated from Texas A&M University in 1971 with a bachelor of science
degree in parks & recreation. He holds masters degrees from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in aeronautical
science and from the United States Naval War College in strategy and policy. He is married to Shelly, and has two
children, Carrie and John. They reside in O'Fallon, Illinois.
M.N. (Dan) Heth
M. N. Heth, better known as Dan, was born in Miller, South Dakota 6 July 1928. He attended school in Parkston, South Dakota, graduating from High School in 1946. After 2 years of college in Los Angeles, California, he entered the U. S. Air Force as an Aviation Cadet in 1949, graduating as a pilot and Second Lieutenant in March 1950.
Dan served the USAF for 25 years in tactical units, research and development work, on Staff in TAC headquarters, retiring from active duty with the rank of Colonel in October 1973. His military career included flying over 5,000 hours in 17 types of transports and jet fighters as pilot and maintenance test pilot. Ten years of overseas duty included tours in Germany-3 years, England- 3 ½ years, France-3 years, and SEA/Thailand -6 months. Staff assignments included aircraft maintenance-engineering, logistics, squadron commander, test project manager, and a staff function at HQ-Tactical Air Command. Completed college education with a B. S. degree in Engineering, through AF Institute of Technology, and attended several military service schools. Following retirement from USAF active duty, he was employed by the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport from 1973 to 1977. Employed by the General Dynamics and Lockheed Martin Aircraft Division from 1977 to 1994, with professional titles of Logistics Engineer, Program Manager, and Department Manager, retiring May 1994.
An AFA member since 1972, Life Member since 1984, Dan has been active in AFA Officer positions since October 1983. He served as President of the Fort Worth Chapter, 1983 through 1985 and was awarded AFA Medal of Merit in 1984; AFA-Texas Man of the Year in 1985 and AFA Exceptional Service Award in 1985. He was recognized at the 1985 National Convention as President of AFA’s Outstanding Extra-Large Chapter of the Year, and also received the National AFA Membership Award for 1985. The Fort Worth Chapter grew from 3,000 to over 4,200 members, becoming the third largest chapter in AFA under his leadership as Chapter President. State offices held included AFA-Texas Vice President; Vice President, Scholastic Awards 1985/86; Vice President, Membership 1986/87; Executive Vice President 1987/88 and Texas State President 1988/90. He received a second AFA Exceptional Service Award in 1987, and was installed as an AEF Jimmy Doolittle Fellow in 1989. He was recognized as 1990 AFA-Texas Man of the Year. He received AFA Special Citations for performance as President AFA-Texas in July 1990 and again for significant performance at State/Chapter levels in September 1985 and was awarded the AFA Presidential Citation in 2000. He served as Texoma Region President, responsible for 20 chapters during 2001 and 2002. He served AFA at the national level on the Veterans and Retirees Council, Audit Committee, Long Range Planning Committee, Membership Committee, and a 3 year term as National Director.
Dan is a Life member of the Military Officers Association of America and the National Order of Daedalians. He served as Flight Captain for the Dallas/Fort Worth 23rd Flight Order of Daedalians in 1996 and 1997. The Flight was presented the National Daedalians Large Flight Award in 1997 under his leadership. Dan and his wife Bobbie have three daughters, one granddaughter and one grandson.
Russell W. Mank
Russell W. Mank, a member of the Air Force Association Veterans/Retiree Council since 1998, is a manager on the
national staff of the Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA). Mank, a PVA member, has served in a variety of senior
positions with the organization, including Associate Executive Director, Administration, Associate Executive Director,
Veterans Benefits (Acting), and Director of Legislation. In these positions, Mank has been involved with a broad range
of veteran’s health care, benefits, legislative, and disability rights issues.
Mank served 23 years in the USAF, including service on the Air Staff and Joint Staff
(J-5) immediately prior to his 1988 medical retirement. His Air Force career included positions as a weapons controller,
strategic planner, and USAF Academy professor.
Born in Belleville, Illinois, he received a B.S. degree from Memphis State University, a
M.A. degree from the University of Maryland, College Park, and the Ph.D. degree (History) from the University of Denver.
He and his wife, Mary Lou, live in Burke, Virginia; they have two children and three
grandchildren.
Jimmy L. Miller (Ret.)
 Jimmy
L. Miller is President, Leaders First Training and
Development and a Senior Associate with the Leadership
Development Network. He is a Certified Training
Facilitator and Manager for Inscape Publishing Products.
He provides motivational speeches on leadership,
Diversity, team building, coaching and mentoring,
focused on enhancing leadership skills. He has over 20
years experience in developing and presenting Values
Based Leadership Training.
After 30 years service, Mr. Miller retired as a Chief
Master Sergeant in the United States Air Force in July
1999. In his final assignment, he served as the Chief of
Enlisted Professional Military Education of Air Combat
Command, the largest command in the Air Force. He was
responsible to the Director of Personnel and Commander
of Air Combat Command for policies and program
influencing the professional military education of over
100,000 enlisted members of the command in the United
States and overseas.
Mr. Miller and his wife, Lyn have three children;
Angenette, Jimmy Jr. and Olga, and one grandchild,
Jazimane.
Donald Taylor
Mr. Don Taylor (Col. USAF Ret.) served in the United States Air Force for over 27 years. In that time he became an expert in project management, health care administration, and health policy. He has served as the Commander of military hospitals in charge of all clinical and administrative operations. In addition, he was the commander of the Air Force theater hospital in Iraq. He served as the Health Benefits and Policy advisor to the Air Force Surgeon General and was instrumental in developing the TRICARE for Life benefit. Mr. Taylor has been awarded the Bronze Star and has been a three time recipient of the Legion of Merit Award.
Today, he serves as President of TEAM Integrated Engineering in San Antonio, Texas. Mr. Taylor strives to develop a healthy and interactive learning organization. He sets strategies and vision while detailing execution steps to achieve that vision. Mr. Taylor works to build structures that promote personal and financial accountability while keeping in mind the health and well being of all employees. Mr. Taylor has proven experience providing effective work environments and motivation for both physicians and engineers alike. He has designed organizational forums that cross feed education and build trust to solve daily problems and issues that arise within the company. Mr. Taylor draws on his experience with the Air Force to help communicate a common mission and promote image, integrity, and accountability.
Mrs. Elia T. Vasilopoulos
Ms. Elia T. (“Ellie”) Vasilopoulos worked for the Air Force for 42 years and retired as the former the Civilian
Personnel Officer at Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi. In addition to numerous civilian awards, her decorations
include the Exemplary Civilian Service Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal and the Air Force Exceptional Service
Medal. In 1992, Vice President Cheney presented her with the Department of Defense Distinguished Civilian Service
Award, the highest award given to a DOD Civilian. She is past President of the John C. Stennis Chapter (AFA) and
is the recipient of the AFA Medal of Merit.
She is past President of Biloxi Rotary Club and was selected as Rotarian of the Year; She serves on the Board of
Trustees for the Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art, Member of Leadership Board and past board member of the Centurions for
the Gulf Coast Chamber of Commerce, past chairman of the Military Affairs Committee for the Biloxi Chamber of
Commerce. In 2004, she was named the Outstanding New Corporate Board Member for the Boys and Girls Club of the
Gulf Coast. She earned her Bachelor of Arts Degree from Eastern Illinois University and completed Air Command and
Staff College.
Ms. Vasilopoulos hails from Rome, NY and now lives in Biloxi, MS. She is married to Lieutenant Colonel John
Vasilopoulos, USAF, (Ret) from Marshall, Missouri. They have five children and three grandchildren.
Maria Vinup
Tom Wozniak
Rodney Ellison
Please provide any necessary changes or additional information to Shane Barker at
1-800-727-3337 ext. 4842, Fax: 703-247-5853, E-mail: SBarker@afa.org
As of
November 06, 2009
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