John B. Conaway
Lieutenant General John B. Conaway
Born (1934-08-23) August 23, 1934
Henderson, Kentucky
AllegianceUnited States
Service/branchUnited States Air Force
Years of service1956–1993
RankLieutenant general
Commands heldChief of the National Guard Bureau
Air National Guard
Kentucky Air National Guard
AwardsDefense Distinguished Service Medal
Air Force Distinguished Service Medal
Army Distinguished Service Medal
Legion of Merit
Other workGovernment relations consultant
Author

Lieutenant General John B. Conaway (born August 23, 1934) is a retired United States Air Force officer who served as Chief of the National Guard Bureau from 1990 to 1993.

Early life

John B. Conaway was born in Henderson, Kentucky, on August 23, 1934. He graduated from Bosse High School in Evansville, Indiana, in 1952, earned a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from the University of Evansville in 1956, and joined the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity.[1][2]

Military career

While attending the University of Evansville, Conaway entered the Reserve Officer Training Corps program and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the United States Air Force in June 1956.[3]

After completing basic pilot training at Greenville Air Force Base, Mississippi, in 1957, Conaway attended advanced combat crew training at Perrin Air Force Base, Texas, graduating in 1958. His next assignments were as an F-102 fighter-interceptor pilot in the Air Defense Command at K.I. Sawyer Air Force Base and Kincheloe Air Force Base, Michigan.[4]

In 1960, Conaway joined the West Virginia Air National Guard as an SA-16 pilot, flying a special forces operations mission.[5] In 1963, he transferred to the Kentucky Air National Guard's 123rd Tactical Reconnaissance Wing as an RB-57 pilot. In 1965 he became a training instructor flying RF-101s.[6]

Conaway was called to active duty with the Kentucky Air National Guard in January 1968 and served in Alaska, Panama, Japan and South Korea. Upon deactivation in June 1969, he returned to the Kentucky Air National Guard as operations officer.[7]

In 1972, Conaway was appointed Air Commander of the Kentucky Air National Guard.[8] In December 1974, he was appointed vice commander of the 123rd Tactical Reconnaissance Wing, which had units in Kentucky, Arkansas, Nevada and Idaho. Other assignments included serving as the 123rd's director of operations, chief of safety, chief of standardization and evaluation, group commander, group deputy commander for operations, and squadron operations officer.[9]

Conaway continued graduate work at the University of Louisville School of Business and the University of Kentucky School of Business. In 1975, he earned a master's degree in management and human relations from Webster University. He graduated from the Air Force Commander's Safety School in 1969, Air Command and Staff College in 1971, Air University Commander's School in 1972 and the Industrial College of the Armed Forces in 1973.[10]

Conaway was appointed deputy director of the Air National Guard in April 1977.[11] In April 1981 he was advanced to Director of the Air National Guard.[12]

In July 1988 Conaway was appointed Vice Chief of the National Guard Bureau. He served until February 1990, when he was appointed as Chief of the National Guard Bureau and promoted to lieutenant general.[13]

Conaway served as Chief of the National Guard Bureau until retiring on November 30, 1993.[14]

Retirement

Conaway operates a consulting company, The Conaway Group.[15][16]

In 1989 he was elected to the University of Evansville Board of Trustees, and he became a Life Trustee in 2007.[17]

He has also remained active in civic causes, including serving as chairman of the board for the National Guard Youth Foundation.[18]

In 1997 Conaway authored Call Out the Guard: The Story of Lieutenant General John B. Conaway and the Modern Day National Guard.[19]

Awards and decorations

Military awards and decorations

Conaway's military awards and decorations include the:

Other awards

References

  1. ↑ U.S. Senate Approcpriations Committee, Hearing Record, Department of Defense Appropriations for 1991], Biography, John B. Conaway, 1990, page 593
  2. ↑ Lambda Chi Alpha, University of Evansville, List of Alumni Archived January 18, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, accessed May 13, 2013
  3. ↑ U.S. House Veterans Affairs Committee, Hearing Record, Oversight Hearing on the Montgomery GI Bill, Biographical sketch, John B. Conaway, 1990, page 132
  4. ↑ U.S. House Appropriations Committee, Hearing Record, Military Construction Appropriations for 1981, Biographical sketch, John B. Conaway, 1980, page 511
  5. ↑ Richard H. Schultz, Jr., Rbert L. Pfaltzgraff, Jr., The future of air power in the aftermath of the Gulf War, 1992, page 348
  6. ↑ U.S. House Armed Services Committee, Hearing Record, Hearings on National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1989, Biographical sketch, John B. Conaway, 1989, page 642
  7. ↑ U.S. House Armed Services Committee, Hearing Record, Hearings on National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1989, Biographical sketch, John B. Conaway, 1989, page 642
  8. ↑ Associated Press, Madison Courier, Around Indiana, February 15, 1992
  9. ↑ National Guard Bureau, On Guard magazine, Lt. Gen. John B. Conaway, Chief, NGB Archived March 5, 2013, at the Wayback Machine, March 1990, page 1
  10. ↑ Office of Public Affairs, National Guard Bureau, General Officers of the Army and Air National Guard, 1978, entry for John B. Conaway
  11. ↑ U.S. House Appropriations Committee, Hearing Record, Military Construction Appropriations for 1982, Biographical sketch, John B. Conaway, 1981, page 661
  12. ↑ U.S. House Armed Services Committee, Hearing Record, National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1989, Biographical sketch, John B. Conaway, 1988, page 642
  13. ↑ National Guard Bureau, On Guard magazine, Lt. Gen. John B. Conaway, Chief, NGB Archived March 5, 2013, at the Wayback Machine, March 1990, page 1
  14. ↑ America's Adopt a Soldier, Advisory Board biography, John B. Conaway, accessed May 13, 2013
  15. ↑ The Conaway Group, Home Page, The Conaway Group, accessed May 13, 2013
  16. ↑ Business Wire, First Avenue Networks Pioneers Wireless Carrier Ethernet Service For Government Sector; Company First to Market with $2,000 Per Month Flat-Rate Service, February 2, 2006
  17. ↑ University of Evansville, University Trustees, accessed May 13, 2013
  18. ↑ Jim Greenhill, National Guard Bureau, Defense Imagery and Video Distribution System, Youth ChalleNGe Program Nears 100,000 Graduates, February 24, 2010
  19. ↑ Amazon.com, Information page, Call Out the Guard, accessed May 13, 2003
  20. ↑ National Guard Association of the United States, Montgomery Medal page Archived May 23, 2013, at the Wayback Machine, accessed May 13, 2013
  21. ↑ National Recreation Foundation, Lt. Gen. John B. Conaway Presented with National Recreation Foundation's 2012 Robert W. Crawford Achievement Prize, November 13, 2012

Further reading

  • "National Guard History eMuseum". Archived from the original on November 15, 2010. Retrieved December 24, 2011.

Attribution

Public Domain This article incorporates public domain material from the United States Army

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