Brigadier General RICHARD E. HEARNE

Brigadier General Richard E. Hearne is commandant of the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps, Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala.

General Hearne was born in 1935, in Texarkana, Ark., and graduated from Texarkana High School in June 1953. He received a bachelor of science degree in business from Louisiana Tech University, Ruston, in January 1958 and a master of arts degree from the University of Oklahoma in 1976. He graduated from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces in 1976, and attended the Management Program for Executives at the University of Pittsburgh in 1983 and the Institute for Higher Defense Studies at the National Defense University in 1986.

When he graduated from Louisiana Tech, General Hearne was commissioned a second lieutenant through the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps program. He entered active duty in March 1958 at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, and received his pilot wings at Greenville Air Force Base, Miss., in April 1959. He then completed F-86D fighter training at Moody Air Force Base, Ga., before being assigned to the 16th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron at Naha Air Base, Okinawa, in January 1960.

From September 1962 to November 1966 General Hearne was assigned as a T-33 and, later, T-37 instructor pilot with the 3640th Pilot Training Wing at Laredo Air Force Base, Texas. He then received F-4 fighter training at George Air Force Base, Calif., and was assigned to the 480th Tactical Fighter Squadron at Da Nang Air Base, Republic of Vietnam, from July to November 1967. During that time he flew 84 combat missions, 58 of them over North Vietnam. From November 1967 to July 1968 he was assigned to Tan Son Nhut Air Base, Saigon, Republic of Vietnam, as an air operations staff officer at Headquarters 7th Air Force.

He returned to the United States in July 1968 and served with the Air Training Command at Randolph Air Force Base, Texas, as an instructor pilot in the Instrument Pilot Instructor School and later as chief of the command's Officer Resources Division.

From August 1973 to June 1975 General Hearne was assigned to the 80th Flying Training Wing at Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas, first as commander of the 80th Student Squadron and later as commander of the 89th (T-37) Flying Training Squadron. After graduating from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces in June 1976, he was assigned to Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C., as chief of the Flying Training Branch, Directorate of Personnel Programs, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Manpower and Personnel.

The general was assigned as commander of the 64th Air Base Group at Reese Air Force Base, Texas, in February 1980 and became commander of the 64th Flying Training Wing in August 1982. In December 1983 he returned to Randolph Air Force Base as Air Training Command's inspector general. In October 1984 he became deputy chief of staff for plans. He assumed his present duties in August 1985.

General Hearne is a command pilot with more than 3,600 flying hours in a variety of aircraft, including T-33s, T-37s, T-38s, T-39s, F-4s, F-86s and F-102s. His military decorations and awards include the Legion of Merit, Distinguished Flying Cross, Meritorious Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters, Air Medal with seven oak leaf clusters and the Republic of Vietnam Air Service Medal Honor Class. While at Sheppard Air Force Base, he was awarded honorary command pilot wings from both the German and Republic of Vietnam air forces.

He was promoted to brigadier general Nov. 1, 1984, with date of rank Oct. 1, 1984.

(Current as of June 1987)