MAJOR GENERAL LEO F. DUSARD JR.
Retired
May 01,1970
Died May 27,1994
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Major General Leo Francois Dusard Jr., is vice commander of Air Training Command, Randolph Air Force Base, Texas.
General Dusard was born in Kirkwood, Mo., in 1915. He attended Kirkwood High School and majored in business administration at Washington University, St. Louis, Mo., receiving his bachelor of science degree in 1938. Entering the Army Air Corps as an aviation cadet in June 1938, he received his commission as second lieutenant after completing flying training at Randolph and Kelly fields, Texas, in May 1939.
In November 1943 after having served as a fighter group commander on the West Coast, he went to the South and Southwest Pacific combat area as a P-38 fighter group commander with the Thirteenth Air Force. During his 20 months overseas, he participated in 76 combat missions and was credited with downing two enemy aircraft. He fought in nine major battles and campaigns.
One of the first attempts at extended long-range fighter escort in that area was successfully accomplished by General Dusard and his group. It was on Sept. 25, 1944, and the target was an enemy base at Kendari in the Celebes Islands, 800 miles from their home base in New Guinea. General Dusard sparked the imagination of his group into modifying the short-range P-38 for an unheard of 1600-mile flight as escorts to the lumbering B-24 Liberators. During his oversea combat tour, General Dusard was decorated with the Legion of Merit, Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal with three oak leaf clusters and the Army Commendation Medal.
He returned to stateside duty in September 1945 and in 1948 graduated from the Armed Forces Staff College. He served as a member of the joint Strategic Planning Group of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 1949 to 1951. Subsequently, he attended the Air War College and was later assigned to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in Europe.
During his more than 25 years of Army Air Corps and U.S. Air Force duty, General Dusard has served as a squadron commander, group commander, air base commander, commandant of the Officer Military Schools at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, and wing commander at Craig Air Force Base, Ala.
In June 1960 General Dusard was assigned as deputy chief of staff for technical training at Headquarters Air Training Command, Randolph Air Force Base, Texas; and in August 1964 he became the commander of Chanute Technical Training Center, Ill.
General Dusard was assigned to Headquarters U.S. Air Force as director of personnel training and education in August 1966. He assumed his present duties as vice commander of Air Training Command in July 1968.
His decorations include the Legion of Merit with two oak leaf clusters, Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal with three oak leaf clusters and the Army Commendation Medal.
(Current as of Sept. 1, 1968)