Philippe Ovide Bouchard

West Point, 1955

Be Thou At Peace

Posted by Brig General Philippe O Bouchard on September 9, 2010:

TAPS Brig General Philippe O Bouchard, USAF (ret) West Point 1955 Cullum Number 20290 Information to be used in writing my West Point Memorial Article. Submit to: Memorials@aogusma.org after editing and putting it in third person as an observer As of 24 Feb, 2005 Still Current (FEB 2008) "Phil, I'd like you to consider applying for an appointment to one of the Military Academies",------ words spoken to me by my Dad while I was enjoying my second year at MIT. I was the oldest of five brothers. My Dad, of modest means, was facing college tuition bills for my brothers, and MIT's tuition, then very costly as it is today, was eating up all the money. I did not want to be the obstacle to my brothers' college education so I dutifully applied, passed all the exams, was appointed by my Congressman and accepted at West Point. So the start to my military career was strictly an accident. As a plebe, I found myself coaching upperclassmen in calculus, but that didn't keep me from accumulating my share of demerits or area tours. As a firstie, I had all I could handle in keeping my roommate Skip Massey from bombing out academically. Baseball and hockey were my sport avocations. Having used up two years of playing eligibility on MIT's baseball varsity, I was limited to playing plebe ball at the Academy. But I was able to spend four years as cadet manager of the hockey team. Upon graduation from the Military Academy, I wanted to fly and chose the USAF for my branch of service. Pilot training in Texas and Mississippi with the camaraderie of classmates and USNA '55 grads was a great experience, and it was followed by Combat Crew Training in the F-86D at Perrin AFB, Texas where I had the pleasure of sharing a rented home with classmates George Monahan and Buck Riggs. George and I, old buddies from time spent on Smith Rink (George was the hockey team's captain while I was the cadet manager) went on to Selfridge AFB, Michigan for our first operational duty as all-weather interceptor pilots. It was there that we shed our bachelor status and married our soul mates,--- George with Mary and I with Carol. Children arrived soon thereafter. My four years at Selfridge AFB, briefly interrupted by attendance at Squadron Officer School (Distinguished Graduate), convinced me to make a career of the Air Force. It was evident that I thrived on the camaraderie of my squadron mates, frequent new challenges, and a "way of life" instead of an "8 to 5 job". Graduate education in Aerospace Engineering at the University of Oklahoma interrupted flying operations, but not the steady growth of our family. By this time Michael, Suzanne, David, and Donald were on the scene. I was able to complete all work except a dissertation towards a PhD degree. My first challenge in Research and Development was at the Air Force AeroPropulsion Laboratory at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio where I was in charge of the construction of a hypersonic shock tunnel to test supersonic combustion ramjet propulsion engines. Test results were to serve as my dissertation topic. However, after one year at the Lab, the Vietnam War came calling. After being trained as A1-E Skyraider pilots, and upon arrival in Vietnam, our whole group's orders were changed to Forward Air Controllers flying the O1-E Birddog and getting brief training in country. I flew 412 combat missions, briefly over the Ho Chi Minh trail in Laos and mostly in close air support for the Army's 25th Infantry Division ay Cu Chi. I often chuckled at my fate of having chosen the Air Force out of West Point, but serving my only combat tour with the Army. Though I was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and fifteen Air Medals during my one year tour in SEA, the award I particularly treasure is the Army Commendation Medal with "V" (valor) device. Not only unique among my Air Force peers, it was awarded for one of my most gratifying missions in that it helped Army compatriots out of a difficult situation. Almost seven years on the Aeronautical Engineering faculty at the USAF Academy turned into one of my most satisfying assignments. Not only did teaching "Aero" to cadets make me more knowledgeable in my chosen educational field, but instructing cadets to fly sailplanes taught me the essence of flying. Often asked whether I regretted not having the opportunity to complete my dissertation for a PhD degree, I replied that I had earned my PhD in "combat flying" and a post graduate degree in sailplane flying with cadets who tended to put me in life threatening situations. Research and Development characterized the rest of my career. After attending the Canadian National Defence College, I was privileged to command three different Air Force Laboratories, namely the AF AeroPropulsion Laboratory and the AF Materials Laboratory, both at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio and the Rome Air Development Center (Rome Lab) at Griffiss AFB, NY.,---- and to be the Director of all the Air Force Laboratories (Director of Science & Technology) at HQ AF Systems Command, Andrews AFB, Maryland. It was a privilege to work with some of the brightest military and civilians in our Air Force as we kept our service on the leading edge of technology. Being a Laboratory Commander three times and serving as the Deputy Chief of Staff, Manpower & Personnel for the 58,000 people of AF Systems Command gave me a keen appreciation of my favorite leadership principle, "Take care of your people and they'll take care of the mission." I completed my military career by serving as the Vice Commander of the Aeronautical Systems Division at Wright-Patterson AFB, affectionately called the "Bicycle Shop" after the Wright brothers shop in nearby Dayton, Ohio. Given my three assignments at WPAFB, it was natural upon retirement after 31 years to stay put in the Dayton area where a network of friends and family existed. Though retired from the USAF, the high technology challenges kept coming. My first job was to establish and direct a Center for Artificial Intelligence Applications, a consortium of seven Ohio universities applying Artificial Intelligence technology to solve US Air Force problems. After five years in this endeavor, I moved to my first ever "for-profit" challenge to be the Vice President of Engineering and then CEO of Universal Technology Corporation. Now retired totally, I can enjoy life's greatest "Mulligan", namely, grandchildren, and with golf, gardening, art and travel, life is good. Volunteer activities keep me involved with the community. As past president and member of the Board of Governors of the Engineers Club of Dayton, I was able to perpetuate Dayton's heritage of inventiveness. As president of the Air Force Materials & Manufacturing Alumni Association, I am able to stay in contact with many of the fine scientists and engineers with whom I associated on active duty. As a past trustee of the Air Force Institute of Technology Foundation, I am able to keep abreast of our Air Force's future in science and technology. And as active participants in seminars for seniors at two of our local universities, Carol and I are continuously learning and associating with stimulating people. And I have been blessed with the same compatible golf foursome for over ten years. The greatest blessing is to have had a wonderful partner, Carol, on this trek, and great children and grandchildren, four of the latter having lived in our retirement city for over 20 years. For a military career that "accidentally" got its start with an appointment to West Point, and a fulfilling life thereafter, I have much for which to be thankful to God, Carol, family, friends, classmates and all the people with whom I worked. The best advice I ever received which I tried to follow is a quote from Rudyard Kipling: "If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue, Or walk with kings,---- not lose the common touch, Yours is the earth and everything that's in it, And,---- which is more,--- you'll be a man, my son".

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