Lance W. Lord Explained

Lance W. Lord
Birth Date:12 July 1946
Birth Place:Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Allegiance:United States
Branch:United States Air Force
Serviceyears:1968–2006
Rank:General
Commands:Air Force Space Command
Air University
Second Air Force
30th Space Wing and Western Range
90th Missile Wing
321st Strategic Missile Wing
Awards:Air Force Distinguished Service Medal (2)
Legion of Merit (3)

General Lance W. Lord (born July 12, 1946)[1] is a retired four-star general in the United States Air Force who served as Commander of Air Force Space Command at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado.

Military career

Lord was educated at Castle Heights Military Academy[2] and Otterbein College, where he earned a bachelor's degree and graduated from the ROTC program. He later earned a master's degree from the University of North Dakota.[3] After entering the Air Force in 1969, he served four years of Minuteman II ICBM alert duty and then completed a series of Air Staff and joint duty assignments in strategic missiles. He directed the Ground-Launched Cruise Missile Program Management Office in Europe. He was a Military Assistant to the Director of Net Assessment in the Office of the Secretary of Defense and represented the Air Force as a research associate in international security affairs at Ohio State University.

Lord commanded two ICBM wings in Wyoming and North Dakota. In California he commanded a space wing responsible for satellite launch and ballistic missile test launch operations. He served as Director of Plans and as Vice Commander for Headquarters Air Force Space Command. The general led Air Force education and training as Commandant of Squadron Officer School, Commander of Second Air Force, Commander of Air University and Director of Education for Air Education and Training Command. Prior to assuming command of Space Command, he was the Assistant Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force. He retired on April 1, 2006.

In 2004 while serving as Air Force Space Command Commander, Lord announced the introduction of a new space badge. The new combined Space and Missile Operations Badge, informally known as "spings" (SPace wINGS), "Space Boomerang", or "Space Blade" replaced the Missile Badge for operators. In addition, the new badge is no longer limited to pure space and missile operators/maintainers, but is also awarded to 61XX, 62XX and 63XX (officer) AFSCs who have performed space/ICBM acquisition duties, even if they were non-operational in nature.

Assignments

Awards and decorations

Air Force Distinguished Service Medal with one bronze oak leaf cluster
Legion of Merit with two oak leaf clusters
Defense Meritorious Service Medal
Meritorious Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters
Air Force Commendation Medal with oak leaf cluster
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with oak leaf cluster
Air Force Organizational Excellence Award with three oak leaf clusters
Combat Readiness Medal
Air Force Recognition Ribbon with oak leaf cluster
National Defense Service Medal with two bronze service stars
Global War on Terrorism Service Medal
Humanitarian Service Medal
Air Force Overseas Long Tour Service Ribbon
Air Force Longevity Service Award with one silver and three bronze oak leaf clusters
Small Arms Expert Marksmanship Ribbon
Air Force Training Ribbon

Other achievements

Effective dates of promotion

Notes and References

  1. Web site: News release: General officer announcement . . July 3, 1997 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100302005146/http://www.defense.gov/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=1335 . March 2, 2010 .
  2. Web site: Heights National Alumni Association Newsletter . Castle Heights Military Academy . June 2015 . September 5, 2016 .
  3. Web site: Executive Profile: Lance W. Lord USAF (Ret.) . Bloomberg . September 5, 2016 .