Completed biographies can seen by scrolling down or clinking the bold link in the table to the right. 

Biographies - Past Presidents

LTC William Kwan Toy, USA (1963-54)

LTC William Kwan Toy enlisted in the Arizona National Guard in 1938 two years prior to graduating from Phoenix High School. He was a Sergeant when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. He was selected for Officer Candidate School and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant, Infantry in December 1942.

Major Billie Loos, USMC (1984-85)

One of our past Chapter President, Maj Billie Loos, was a Marine Fighter Pilot Ace of World War II with 7 victories.    Maj Loos is pictured below with his favorite aircraft--F-4U Corsair. 

The Major was born and raised in Carbondale, Illinois and entered the Marine Corps from there. He graduated May 30, 1944 in Class 36 at Jacksonville, Florida and was commissioned at Marine Station Kingsville, Texas. He served in the Marshall Islands prior to being stationed at Yontan Airfield, Okinawa.

Loos shot down his first aircraft while flying out of Yontan Airfield, Okinawa. He was flying north of the island on a dusk patrol and spotted the Tojo fighter below. He rolled over into a dive and pulled out level with the Jap and opened fire with machine guns. The Jap began smoking rolled over and splashed into the sea. This one would be followed by 6 more for a total of 7 victories.

After 20+ years of service, including the Korean conflict, Major Loos retired. His decorations included the Distinguished Flying Cross with 1 Star, Navy Commendation with V, Air Medal with 9 stars, Asiatic Pacific Medal, National Service Medal, Korean Service Medal, United Nations Medal and Korean PUC.

Major Loos married the former Miss Marie Martin of San Diego, California in 1957 and they had one daughter.

 Lieutenant James C. Seidl, USCG (1988-89)

 Born in Blue Island, Illinois. He enlisted in the U.S. Coast Guard in September 1941. As a Seaman 1st class he was selected to attend flight school. He completed primary flight training at Grosse Ile, Michigan in the winter of 1942 and received his wings of gold at NAS Pensacola, Florida in March of 1943. He was promoted to Aviation Pilot 2nd class and designated Aviation Pilot #76.

While flying out of BW-1 Greenland as a Chief Aviation Pilot, he received a Direct Commission as Ensign and was designated C.G. Aviator #343. After attending Helicopter School he was designated C.G. Helicopter Pilot #173 in 1953.

In between three different promotions to Chief Petty Officer and three commission ranks (temp) he was promoted to Chief Warrant Officer W-4 (perm) and retired as Lieutenant.
 

Bill's military assignments (1945 - 1970) varied from instructor of Management in the ROTC Program at UCLA and the U of A to Liaison Officer for the CINC, USAF Europe to the CINC, Group of Soviet Forces Germany, and subsequently as a VIP briefer on the Airborne Command Post.

The European assignment to the CINC of Soviet Forces, East Germany, led to the award of the Airman's Medal for heroism, involving seven incursions into restricted areas in East Germany in attempts to save the lives of American aircrew who had been shot down by Russian fighters.  The latter position, 1966 - 1969, required briefing of various important high level personages including two Presidents of the United States, Secretaries of State, Secretaries of Defense, and other military and civilian officials at the highest levels of the National command structure. His terminal assignment in the USAF was as Commander, 7499th Special Activities Group and as Senior USAF Intelligence Representative in Korea.  

His assignment to the United States Military Liaison Mission to the CINC of the Group of Soviet Forces, East Germany was unusual for Col Thompson in that he did not speak Russian, a normal prerequisite. This assignment was also unique in that they personally carried out the collection of intelligence without resorting to the use of nationals of other countries. This guaranteed the accuracy and timeliness of the intelligence.

LtCol Thompson's Decorations and Awards include the Airman's Medal for Heroism, Joint Service Commendation Medal, Defense Intelligence Agency Meritorious Service Medal, Korea; Berlin Occupation Medal; WWII Victory Medal, Air Force Commendation Medal, Army Commendation Medal, American Campaign Medal, Armed Forces Expeditionary Service Award, Air Force Outstanding Unit Award, Air Force Longevity Service Award with 4 OLC. He held many other Honors, Awards, and Affiliations such as: Who's Who in American Colleges and Universities - 1950, Distinguished Graduate Air Force Officer Candidate School - 1951, Who's Who in Finance -1970, 1989-1982, and Investment Officer, Department of Arizona, American Legion and many others. He was a Life member of TROA now MOAA, Life Member of The Air Force Association, and Life Member of the VFW. He was inducted into the Arizona's Veterans Hall of Fame in 2001.

Colonel Chuck Schluter began his career in the United States Navy and served as a Petty Officer from 1965 through 1969 in Pacific and Southeast Asia waters during the Vietnam War. He later transferred to a United States Army (Hercules) (Air Defense Artillery) guided missile base. He subsequently attended Officer Candidate School. An enjoyable and rewarding career concluded with his assignment as the Director of Personnel, G-1, for the Headquarters, Connecticut Army National Guard.

His awards and decorations include the Legion of Merit, Meritorious Service Medal; Army Commendation Medal (3); Army Reserve Component Achievement Medal (6); National Defense Service Medal(2); Armed Forces Reserve Medal; Humanitarian Service Medal; Vietnam Service Medal; Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal; Connecticut Emergency Service Ribbon (6); and the Connecticut Medal of Merit; Connecticut Long Service Award (25 Years).

Ron Was born in Aberdeen, SD then had short moves to Wyoming and Nebraska.  While in Nebraska he lived under a final approach to the runway there. This was a 'top-off' base that had bombers and fighters that flew each day.

Ron looked up at the airplanes in the sky in ‘42 and set a goal of becoming a fighter pilot. This goal was realized in ‘60 when he earned his wings and became a fighter pilot in the F-100.

 Although he took time off from the cockpit to obtain a Masters Degree from ASU in ‘73 and served in the Pentagon from ‘74-‘78, he stayed a fighter pilot until retiring in ’80.  During this time, he flew 3150 hours in the F-100 and 900 hours in the F-4.  He flew out of or over most countries of the world. This included 3 tours in Vietnam and totaled 292 Combat Missions (232 in the F-100 and 60 in the F-4) without sustaining a single hit. Although one day he can remember a missile going by the canopy so close that he could see the access panels needed a blade screw driver.

On his 4th mission he also winchestered (depleted the gun ammo) engaging a Mig-17. The 37mm guns blink while 23mm guns put out a steady stream of fire.  Yes, you can see the bullets go by!

Later he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for Heroism during aerial flight.  Ron had many ocean deployments that used the KB-50s and KC-135s. He remembers these as hours of boredom interspersed with short periods of extreme fright refueling. 

Refuelings most memorable involved chasing a KB-50 down by following the exhaust in the clouds and using the F-4s radar for join up in the clouds behind a KC-135 over Thailand. In both cases, there was no abort base available. The longest deployment lasted for 10 and 1/2 hours and required 5 aerial refuelings.

He retired from the Air Force in ‘80 and went to work at McDonnell Aircraft in St. Louis, MO. While there he flew thousands of hours in the domed simulators and became the chief Threat Pilot in current and hypothesized future Mig Aircraft. His involvement in two projects there resulted in his being awarded the Presidents Award twice. As he said, "Too bad the awards were not money instead of certificates and plaques." Health problems finally resulted in forcing him to retire/retire in ‘94.

Ron was awarded the following during his military career: Distinguished Flying cross w V for valor in combat (Heroic Action), Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, Air Medal w 15 Oak leaf Clusters (OLC) (Total 16 Air Medals), AF Outstanding Unit Award w 1 OLC and 1 V (Total 2, 1 in combat), Presidential Unit Citation, Combat Readiness Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal w 1 OLC, Vietnam Service Medal w 3 stars, AF Longevity Service Award Ribbon w 3 OLCs (over 20 years), Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal, RVN Gallantry Cross w Palm, Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal.

He moved to the valley and became involved with the Arizona Chapter of MOAA.  After a year of Chapter inactivity he agreed to be the 1st Vice President for 3 years and then became the president from ‘01, 03. He figures that he will be involved in MOAA and Veterans affairs as long as he can get around!

He concluded his Air Force Career with his dream assignment , command of an award winning F-4 tactical fighter wing with over 2000 personnel and nearly 100 assigned aircraft. The unit had a diverse mission with a worldwide operations commitment that took it as far as Greece and Korea, as well as a training mission for U.S. and Germany fighter aircrews.

He is married to the former Marie Keelin, also of Ottawa, Kansas. They have three children; Scott, Craig and Suzanne.

CAPT Daniel M. Conway, USCGR (Ret.) (2005-2006)

He was born in Rochester, Minnesota. Following graduation from High School, he entered the US Coast Guard Academy. Following graduation with a Bachelor of Science in Engineering, he served for three year on active duty aboard ships on North Atlantic Weather Patrol sailing out of Boston. He served as a deck officer and navigator for one year followed by engineering duty ending as Chief Engineer. He then spent 23 more years in the US Coast Guard Reserve in Arizona and in California serving as an instructor, training officer, executive officer and commanding officer of reserve training units, and then as a group commander responsible for the performance of four reserve training units. In these positions, he was instrumental in getting reservists out of the classroom and integrated into active duty units.