User:David P. Dempster

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David P. Dempster, Colonel, USAF, Retired

Colonel Dempster enlisted, completed Boot Camp, then was assigned to Aviation Cadet Flight Training as a Navigator.

Commissioned in 1955, he began 13.5 years of flight duty with the Strategic Air Command in RB-36F bombers (1.5 years), Upgraded to Navigator-Bombardier in B-47E bombers (4.0 years), assigned as Navigator-Bombardier in B-58A, Mach 2 Hustler bombers (4.0 years) and finally as Reconnaissance Systems Officer in the SR-71A, Mach 3.2 Blackbird ( 4.0 years ). In the latter assignment was one of the eight initial B-58 crew members (4 Pilots and 4 Navigator-Bombardiers) chosen to be the Crew Cadre for the SR-71 program and was part of the first USAF contingent to fly operational sorties from Okinawa into "denied areas" in 1968.

Assigned to the Avionics Engineering Office in the B-1A bomber System Program Office (SPO) in 1969, he participated in the Request For Proposal, source selection and subsequent development of the B-1A bomber and it's Avionics subsystems until mid-1974 (interrupted during a 1971 assignment and 159 Combat Sorties in AC-130A Gun Ships flying from Ubon Air Base, Thailand).

He completed USAF Air War College as Distinguished Graduate in mid-1975 and assigned as a SPO Director at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio managing the R & D development and production of various GFE Avionics and Electronic Warfare Equipments until mid-1980 and retirement from active USAF duty.

Colonel Dempster received 31 awards and decorations during USAF career including the Legion of Merit, 3 Distinguished Flying Crosses, 2 Meritorious Services Medals, 11 Air Medals and other service awards from the USAF and the Republic of Vietnam. He holds a BS in Management from St. Joseph's College, Rensselaer, Indiana (January 1965) and an MBA from Auburn University, Alabama (July 1975).

He then spent 13 year in an Aerospace Industry career (1980 - 1993), involved with R & D Program Management on various programs including the B-2 Stealth Bomber, the Condor Unmanned Air Vehicle, and other classified Advanced Development Projects. He retired from the Boeing Company in 1993.