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Wall of Honor Level:
Air and Space Friend

Honored by:
Wendy, Al, & Daniel Stettner

Colonel Richard B. Kehl had an illustrious 30-year career in the United States Air Force. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in 1958 after graduating from Ohio University with a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering. Following initial assignments at F.E. Warren Air Force Base and the 15th Fighter Group, Niagara Falls, he deployed to Paeng Yong Do Island, the maritime demarcation line between North and South Korea, where he served as the Unit Supply Officer and Deputy Island Commander for several U.S. Air Force, U.S. Army, and U.S. Marine Corps units. Upon his return to the U.S., he became lead project engineer for missile and space propulsion development at Edwards AFB and earned a Master of Science degree in research and development systems management at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles. Subsequently he was Executive Officer and Special Assistant to the Director of Laboratories, Air Force Systems Command at Andrews AFB. He then transferred to Headquarters USAF as an international research and development staff officer for the Deputy Chief of Staff, Research and Development. This led to his assignment to the F-16 System Program Office at Wright-Patterson AFB where he held several positions culminating in Director of Multinational Programs. In this role he was responsible for managing F-16 foreign acquisition programs and foreign military sales programs. His success resulted in his selection as Director of the tri-service Space Test Program at Air Force Systems Command where he directed the development of and was the Mission Director for several Department of Defense payloads flown on the Space Shuttle. Colonel Kehl's final USAF assignment was Director of Sensor Data at the Foreign Technology Division, the predecessor to the National Air and Space Intelligence Center.

Colonel Kehl's record of accomplishment in his numerous and wide-ranging assignments has had a major and lasting impact on the aerospace domains in the United States and around the world.