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Wall of Honor Level:
Air and Space Friend

Honored by:
Ms. Christine Loughran

Michael F. Loughran, Colonel. United States Air Force, (the World's Greatest Bomber Pilot) completed a career that paralleled and reflected significant events in the US defense posture from Vietnam to the end of the Cold War.

Following USAF pilot training in 1968, Col. Loughran became a B-52H copilot at Wurtsmith AFB for a year. After training in the deHaviliand C-7A Caribou, he went to Cam Ranh Bay AB, Republic of Vietnam. During the 1971-1972 timeframe, the US was drawing down force levels in Vietnam significantly and turning operations over to the Vietnamese. During his tour, Col. Loughran trained Vietnamese Air Force pilots to become C-7 instructor pilots in order to take over the mission. On the day he left, the 457th Tactical Airlift Squadron was the only remaining US squadron of the five that existed just one year earlier.

After requalifying in the B-52H, Col. Loughran became an Aircraft Commander and Instructor Pilot. He served in the 1st Combat Evaluation Group as an evaluator and while there tested numerous operational procedures which were adopted into the B-52 fleet. He accumulated nearly 5,000 total flying hours in 4 versions of the B-52, the KC-135 A and R models, the KC-10A as well as the C-7A Caribou.

Col. Loughran's career included three tours on the Air Staff at the Pentagon. On one of those assignments, he developed the requirements to increase the capabilities of the USAF aerial tanker fleet. The program to acquire 60 KC-10s and equip the KC-135 with new engines and subsystems to the KC-135R configuration met that need.

Later, Col. Loughran became the commander of the 69th Bombardment Squadron, SAC (Strategic Air Command), Loring AFB, Maine from 1984 to 1986. The 69th was the first USAF squadron to achieve operational capability with the Harpoon anti-ship missile in 1984. In subsequent assignments, Col. Loughran was the Deputy Commander for Operations and Vice Commander of the 2nd Bombardment Wing at Barksdale AFB, Louisiana. He commanded the 416th Bombardment Wing, SAC, at Griffiss AFB, New York from September 1990 to July, 1993. Under the USAF reorganization action, the wing was designated a composite wing--416 Wing-- since it operated both B-52Gs and KC-135Rs. On June 1, 1992, SAC was deactivated and its bombers and people were absorbed into Air Combat Command. At that time, the Wing was redesignated as 416th Bomb Wing (ACC). The B-52 deterrence mission ended, as the requirement to keep aircraft and crews on immediate response alert status was stopped by President George H. W. Bush on September 28, 1991, to decrease nuclear tensions in the post Cold War era.

Col. Loughran is a graduate of Boston University with a Bachelor of Science. He also holds Masters degrees from Central Michigan University and the College of Naval Warfare, Naval War College, Newport, RI. He retired from the Air Force in 1997 and pursued a second career in the defense industry. He is married the former Cynthia Holland of Cambridge, Massachusetts. This enrollment is a gift of his loving children, Michael and Christine on the occasion of his birthday.