In Memory of Maj Gen Richard Secord

• ► Fighter Pilot… Air Commando by Paul Harmon, Colonel, USAF (Retired)

  It is impossible to include all the accomplishments and milestones of General Secord’s life in a few paragraphs, an article, or even a book. The Air Commando Journal published a snapshot of his military career and in 2022.

  

  Major General Richard V. Secord: Fighter Pilot…Air Commando

  By Paul Harmon, Colonel, USAF (Retired)

  Richard Secord comes from a patriotic family. His distant relative, Laura Secord, was a French-Canadian spy during the War of 1812, and was hailed as a Canadian national hero after she slipped through the American lines to warn the British of an impending attack. The family’s allegiance moved south to the US and the sense of obligation to one’s country continues as a persistent family trait.
  His grandfather, Vernon, was a second-generation American and master craftsman with brick and stone and had an appreciation for doing things as best he could. His father, Lowell, carried the principle forward into a trucking business he started.

  Lowell Secord believed in getting a good education and felt the Service academies provided a first-rate education and encouraged Richard to consider West Point or the Naval Academy. After high school, he applied for a congressional appointment to West Point, ultimately, securing a place in 1951 as a “plebe” with the Class of 1955. Richard Secord graduated in the top-third of his class and Capt Alexander Haig administered the oath of office and pinned on his second lieutenant bars making Richard Secord an Air Force officer.

  Young Secord spent hours droning around in his father’s Aeronca and had received a ride in a jet trainer during a field trip to Eglin AFB, FL. In those days, the US Air Force Academy didn’t exist (the US Air Force Academy graduated its first class in 1959), so the Air Force got its regular officers from the other Service academies.

  Second Lieutenant Secord began flight school in Marianna, FL in Piper Cubs and later the T-6G Texan doing well and was selected for fighter training. He flew the T-28 and then the T-33 at Greenville AFB in Mississippi and was awarded his wings in the summer of 1956. His first assignment to fly the F-86 Sabre, the “famous MIG-killer” of the Korean war, was derailed because the country’s emphasis, at the time, was on the Strategic Air Command’s bombers and tanker fleets. Several wings of tactical fighters were getting mothballed, so instead he went to Air Training Command as an instructor pilot in the T-33 at Laredo AFB in Texas.

  The instructor assignment was cut short when he received orders to the University of Oklahoma to study for a masters of arts degree in English literature because the Air Force wanted to staff the new Air Force Academy with some Service academy graduates to teach the young cadets. Nearby Tinker AFB was home to Oklahoma City Air Material Area and 1Lt Secord was able to continue maintaining flying status in the T-33, F-86, and also got some multi-engined time in the C-54 and the C-97.

  While he was going through the masters program, he was given the opportunity to volunteer for a temporary duty assignment in the top secret program called Project JUNGLE JIM. The invitation included the caveat, “May include combat.” Secord quickly raised his hand to volunteer.

  The program required psychological screening to determine a volunteer’s suitability for special operations, so he went to Lackland AFB TX and met several hundred other volunteers, some of whom became his lifelong friends. The selected group of volunteers spent several weeks in an intense survival school program in the High Sierras evading mock captors, trying to stay warm, and finding something to eat. Secord knew from his time at West Point that these ordeals were designed to winnow out the weak. A few weeks later the group made its way to Hurlburt Field.

  Hurlburt Field in the early 1960s was home to the 4400th Combat Crew Training Squadron, which back then had a veritable museum of vintage aircraft with many in the Hurlburt Field Air Park today. Secord was assigned to the ‘strike section’, which flew World War II era A-26s and AT-28Bs. The AT-28Bs were similar to the T-28 he flew in flight school, but had guns, ordnance stations, and a more powerful 1425 horsepower engine.

  The airlift section had 40 pilots and navigators and flew C-47 “Goony Birds” and other utility aircraft, like the UC-10, that had short takeoff and landing capabilities. All the aircraft were painted a dull gray with very few markings on them, unlike other Air Force aircraft.

  Col Ben King was the commander of the 4400th at the time. King and the instructors were all highly qualified, mostly from the Second World War and Korea. Secord and the strike section practiced air-to-ground gunnery and a variety of low-level tactics over the Florida and Alabama swamps and target ranges, becoming equally proficient in dropping ordnance in the daytime or at night.

  Three months into training the unit was given orders to deploy under the code name Detachment Two Alpha, to Bien Hoa AB, Republic of Vietnam, not later than 1 March 1962. The mission was to assist the South Vietnamese Air Force (VNAF) and the army in the suppressing a North Vietnamese-sponsored insurgency group known as the Viet Cong. The strategic objective was to assist the South in putting down the pro-communist insurrection and drive the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) back north across the border.

  Captain Secord had nearly 2,000 hours flying time and was the junior officer in the unit, giving one a sense of experience in Detachment Two Alpha. Major Robert Allison was the operations officer and a great pilot. Capt Tom Temple was an expert dive-bomber who amazed even the World War II veterans. Both Allison and Temple flew P-51 Mustangs over Hitler’s Europe and their experience in prop-planes was evident.

  Officially, the unit wasn’t stationed anywhere near Vietnam. The cover story for Detachment Two Alpha was they were ‘instructors’ for the VNAF pilots. The Americans didn’t wear name tags, unit patches, or rank; just dog tags. The men also gave up their Geneva Convention cards, which every serviceman carries to show he was entitled to humane treatment as a POW. The Vietnamese pilots, on the other hand, usually flew in impressive uniforms with all the ropes and whistles of a Lord Mountbatten or Idi Amin. Regardless, the most important lesson given to the “students” was to keep their hands off the flight controls when the Americans were flying.

  

  In the early days, the unit did not keep track of flying hours and missions. Gen Curtis LeMay, the Air Force Chief of Staff, made a visit and stopped in front of Captain Secord who promptly rendered LeMay a crisp West Point salute. LeMay returned the salute like a man in shock and asked Secord how many missions he had flown, perhaps suspecting battle fatigue. Captain Secord replied, “I don’t know, sir.” General LeMay responded, “What do you mean you don’t know…did you just report for duty?” Secord replied,“No sir, I’ve been here two months and we aren’t permitted to log them, so they all kind of run together after a while—sir.” LeMay’s staff was unhappy, but Secord felt he owed the general a truthful answer. LeMay didn’t answer and continued with his inspection, but a few days later the unit received an order to start logging all the missions and try to recreate all the past missions.

  After a short-time, Secord was promoted to flight commander and began to lead strike missions providing air support for the infantry. Each mission was controlled by forward air controllers (FAC). The unit flew missions even during the monsoon season, which didn’t really affect them because they flew between the bands of clouds and rain. Night time missions were a double edged sword—it was difficult for the enemy to see the fighters, but there was always the terrain to worry about. The C-47s dropped parachute flares, which effectively blinded the enemy, but when the pilots pulled up out of the light, they flew into the blackness of the night.

  Secord finished his first tour in Vietnam in September 1962 and returned to the US. He was replaced by a captain who had a lot less fighter time. Secord urged him to, “Be cautious, learn the terrain, and master the tricks of the trade before you get too aggressive.” Sadly, a few days later the pilot was killed in action. This was a shock to Secord and foretold of things to come. By 1964 the strike section would lose over 22 men, about the same number of Air Commandos they started with in 1961.
  Captain Secord stayed at Hurlburt Field until 1965, but had multiple temporary duty assignments to southeast Asia and other places. In February of 1963, he deployed to the rugged mountains of northwest Iran, which was home to the Kurdish people and the site of a top-secret war that few Americans have ever read about.

  The Kurds are an independent-minded people with a warrior tradition going back to antiquity with their ancestral homeland overlapping into Turkey, Iraq, and Iran. One attempt at Kurdish independence was instigated by the Soviet Union and Secord went to assist the young Shah in helping secure the Iranian border. Back in the 60s and 70s, the US was friendly with the government of Iran because of its strategic location. This was the first of several assignments Secord would have to Iran, which became familiar territory for him throughout his career.

  The deployed team consisted of an 80-man Army Special Forces (SF) contingent and two Air Force officers, Captain Secord and Maj Arnie Tillman. Tillman had experience with SF, but Secord had more recent combat experience. Tillman was a B-17 pilot who had been shot down over Russia during the Second World War and was repatriated through Tehran.

  The team arrived in Iran in March 1963, in the dead of winter. They weren’t issued winter clothing and they slept in the basement of the Military Assistance & Advisory Group (MAAG) compound, which was like a palace compared to the pup tents on ice ledges in the field.

  When the team got to the front they found four heavy infantry divisions under an Iranian general bogged down not only by the weather and tough terrain, but also a lack of discipline, disorganization, poor communications, logistics, training, and inappropriate tactics. The US team’s first goal was to help the Iranians seal the Kurdish border between Iraq and Iran by helping them become a more effective fighting force. The advisors went to work and after the training, the US advisors went into the field with the Iranians as observers and coaches critiquing them afterward bringing back information for the US and Iranian intelligence teams.

  Secord’s air contingent had a different task. The Kurdish insurrection was a real threat to the Shah, but the whole theater was treated like a leper colony. Fighting guerrillas wasn’t glorious and those who supported the operation didn’t want to get too involved. Secord dealt with a junkyard air force of a dozen C-47s and 15 T-6Gs trainers that didn’t have weapons hard-points. They operated from a gravel strip manned mostly by misfits and malcontents from the Iranian air force (IAF). The real IAF flew F-86Fs at bases just beyond a comfortable combat radius from the scene of action.

  The good news was the foundation of the ‘air campaign’ was the local pilots who knew their equipment and were competent military pilots. Secord had the Iranians rig the T-6s with 30 caliber machine gun pods and racks of Zuni rockets for an air-strike capability and helped them build sound air-to-ground tactics. The real value of these aircraft was the ability to FAC and get artillery on target, which gave a psychological boost to the Iranians on the ground seeing their aircraft overhead.

  With six months of work, the training began bearing fruit. There were no big decisive battles, but the Iranians fought numerous firefights and ambushes, generally coming out on top and by the fall of 1963, the threat to the Shah’s government evaporated. Secord was invited back to Iran in 1964 and again in 1965 to help improve other Iranian joint operational capabilities.

  At the same time, Col Heinie Aderholt took command of the wing at Hurlburt. He was a superb officer, gutsy pilot, and experienced combat leader. Heinie flew B-17s and C-47s in the Second World War, special operations aircraft in Korea, and served on loan to the CIA in Europe earlier in his career. He was a very charismatic leader and his men loved him.

  

  Secord returned to Hurlburt Field in March 1965 and helped train replacements for the ongoing operations in Vietnam. Aderholt was subsequently transferred to Southeast Asia to take command of the 56th Air Commando Wing at Nakon Phanom Royal Thai Air Force Base, but before he left he recommended Major Secord for Air Command and Staff College (ACSC) at Maxwell AFB, Alabama.
  As mentioned, Aderholt previously served with the CIA in the late 1950s and early 60s. The CIA fills positions that are not normally staffed for with people from other government services. The war in Southeast Asia was expanding and there were more positions than the CIA could fill. One of these positions came down to Secord while finishing ACSC and he jumped at the opportunity. Major Secord returned to Vietnam as an air operations officer at the CIA station in Saigon.

  At first, Secord was tasked with helping manage Air America’s fleet of aircraft in routine “trash hauling” missions. Air America was a proprietary airline used by the CIA. Major Secord also had the tedious job of coordinating VIP itineraries. In his mind, this was not what a West Point trained, veteran combat pilot was supposed to be doing. After six weeks, he went to his boss and told him that he wanted a transfer to where the real action was and after some more wrangling a cable came in from CIA headquarters ordering Secord to report to CIA Station Vientiane, Laos. His boss pushed back with his own cable, but the CIA’s reply was: Referenced cable was not a request, but directive in nature.

  Excited about the new job, Secord grabbed the first flight to Udorn AB in Thailand. Udorn AB, was home to the 7/13th AF headquarters, the 432nd Tactical Reconnaissance Wing, and also a 1st Air Commando Wing detachment under code name WATERPUMP with 70 AT-28s.

  Secord met a CIA staff officer, Bob Blake, an AF Academy graduate who left the service for a full time job with the CIA. Blake ran the tactical air operations for Laos. Some historians and analysts made the operations in Laos out to be a sideshow to Vietnam, but there were nearly 80,000 troops, mostly tribesmen, on the ground in Laos and Secord knew it was a real war played for high stakes.

  Richard Secord was an air advisor in Laos until 1968. During the time he flew another 285 combat missions while serving in Southeast Asia. He returned to the Eglin AFB in September 1968, and was assigned to the AF Special Operations Force, under Tactical Air Command (TAC) as assistant deputy chief of staff and began work training aircrews for the kind of missions he had just left behind in the field.

  

  Secord was soon promoted to lieutenant colonel and given command of the the 603rd Special Operations Squadron at Hurlburt Field, a brand new unit equipped with A-37B jets. These jets had the same engines as the T-38s, without afterburner, but flew more like a prop-driven fighter, like the A-1 and AT-28s.

  In 1971, Secord attended Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island. Graduating a ten months later, he went to the Pentagon as a staff assistant in the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD). This was out of the ordinary because usually first-time staff officers spent two years on the Air Staff before going over to OSD. He worked as the desk officer for issues concerning Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam under the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs (ISA).

  In the new job, Colonel Secord, prepared policy and analysis papers for the Secretary of Defense (SECDEF), Melvin Laird. This was mid-1972 and the US was committed to the policy of ‘Vietnamization,’ code for America’s unilateral withdrawal from Vietnam. Peace was being negotiated in Paris and the government in Hanoi was committed, but in its own way by keeping up the military pressure up because they felt victory was close at hand. By March 1972 , the NVA crossed the demilitarized zone and captured Quang Tri in the north. President Nixon responded with the Linebacker I air offensive where B-52s bombed targets over the lower reaches of North Vietnam. The sudden ramp-up of violence sobered the North Vietnamese negotiators in Paris and they drew up a cease fire plan. However, the president of South Vietnam rejected the plan and many people in the Pentagon were wary as well. Colonel Secord offered his superiors that the agreement had no penalties for North Vietnamese violations and no punitive consequences existed in case of a later invasion of the south.

  In October, Secord’s team was asked to prepare a talking paper that outlined plans to widely expand the air war, to be delivered by Laird to the President. The group was a proponent for the expanded use of the B-52s. Unfortunately, the Joint Chiefs didn’t like the proposal, especially the Air Force. It was a classic Catch-22 situation. The North Vietnamese had sophisticated Soviet SA-2s and if the B-52s used their electronic counter-measures equipment to protect themselves against the SA-2s, it would also tip off the Soviets that the US had the capability.

  In mid-December, Secord was told to dust off the plan; the SECDEF and President decided, due to the stalled Paris peace talks, they would try it. Secord’s team drafted the initial order, “Commencing on 18 December and continue until further directed, you will make maximum effort utilizing all assets currently assigned, including B-52s and naval aircraft, to attack the following targets, which are validated for strike within 48-hour period herewith. Further orders to follow.”
  Some senior officers on the staff had trouble with the meaning of ‘maximum effort.’ Secord explained, “Sir, it means, Engage the enemy with both hands, kick him in the ass, and get this damned war over with…”

  

  As history has been written, Linebacker II or the “Twelve Days of Christmas” bombing campaign worked and Hanoi sued for peace. The US lost multiple B-52s and other aircraft, but the war was over with the Paris Peace Treaty signed in January 1973, followed by the rapid release of American POWs, some held for eight years.

  In the spring of 1973, the OSD staff was being downsized and Colonel Secord interviewed for a job in the Defense Security Assistance Agency (DSAA). DSAA is a little known agency that was responsible for implementing America’s arms transfers to over 70 countries worldwide. During that time, Secord helped resupply the Israelis during the 1973 Yom Kippur War with badly needed ordnance, allowing the Israeli Defense Force to ultimately prevail.

  Secord was sent to Iran with two 3-star generals to conduct a low key investigation of a program called Project Peace Crown, a multi-million dollar, developmental air-defense system for the Shah that had run into unexpected troubles. The team helped smooth the feathers of the Iranians and the contractors to keep the program going.

  In March 1975, Colonel Secord was selected as the deputy commander for operations with the 29th Flying Training Wing at Craig AFB AL. The wing flew T-37s and T-38s and he flew both aircraft types, regularly. Several months later, the wing commander took emergency leave and left Colonel Secord temporally in command and faced with a short-notice IG inspection on the base.

  As the IG team settled in, Colonel Secord was told to report to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, General David Jones, the next day, because he was being considered for a high-level assignment in Iran. The position in the Air Force MAAG was a brigadier general’s billet and ten days later the Chairman picked Secord for the job.

  In September 1975, Secord returned to Iran as the Chief, Air Force Section, Military Assistance Advisory Group and was the chief advisor to the commander of the Iranian air force. He managed all the Air Force programs for Iran, which were considerable, as well as some Army and Navy security assistance programs.

  After three tough, but productive years, General Secord departed Iran. It was bittersweet after working with the Iranians at the highest levels and in close cooperation with the Near East intelligence community developing many friends. While there he worked a multitude of programs such as I-Hawk missile project and the equipment for the Iranian F-14s. The job was made easier because of the rapport he had with the many Iranian officers he met on previous assignments. By the fall of 1978, the Shah was beginning to have problems with his health and with religious factions when the name Ayatollah Khomeini first came to the fore, sadly it wouldn’t be the last.

  Secord returned to the US in July 1978 and was appointed director of military assistance and sales, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff, Logistics and Engineering at Headquarters Air Force. He and his staff managed several hundred billion dollars worth of defense programs in 60 different countries. In those years, all total the USAF international programs were comparable to the sales volumes of General Motors and Ford combined…exceeding the gross national product of many countries. One of the main duties was to look into each contract submission and disassemble the data to determine reasonableness and what the program should cost.

  In 1979, after President Carter negotiated the Camp David Peace Accord between Egypt and Israel. Secord was sent to Cairo to assist the Egyptian high command allocate its first US foreign military sales credits. This was a tangible reward for President Sadat doing the right thing by settling some old disputes with Israel. The highest priority was getting the first F-4 squadron in place and ready to fly.

  Late in the Carter administration, General Secord was tasked to work with the Saudis on a planned $7 billion sale of the several AWACS aircraft. There were many sides to the issue, but probably the most sensitive one was the reaction of the Israelis and pro-Israel lobby in the US. Maj Gen Jim Ahmann and Secord met with Prince Bandar, the Saudi air attache and future ambassador to the US, to work out the language and other particulars of the deal. It was a delicate process just before the 1980 election because they didn’t know what a possible new administration might think about the terms or even the willingness to sell the systems to Saudi Arabia.

  Just after President Reagan’s inauguration in January 1981, the Air Force Chief of Staff told General Secord, he was being transferred to OSD under the new Secretary of Defense, Caspar Weinberger, because of his familiarity with the AWACS program. This was a surprise because acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Near East, Africa, and South Asia was normally a political appointment and it never had an active duty military officer in that seat. In April 1981, the temporary assignment was made permanent and as such, General Secord held two US government commissions: one as an active duty officer and the other as a political appointee.

  Major General Secord jumped at the opportunity and was excited to blaze a new trail. Secord’s direct boss was Bing West, the Assistant Secretary of Defense-ISA, but on the issue of working with the Saudis and Israelis, Secord reported directly to Caspar Weinberger and his deputy, Frank Carlucci. There were many political and legislative issues with the AWACS sale, far too many to discuss in this work, but Secord’s early respect for Weinberger grew to admiration because of his strong principles and willingness to stand behind them. Ultimately, after many arguments and bruised egos, the AWACS sale passed the Senate, 52-48 in October 1981.

  General Secord’s last campaign in uniform came in April 1983, when he led an effort to sell F-16s to Pakistan. The deal raised a lot of ire on multiple fronts, including the Air Force because of the AN/ALR-69 radar warning receiver on the F-16s. The US used the same equipment and there was much back and forth about giving away secrets. After weeks of handwringing and appearances before a congressional committee, General Secord informed the committee that the same system microprocessor used for the ALR-69 was already a part of the ground-based intercept radar previously sold to Pakistan.

  General Secord made multiple visits to Congress to provide testimony on the deal. The last visit was particularly acrimonious and finally Secord informed the chairman of the hearings, “These hearings are at an end” and walked out without looking back. Ultimately, F-16s were sold to Pakistan.

  Major General Richard V. Secord’s retirement ceremony was held in May 1983, in the Secretary of Defense’s conference room, officiated by Caspar Weinberger himself. The Secretary commended General Secord for his tireless efforts and presented him with his second Defense Distinguished Service Medal, the highest peacetime award the department can offer a military man. General Secord’s first DDSM was authorized by President Reagan for, “Service above and beyond the strict call of duty” during the aforementioned AWACS battle. When the small quiet ceremony was finished, General Richard Secord’s 32 years in uniform quietly came to an end.

  After his business career, General Secord also made huge contributions in his various roles in the Air Commando Association. In 1969, then Colonel Aderholt stood up the ACA. Aderholt and Secord’s careers intersected several times from the early 1960s on and as a result, General Secord became a very close confidant to Heinie and even served as the executor of his will.

  In July of 2010, General Secord was the Vice President of the organization and when the president, CMSgt Chuck Keeler, suddenly passed away, General Secord stepped in to become the president of the ACA serving in that role until 2014. At that point, General Secord was voted to be the first Chairman of the Board as the association continued to evolve and move forward with the times.

  In his role as president and later, chairman of the board, General Secord led the organization through one of its most turbulent times. It was during this period that the ACA transformed itself from a primarily fraternal organization to one that truly serves Air Commandos and their families past, present, and future. As the Association started this reinvention there were many long-time, senior members that were not keen to see the changes. General Secord had the bona fides as one of the original members to stave off even the most ardent nay sayers and moved the Association forward. It was during this period that ACA published the first, now highly renowned, Air Commando Journal, and even more importantly, established the philanthropic arm of the ACA in the form of the Air Commando Foundation. The Foundation helps Air Commandos, past and present, financially in times of great stress and need. Further, the ACA actively reached out and embraced the active duty Air Commandos with various award and recognition programs, thus ensuring that ACA survived and took a forward looking posture as well as honoring the past. For his leadership during the transition forward, the ACA and all Air Commandos owe General Secord a huge debt of gratitude.

  Note: the source for this article is, Honored and Betrayed by Richard V. Secord with Charles J. Wurts (Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc, 1992). A large portion of the text is used and/or excerpted from the book in order to accurately detail General Secord’s military career. I highly recommend the book to those interested for more in-depth detail of the general’s military and business careers.

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  About the author: Colonel Harmon retired from the USAF in 2010 after 30 years of service. He held several command positions in operations and training, and served three tours as the Director, Special Operations Liaison Element in Central Command’s Combined Air Operations Center during Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom.

• ► Obituary of Richard Secord

  Major General Richard Vernon Secord, a legendary combat aviator, distinguished leader, and brilliant military strategist, passed away on October 15, 2024, at the age of 92. General Secord’s military career spanned more than three decades and included pivotal roles in the Vietnam War, Laos, Central Intelligence Agency, and U.S. strategic efforts in pre-revolution Iran. Known for his leadership and innovation in special operations, he was an early member of the Air Commandos, the U.S. Air Force’s elite special operations unit. He was subsequently awarded the US Special Operations Command Medal in 2007 for his outstanding contributions to, and in support of, special operations.

  Born in 1932 in LaRue, Ohio, General Secord graduated from The United States Military Academy at West Point in 1955. Upon graduation, General Secord was sworn in as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Air Force by then Captain Alexander Haig. General Secord began a remarkable career that would span over the next three decades and was involved in some of the most challenging and high-stakes operations of the 20th century. His introduction into special operations began when 1st Lieutenant Secord volunteered as a member of the famed 4400th Combat Crew Training Squadron executing Operation Jungle Jim in Vietnam. Later, he led air operations in support of the Ban Naden raid, the only successful POW rescue during the war. As a Colonel, he developed plans for the famous Vietnam air campaign later designated Operation Linebacker II, the largest US bombing campaign since World War II which arguably forced North Vietnamese officials back into peace talks in 1972.

  Most notably, General Secord’s involvement in Iran is where he gained the most notoriety. In 1963, General Secord was sent to Iran for the first of many assignments there to assist Shah Mohammad Rezi Pahlavi secure the northwestern border against a Kurdish insurrection. His final tour in Iran was in 1975 for three years where he paved the way for Iranian I-Hawk and F-14 procurement and development. He departed Iran with his family in 1978 before the Iranian Revolution of 1979.

  Major General Secord’s retirement was in May 1983, and was officiated by Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger. He was presented a Defense Distinguished Service Medal, the highest non-combat related military award and the highest joint service decoration. The Defense Distinguished Service Medal is normally awarded to the most senior officers such as the Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff or Chiefs of military services. This was General Secord’s second. Major General Richard Secord’s 32 years of faithful and dedicated service came to an end. However, his actions and involvement in many world events continue to resonate and exist today on the modern battlefield and in global affairs.

  Perhaps General Secord’s greatest accomplishment was his 62-year marriage to the love of his life, Jo Ann. Jo Ann stood faithfully by General Secord throughout every twist and turn of his career and was a formidable presence in her own right. Jo Ann preceded him in death on January 7th, 2024. Together, they have three children: Julie, Laura, and John; eight grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.

  As we remember Major General Richard Secord, we celebrate a life dedicated to duty, honor, and country. His contributions to the United States Air Force and the nation will leave an enduring legacy for generations to come. His profound impact on the military community and his unwavering commitment to service will not be forgotten.

  Celebration of Life and Burial Details to follow. Please direct all inquiries to Verne Speirs, Family Representative, at 850 270-3331.

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  Courtesy of the Northwest Florida Daily News https://www.nwfdailynews.com/obituaries/psar0982906

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