John R . Lasater John Roger Lasater ( born December 8 , 1931 ) is a retired U . S . Air Force Brigadier General who served as a deputy assistant secretary of defense for European and North Atlantic Treaty Organization policy , the principal director for European and North Atlantic Treaty Organization policy , Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Policy , and as commander of the Strategic Air Command ' s 4th Air Division at Francis E . Warren Air Force Base , Wyoming . After his retirement from the Air Force in 1983 , Lasater served as a general authority of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter - day Saints ( LDS Church ) from 1987 to 1992 . Background and education . Lasater was born in Farmington , Utah . He grew up in the Ogden , Utah area , graduating from Weber County High School in Ogden , and attended Brigham Young University , Provo , Utah . He graduated from the University of Omaha , Nebraska , with a bachelor ' s degree in political science in 1966 , and earned his Master ' s Degree from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles , California in 1970 . He completed Squadron Officer School in 1966 and graduated from the National War College , Fort Lesley J . McNair , Washington , D . C . , in 1974 . Military assignments . He enlisted in the U . S . Air Force in March 1952 and received his commission as a second lieutenant through the Air Force Officers ' Candidate School at Lackland Air Force Base , Texas , in March 1957 . His first operational flying assignment was in November 1958 with the 93rd Fighter - Interceptor Squadron at Kirtland Air Force Base , N . M . In July 1960 he joined the 751st Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron at Mount Laguna Air Force Station , Calif . , where he remained until December 1961 . Lasater began service in Southeast Asia in May 1967 where he flew RF - 4C ' s with the 16th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron , Tan Son Nhut Air Base , Republic of Vietnam . While there he completed 221 combat missions , 100 over North Vietnam , and compiled 485 combat hours . Following his Viet - nam service he served in Europe ( Great Britain and West Germany ) in both tactical reconnaissance and tactical fighter units . After graduation from the U . S . National War College in June 1974 he served as a special assistant for joint matters and chairman of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Initiatives and Action Group in the Directorate of Plans and Policy , Headquarters U . S . Air Force , Washington , D . C . While in this position , he also served , beginning in March 1975 , as chief of the Europe / North Atlantic Treaty Organization Division within the directorate . In April 1976 General Lasater was assigned as executive assistant to the deputy commander in chief , U . S . European Command , Stuttgart - Vaihingen , Germany . From June 1978 to June 1979 , he served as commander of the Strategic Air Command ' s 4th Air Division at Francis E . Warren Air Force Base , Wyo . In addition to the 90th Strategic Missile Wing at Warren , the division included the 44th Strategic Missile Wing ; the 28th Bombardment Wing at Ellsworth Air Force Base , S . D . ; and the 55th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing at Offutt Air Force Base , Neb . General Lasater returned to Washington , D . C . , as the senior military adviser to the U . S . Arms Control and Disarmament Agency of the State Department . He was also the acting U . S . Commissioner to the 19th and 20th U . S . and Union of Soviet Socialists Republics Standing Consultative commissions . Church service . General authority . In 1987 , Lasater was called to serve as a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy . His assignments while a member of the Seventy included President of the North America Southeast Area and second counselor in the Europe Area Presidency . Other church assignments . Prior to his retirement from the Air Force , Lasater served as a stake president over the Serviceman ' s Stake ( Europe ) , effectively the spiritual leader of all American Latter - day Saint servicemen in Europe , all while serving as the executive assistant to the deputy commander in chief , U . S . European Command , in Stuttgart , Germany . After serving in this capacity for some time , he was released in 1976 and was called as a Regional Representative of the Twelve , until being reassigned to the Pentagon by the U . S . Air Force . After retirement from the Air Force , Lasater was called to serve for three years as a mission president , presiding over the New Zealand Auckland Mission . Family . Lasater married the former Marilyn Jones of Samaria , Idaho . They are the parents of four daughters — Mary Lynn , Leslie Ann , Melanie , and Carolyn — and a son , Garth .