John B . Conaway Lieutenant General John B . Conaway ( born August 23 , 1934 ) is a retired U . S . Air Force officer who served as the Chief of the National Guard Bureau in Washington , D . C . from 1990 to 1993 . Early life . John B . Conaway was born in Henderson , Kentucky on August 23 , 1934 . He graduated from Bosse High School in Evansville , Indiana in 1952 , earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the University of Evansville in 1956 , and joined the Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity . Start of military career . While attending the University of Evansville , General Conaway entered the Reserve Officer Training Corps program and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U . S . Air Force in June 1956 . After completing basic pilot training at Greenville Air Force Base , Mississippi , in 1957 , he attended advanced combat crew training at Perrin Air Force Base , Texas , graduating in 1958 . His next assignments were as an F - 102 fighter - interceptor pilot in the Air Defense Command at K . I . Sawyer Air Force Base and Kincheloe Air Force Base , Michigan . In 1960 , Conaway joined the West Virginia Air National Guard as an SA - 16 pilot , flying a special forces operations mission . In 1963 , he transferred to the Kentucky Air National Guard ' s 123rd Tactical Reconnaissance Wing as an RB - 57 pilot . In 1965 he became a training instructor flying RF - 101s . Conaway was called to active duty with the Kentucky Air National Guard in January 1968 and served in Alaska , Panama , Japan and South Korea . Upon deactivation in June 1969 , he returned to the Kentucky Air National Guard as operations officer . In 1972 , Conaway was appointed Air Commander of the Kentucky Air National Guard . In December 1974 , he was appointed vice commander of the 123rd Tactical Reconnaissance Wing , which had units in Kentucky , Arkansas , Nevada and Idaho . Other assignments included serving as the 123rd ' s director of operations , chief of safety , chief of standardization and evaluation , group commander , group deputy commander for operations , and squadron operations officer . Conaway continued graduate work at the University of Louisville School of Business and the University of Kentucky School of Business . In 1975 , he earned a Master ' s Degree in management and human relations from Webster University . He graduated from the Air Force Commander ' s Safety School in 1969 , Air Command and Staff College in 1971 , Air University Commander ' s School in 1972 and the Industrial College of the Armed Forces in 1973 . National Guard Bureau . Conaway was appointed Deputy Director of the Air National Guard in April , 1977 . In April , 1981 he was advanced to Director of the Air National Guard . In July , 1988 Conaway was appointed Vice Chief of the National Guard Bureau . He served until February , 1990 , when he was appointed as Chief of the National Guard Bureau and promoted to Lieutenant General . Conaway served as Chief of the National Guard Bureau until retiring on November 30 , 1993 . Retirement . Conaway currently operates a consulting company , The Conaway Group . In 1989 he was elected to the University of Evansville Board of Trustees , and he became a Life Trustee in 2007 . He has also remained active in civic causes , including serving as Chairman of the Board for the National Guard Youth Foundation . In 1997 Conaway authored " Call Out the Guard : The Story of Lieutenant General John B . Conaway and the Modern Day National Guard " . Pilot qualifications . Conaway is a command pilot with more than 6 , 500 flying hours in the : Awards and decorations . Conaway ' s military awards and decorations include the :