Click to enlarge Colonel John Colombo congratulates Major Dave Leard during his retirement ceremony. Leard, a 1981 Sherman High graduate, retired from the U.S. Air Force after a 23-year career.

By JOYCE GODWIN

Herald Democrat

Major David M. Leard has been a stellar example of the excellent people who start out in Grayson County. A Sherman native, Leard has recently retired from his U.S. Air Force career dotted with lofty achievements through 23 years of service.

Leard grew up in a military family. His father, Sgt. Maj. Benny H. Leard, now deceased, retired from the U.S. Army in 1969 with 23 years of service. The elder Leard also had the distinction to lead the 24th Infantry, 13th Artillery Battalion in a 50-gun salute at Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower's April 1969 memorial a few months before his retirement.

David Leard's mother Gisela R. Leard, a native of Germany, also has a history with the U.S. Army. During World War II, Gen. George S. Patton's Third Army briefly occupied, as a temporary field headquarters, her home in Germany where she lived with her parents. They also hosted Gen. Eisenhower for a brief visit. Gisela met and married Benny Leard close to the end of World War II. David Leard reports his mother has been a U.S. citizen for more than 50 years.

When asked about his inspiration for joining the military, he explained how his brother-in-law at the time was enrolled in the Reserve Officer Training Corps program at East Texas State in 1983-84. "He was also a private pilot as am I," Leard said. "He took me flying one day and it was game on. I knew I had to do it."

A 1981 Sherman High School graduate, Leard attended Grayson County College until he was accepted into the ROTC program at East Texas State University in Commerce. He graduated from the program after two years and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force.

"My father was very proud and attended all of my military functions while in ROTC, and he attended them in uniform even though he retired in 1969," Leard said.

David Leard earned a master's degree in management from Troy University in May 2006. Leard said, he earned his qualification and wings as an air weapons director and air surveillance officer in the E-3 Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System. He explained that the E-3 Sentry is a highly modified Boeing 707 aircraft designed to detect, classify and identify aircraft in flight.

As a second lieutenant, Leard found himself routinely deployed with the E-3 Sentry. His more notable deployments, he said, came while assigned to the 964 Airborne Warning and Control Squadron. He went to Keflavik Iceland to monitor Russian Bear Bomber activity between the Soviet Union and Cuba, and to Riyadh Air Base, Saudi Arabia where he flew combat missions during the Iran-Iraq war.

Leard described the combat mission he remembers as the most frightening. He said he was directly over Bosnia in 1997 when his plane developed a mechanical problem. Ironically, it was one for which the Boeing 707 was known to develop, he said.

"We had a rudder yaw dampener malfunction which causes uncommanded inputs to the aircraft's extremely large rudder, which in turn, causes the aircraft to uncontrollably "slice" through the air," Leard said. "At 35,000 feet, the air is very thin which means very thin air passes over the rudder. After several minutes of slicing through the air and losing about 10,000 feet in altitude, we were able to regain control of the aircraft, declare an emergency and return to Rhein Mein Air Base, Germany for an uneventful landing. I thought we were going to crash in the mountains in Bosnia."

In 1990 Leard deployed to Saudi Arabia "to take part in the largest combat force mobilization in history," Leard said. "This operation would later be named Desert Shield/Storm and for the next several months we flew combat missions in direct support of ousting Saddam Hussein's army from Kuwait."

As a captain in 1993, Leard volunteered for reassignment and became Operations Flight Commander, 728 Air Control Squadron, Eglin AFB Florida. The 728 was a ground mobile radar air control system designed to deploy to remote areas providing low-level radar coverage while augmenting airborne surveillance systems. Leard was also selected as detachment commander during several counter-narcotics deployments to the Caribbean and South America.

He was reassignment to the 93rd Air Control Wing at Robins AFB Georgia in 1995. It was part of the initial cadre for the new Joint Strategic Target Attack Radar System. Leard said the JSTARS is a highly modified Boeing 707 aircraft designed to detect, classify and identify vehicles on the ground.

He said he was part of the first Air Force Reserve presidential "call up" for the 970 Air Control Squadron in May 1999 to participate in combat operations in Northern Iraq and Afghanistan. He was promoted to Major in October 1999.

He went back to Kuwait in 2003 as the deployed operations officer during Operation Northern Watch. Leard was responsible for integrating Kuwait helicopter and fighter aircraft in to the coalition air tasking plan in preparation for possible combat operations resulting from the 9/11 attacks.

He said he and his six-person team were in place at the Kuwait Air Operations Center when major combat operations began March 19, 2003 which started Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Leard led his crew through dozens of Iraqi missile attacks in a hostile desert environment.

Leard was reassigned in 2003 to perform perform mission crew commander duties at both the Western and Northeastern air defense sectors which are responsible for the aerial surveillance of the Continental United States and North America. He led his 12-person surveillance team to conduct alert fighter intercepts on dozens of unknown aircraft ensuring U.S. air sovereignty, the protection of the White House and the President himself.

Some of the awards Leard earned during his career are the Kuwait Liberation Medal, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Country of Kuwait, and the Aerial Achievement Medal for his sustained aerial achievements during Desert Shield/Storm; NATO Medal for his actions during Operation Joint Endeavor, the prestigious Joint Service Commendation Medal for his actions during Iraqi Freedom, the Louisiana Emergency Service Medal for his service during Humanitarian Relief Operations during the devastating hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Gustav and Ike;

Maj. Leard was flanked by family and very close friends for his retirement ceremony in August at Tyndall AFB, Fla. He said he feels he's "led a very successful and fulfilling career and it was his privilege to serve with and for all great Americans."

Leard says his next venture is to attend culinary school in the Washington DC area and eventually become a certified chef.