About Donald Kutyna
General Donald Joseph Kutyna (; born December 6, 1933) is a retired United States Air Force officer. He was commander in chief of the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and the United States Space Command from 1990 to 1992, and commander of Air Force Space Command at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado from 1987 to 1990. == Early years in the Air Force == Kutyna attended the University of Iowa for two years and was appointed to the United States Military Academy, graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in the Class of 1957. Upon completing pilot training at Vance Air Force Base, Oklahoma, in September 1958, Kutyna was assigned to the 33rd Bombardment Squadron at March Air Force Base, California, serving as a B-47 combat crew commander until June 1963. In June 1965, Kutyna graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a Master of Science degree in aeronautics and astronautics. Afterwards he was assigned to the Aerospace Research Pilot School, Edwards Air Force Base, California, first as a student and then as a staff director, training test pilots, and astronauts for United States aviation and space programs. From December 1969 to January 1971, Kutyna served a combat tour of duty with the 44th Tactical Fighter Squadron at Takhli Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand, completing 120 combat missions in the F-105 tactical fighter. Of Polish ancestry and as a pun on the glide characteristics of the F-105, Kutyna named the aircraft he flew in combat as "The Polish Glider". That aircraft is now in the Polish Aviation Museum in Kraków, Poland; various model kits of it have been manufactured. Upon his return from Southeast Asia, Kutyna was assigned to Headquarters United States Air Force, Washington, D.C., as a development planner in the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Research and Development.
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