Dayton, Ohio
Oct. 2, 2003

The incredible story of the influence of air power from French Balloons to the present wars in the Middle East is brought to life when New York Times best-selling author Walter J. Boyne speaks at the U.S. Air Force Museum on October 15 at 7:30 p.m.

Currently serving as the President of Walter Boyne Associates, Mr. Boyne will focus on the great wars in which air power moved from the periphery to the center of importance by not only influencing warfare, but politics, economics and a social revolution.

A career Air Force officer, Boyne retired as a Colonel with 5,000 flying hours in everything from a T-6 to the B-1B. Upon his retirement in 1974, he joined the National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution and served as its Director from 1983 to 1986. After his retirement from the National Air and Space Museum in 1986, he began a third career of writing and consulting. In November 1989, he returned for a brief tour of duty to fly the B-1B bomber. His fourth career, in television, began seven years ago when Mr. Boyne co-founded Wingspan the Aviation Channel, of which he was Chairman of the Board.

The author of 42 books published in nine countries, Mr. Boyne is one of the few persons to have had best sellers on both the fiction and non-fiction list of the New York Times. He has also hosted and narrated his Beyond the Wild Blue: A History of the United States Air Force, in a five part television series for the History Channel, and his Clash of Wings: World War II in the Air, in a thirteen part series for PBS.

Mr. Boyne's lecture, "It's the Influence of Air Power-Not the Decisiveness-That Counts," is part of the Museum's "Wings and Things" lecture series. Doors open at 6:30 p.m., and the lecture will be held in the Museum's Carney Auditorium. For more information, or for special seating arrangements (hearing impaired), contact the Museum's Special Events Office at (937) 255-8046, ext. 312 or visit http://www.wpafb.af.mil/museum. Filming or videotaping the lecture is not permitted.

The U.S. Air Force Museum is located on Springfield Pike, six miles northeast of downtown Dayton. It is open seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (closed Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day). Admission and parking are free.

NOTE TO MEDIA: For more information, contact the U.S. Air Force Museum's Public Affairs Division at (937) 255-4704, ext. 330.

United States Air Force Museum
Public Affairs Division
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio 45433-7102
(937) 255-3286

Public: Call (937) 255-8046, ext. 312
Media: Rob Bardua (937) 255-4704, ext. 330