Museum Lecture Series

Space pioneers share their experiences during a presentation titled “The Dorian Files Revealed: The Manned Orbiting Laboratory Crew Members’ Secret Mission in Space.” During the presentation, the National Reconnaissance Office revealed information about recently declassified elements of the program.

Former test pilot Paul Metz discusses the evolution of the F-22 Raptor, tracing the military, geo-political and technical forces that drove the more than 30-year search for an Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF).

Air Force Special Operations Command historian Herbert A. Mason Jr. discusses the "Contributions USAF Special Operations Forces Have Made to the Development of Air and Space Power, 1942 to 2012."

Retired Col. Gaillard R. Peck Jr. addresses the 10-year period that the U.S. Air Force secretly trained Air Force, Navy and Marine fighter aircrews in an advanced joint training program against actual Soviet MiG jet fighters.

Retired Maj. Gen. John Borling shares his experiences as a prisoner of war, along with the poetry and prose he composed and memorized.

Col. Robert A. Strasser and Lt. Col. Tay W. Johannes discuss experiences in building the Afghan Air Force, including resources, organizational interactions, mission objectives and how historical events have influenced decision making.

Phil Pressel discusses the last orbiting reconnaissance camera that used film for photography and how it played an important part in U.S. intelligence and aerospace history.

Dr. Squire L. Brown discusses the museum’s Research & Development Gallery, which exhibits a unique collection of aircraft that challenged the imagination and pushed the boundaries of flight.

Dr. David K. Stumpf gives an overview of the Titan II program, culminating in a discussion of just how close a Soviet weapon would have had to come to incapacitate the silo.

Retired Col. Joseph Sweeney, the son of Bockscar pilot Gen. Charles Sweeney who was at the controls when the aircraft dropped the bomb on Aug. 9, 1945, will speak about his father and World War II.

Six-time “Military Photographer of the Year” Master Sgt. Jeremy T. Lock discusses how he became a photojournalist in the Air Force and where it has taken him, what military photojournalists do, his latest projects and where photojournalism is going in the future.

Dogster.com editor/writer Maria Goodavage discusses the four-legged heroes who serve our country, what they bring to the fight, how they do it and the deep bonds they form with those who work with them.

Dutch Van Kirk, the navigator from the B-29 Enola Gay, the aircraft that dropped the world's first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, gives a first-hand perspective of one of World War II's most famous missions.

Former NASA astronaut and retired Air Force colonel David R. Scott talks about his three space missions: Gemini VIII, Apollo 9 and Apollo 15.

Learn about the Gambit 1 KH-7, Gambit 3 KH-8 and Hexagon KH-9 reconnaissance satellites during this presentation by CIA officers Dr. Robert A. McDonald and Dr. James D. Outzen.

(Ret.) Col. Mark W. Tillman, the nation’s 12th presidential pilot, gives a first-hand account of remarkable moments in history with his experience as pilot and commander of Air Force One from 2001-2009.

Dr. Daniel L. Haulman, an historian with Air Force Historical Research Agency, discusses the Tuskegee Airmen, who were for decades virtually ignored in American military history and have since become very famous, culminating in early 2007 with the awarding of the Congressional Gold Medal.

Lt. Col. Deborah Lehker speaks about her deployment to Kandahar, Afghanistan, as a Critical Care Air Transport Team (CCATT) nurse and the goal of enhancing patient care.

Dr. Kenneth P. Werrell discusses the Korean War, which saw the first and largest jet-versus-jet fighter conflict of all time. Despite many disadvantages, American pilots won an overwhelming victory, which was critical in the outcome of the war.

Lt. Col. (Ret.) John Bessette, who flew as a navigator and served in air refueling, airlift and gunship assignments, presents “Covert Air Reconnaissance in Europe: USAFE Operations, 1946-1990.”