Lt. general (ret) John B. Conaway is chairman/ceo of the Conaway group llc. His company does defense and information technology consulting. He is author of the book, “Call Out the Guard”. He is chairman of the board of the National Guard youth foundation. He serves on the National Guard Educational Foundation; the Air Force Historical Foundation; board of trustees of the University of Evansville; and several corporation boards.
Born in Henderson, KY, after graduating from Bosse H.S. in Evansville, he graduated from the University of Evansville in 1956 and was commissioned a Second Lt. in the USAF. He received his masters from Webster University in St. Louis, mo. He graduated from USAF pilot training in 1957. He joined the WVANG in 1960 and later the Kentucky ANG in 1963. He was activated in the Pueblo Crisis in 1968 with the KYANG and flew missions in Korea and Central America. He became air commander of the 123rd Tactical Reconnaissance Wing in 1972 and Vice Commander of the wing in 1975.
In 1977 he was promoted to Brigadier General and became the deputy director of the ang at the National Guard Bureau in the pentagon. In 1981 he was promoted to Major General and became director, Air National Guard. He served two terms in this capacity and in 1988 became the first Vice Chief, National Guard Bureau. In January 1990 he was promoted to Lt. General and became Chief, National Guard Bureau. He served in this capacity until his retirement in December 1993. During his tenure at the Pentagon, he led the Air National Guard to strength levels of 108,000 and they became the most modernized and combat ready of any reser ve component. As chief, National Guard Bureau, General Conaway mobilized o ver 80,000 guardsmen and women for Desert Shield and Desert Storm.
He had Oversight over 575,000 men and women during his tenure. He has o ver 8,500 flying hours, mostly in fighters. General Conaway is married to the former Linda K. Narca Vage of Mount Carmel, Pa. He has four children, Ellen, David, Daniel, and Bolyn. They have six grandsons. They reside in Bethany Beach, Delaware.
