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T-Tail-Tall-Tail:
Kondra For Commander
Dick Swetnam
Those of you who flew the MAC system in the late
seventies may have
noticed "Kondra for Commander" bumper stickers
throughout the world, and
wondered what they were. Now that almost thirty
years have passed, and any
statute of limitations has expired, it can be
explained.
The 8th MAS at McChord had a vacancy at
squadron commander. We had
an officer in our squadron who was very well-liked
and respected by all:Lt Col Vernon Kondra. We felt that a little name
recognition wouldn't hurt, so we
had the stickers printed up. Our crews then traveled
the world "distributing"
the stickers.
I know they showed up at locations such as on crew
busses at Yokota, power
units in Singapore, and ski lifts in Washington
state, just to name a few.
Did we help or hurt his career? We'll never know for
sure, but Lt Col Kondra
became our squadron commander. He later became
Lieutenant General Kondra,
commander of MAC's 21st Air Force.
I was an aircraft commander in the 8th
under his command. I've never
had a better boss, before or since.