AFTON — East Union Community School has announced the late Ronald D. Long is its 2015 inductee into the school’s Wall of Fame. Long is the 22nd person to be recognized in this fashion since the program was established during the 2002-03 school year. His selection was announced by Dr. Pamela Vogel, East Union superintendent, at the East Union commencement ceremony May 17.
Ronald D. Long graduated from Arispe High School in 1950. He attended Tarkio College in Missouri, until enlisting in the U.S. Air Force in January 1952. He went through the cadet flying program, received his wings, and was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant on May 1, 1953.
On Aug.10, 1953, Long became a member of the Mach Busters Club by exceeding the speed of sound in an Air Force F-89 sabre jet. The next month he was assigned to a Fighter Squadron at Scott AFB in Illinois.
In December of 1953, Long married Carol Ann Immel of Adair. Over the years, two daughters, Terri and Sheryl, were born to that marriage.
Long survived an airplane accident at Scott on June 24, 1954. The T-33 he was flying lost power on take-off and crashed at the end of the runway, bursting into flames. He suffered severe burns and spent the next two months in the base hospital, but he returned to flying in September.
In 1956, Long was released from active duty and joined an Air Force Reserve unit in Des Moines. As a civilian, he began work first as a company pilot and field geologist for a rock products company in Greenfield, and then moved to Creston to work for an insurance company. Long transferred from the Reserves to the Iowa Air National Guard’s 124th Fighter Squadron and began flying the T-33 again. The family moved to Norwalk to be near the Guard headquarters at the Des Moines airport.
From June 1965 to February 1987, Long was a full-time flying instructor-technician with the Air National Guard. During these years, he had many deployments and several tours of duty. In preparation for these, he attended many schools; among them were Nuclear Safety School, University of California Safety Course, Squadron Officers Course, and the Air Force Command and Staff College. Some of the positions he held were Operations Officer, Squadron Commander and Director of Wing Safety. As a Command Pilot he accumulated 6,800 hours of flying time on 16 types of military aircraft.
Long made many foreign country trips to Canada, Spain, Germany, Panama, England and Turkey. One of the more interesting was in 1972, in an exercise call “Cornet East.” He was one of three Des Moines Guard pilots to fly F-100’s from storage in Tucson, Ariz., to Eskisehir, Turkey, to be delivered to the Turkish Air Force. The flight took 12.6 hours flying time, with 12 refuelings en route. In another, in 1979, Long was deployed to Waddington Royal Air Force Base near Lincolnshire, England, where they took 18 A-7D aircraft and 350 Guardsmen in an exercise to demonstrate the unit’s ability to support the U.S. Air Force in Europe.
Long served as president of the Iowa National Guard Officers Association in 1983-84. He retired from the Air National Guard in 1987, as a Lieutenant Colonel after 35 years in the Air Force, Air Force Reserve and Iowa Air National Guard.
Long was a member of the Silver Squadron and American Legion. He was also a member of the Peace Lutheran Church in Des Moines, where he served as director and as an elder.
Long died suddenly on May 17, 2013.