Walter J. Boyne

Walter J. Boyne
Pilot Walter Boyne in the 1950s
Born	(1929-02-02) February 2, 1929 (age 87)
Allegiance	United States of America
Service/branch	United States Air Force
Years of service	1951–1974 (23 years)
Rank	Colonel
Commands held	635th Services Squadron
Other work	Museum Director Author

Walter J. Boyne (born 1929) is a retired United States Air Force officer, Command Pilot, combat veteran, aviation historian, and author of more than 50 books and over 1,000 magazine articles. He is a former director of the National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution and a former Chairman of the National Aeronautic Association.

Walter Boyne grew up the son of a poor family in East Saint Louis, Illinois during the time of the Great Depression. He attended Holy Angels grade school where he first discovered an interest in writing. His love of flying was encouraged by dime novels of the day such as Robert J. Hogan's G-8 and His Battle Aces that depicted "America's World War I Flying Spy" engaged in air-to-air combat. He decided at this young age that he would become a pilot for the Air Force and focused his efforts to achieve that goal. Boyne earned a number of scholarships that enabled him to attend Washington University in St. Louis.

In May 1951, after two years at the university, Boyne entered the U.S. Air Force's Aviation Cadet program, where he learned a profound respect for the enlisted grades of the military. Boyne started flight school in November 1951 and became the first of his class to solo. On December 19, 1952 he was awarded his wings as an Air Force Pilot and a commission as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Air Force.

While stationed at Castle Air Force Base in central California, Boyne flew the B-50 Superfortress as a member of the 330th Bomb Squadron of the 93rd Bomb Wing. Although Boyne had relatively few hours in bombers, he received orders in May 1954 to McConnell Air Force Base in Wichita, Kansas for training in the B-47 Stratojet, which he flew for several years. In 1957, he returned to college and graduated with honors from the University of California, Berkeley with a bachelor's degree in business administration. Boyne continued his education and later earned a master's degree in business administration from the University of Pittsburgh.