General Philip Conley is a LaSalle Academy alumnus and a 1950 Naval Academy graduate who grew up in West Warwick and flew combat missions in Korea and Vietnam. He earned a Distinguished Flying Cross in Korea, flying with the famous forward air controller unit known as the “Mosquitoes”. Conley eventually rose to head the Flight Test Center at Edwards Air Force Base in California. There he supervised the development of every major aircraft now in our flying arsenal, to include the B-1 bomber, F-16, F-15, A-10 and F-117 stealth fighter. He was commander for the first space shuttle landing at Edwards, and in 1982 he hosted President Reagan’s visit to view the first shuttle landing on a conventional runway. General Conley has 4200 hours flight time in 86 different aircraft types/models.