Lt. Col. Alan Price (USAFR, Retired) 

Alan is a native of Brunswick GA; he graduated from the Glynn Academy and was in the 10th graduating class of the Air Force Academy in 1968. He served five years on active duty as a pilot in the U.S. Air Force and fif­teen years in the Air Force Reserve; he retired with the rank of Lt. Col. 

He flew and was in administration with Delta for over 28 years. He was Chief Pilot of the Atlanta pilot base during 911. While with Delta as Chief Pilot, Alan devel­oped several new training programs for Delta pilots and in other Human Resources areas. He last flew the 777. Since retiring from Delta. he has served as Senior Safety Coach with LifeWings, Inc. He has worked with a variety of Healthcare partners in the areas of leadership and patient safety. A former resident of Marietta, he now lives on Lake Rabun with his wife, Marlee. Their daughter, Meredith, is a writer, journalist, wife and mother, living in Israel. 

Lt. Col. Joe Desantis (USAF, Retired) Joe was born in Long Branch, NJ, and was in the first class at the new US Air Force Academy (USAFA}, in Colorado Springs, CO. He graduated 11th out of 207, with a major in Engineering Sciences, on June 3, 1959. After receiving his Pilot's Wings, he flew the C-118 (DC-6B} worldwide for four years, eventually logging nearly 7000 flying hours. 

Following his Master's Degree in Aero-Mechani­cal Engineering in 1967, he joined the faculty at USAFA. In 1971, he was assigned to Clark AB (Philippines}, where he flew Air Evacuation missions into Vietnam and Thailand in the C-9A (DC-9). 

February 13, 1973: a memorable day in our Na­tion's history, and in Joe's life. Early that morning, Joe and his crew departed Clark for Tan Son N-hut AB in Saigon, Vietnam, to pick up our POW's. He returned to Clark AB with 26 former POW's on board, part of Operation Home­coming, and helped set a page in history. 

After Clark AB, he flew the C-141 for a year, and then was assigned to the Enroute Support Squadron at lncirlik AB (Adana}, Turkey, serving as Squadron Commander. In 1976, he was assigned to the Pentagon in AF Studies and Analysis. While there, Joe earned another Master's Degree, in Systems Management. He retired from active duty in June 1979, but served voluntarily as an ALO (Air Force Admissions Liaison Officer) for another 15 years. 

Joe worked in the Aerospace Industry as an Opera­tions Analyst with Pratt & Whitney in West Palm Beach, FL. In 1982, he moved to Marietta, GA, to work for Lockheed-Georgia, where he met his future wife, Jo. Then Joe was off to St Louis, MO, in 1988 to work for McDonnell-Douglas. Laid off in 1991, he returned to Marietta where he secured a job in environmental engineering. Later, working as a consultant for Cy-Terra, Joe helped market a new land mine detector, re-equipping the entire U.S. Army. 

He is a Past President of the Marietta Rotary Club ('98-2000), and is honored to be a member since 1985. 

The one constant throughout Joe's life has been his love of teaching: as a college math professor; an instruc­tor pilot; a high school teacher; and a tutor (pro bono}, all on and off for over 50 years. Through the love and prayers of many, Joe has been successfully battling metastasized renal cancer in both lungs, without chemo, for the past 8 years. Joe and Jo are thankful for every day that the Lord has given them. 

Joe has served as President of the USAFA Class of 1959 for the past 37 years, and is fondly called "President for Life''. He was further honored and humbled, during the 50th Reunion of the Class of '59, to be presented with the Asso­ciation of Graduates Award for a lifetime of commitment to the core values of the United States Air Force Academy.

The award represents the summit of his lifelong achievement: Service Above Self.