Lt Col Kathy LaSauce USAF Ret. Oral History - Interview 1

title:

Lt Col Kathy LaSauce USAF Ret. Oral History - Interview 1

creator:

LaSauce, Kathy "Hot Lips" (1949 November 14 -

subject:

Air Force

description:

Interview 1 of 3. This interview is largely the narrator Kathy LaSauce and the interviewer Cydnee Totzke reviewing the logistics of the interview, including how it would be conducted and recorded via Zoom. The discussion of Kathy LaSauce's service in the Air Force begins in Interview 2. Kathy La Sauce was born on November 14, 1949 in Queens, New York, and joined the Air Force in 1972. That year, she was in the first class of women trained as Aircraft Maintenance Officers, and between 1973 and 1975 she supervised 120 mainenance personnel at Travis AFB, California. She was also part of Operation Homecoming in that time, which brought POWs home from Vietnam. In 1975-76, she served at Anderson AFB, Guam and assisted with Operation New Life, which supported Vietnam refugees. In 1975 legislation passed to open military academies to women, and there were plans for a test program for women pilots. Kathy was a part of this program in 1977-78, and was the "No Loss" flight commander. In 1980, she was promoted to Major. 1986-1988 she was Deputy Chief/Chief Special Activites Division at HQ USAF Pentagon, where she managed the Air Force Model Installation Program fpr Air Force Chief of Staff. fRom 1988 to 1992, she was involved in many different high-level projects and operations, including managing airlift and ground support for Gorbachev's visit to Washington Summit, supporting humanitarian relief missions in South and Central America, Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, and Eastern Europe During Operation Desert Shield/Storm, she supported ov 670 wartime missions. In 1990, she was selected for promotion to Colonel and retired in 1992. Her flight memorabilia canbe found in the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC; C-141 Museum in San Bernandino, California; Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio; Trailblazers Conference Room in San Antonio, Texas; and Daedalians Museum in San Antonio, Texas. A transcript of this interview is available.

publisher:

Military Women's Memorial Foundation

contributor:

Totzke, Cydnee

date:

2022-02-19

type:

Audio

format:

Born Digital

identifier:

1543.01; 2022.1543

source:

Bobbi Knapp - SIU

language:

English

relation:

052629

coverage:

Vietnam War (1964-1975) | Operation Desert Shield/Storm—1990-1991 | 1972-1992

rights:

Unrestricted