Learning Center Our Enshrinees

John R. “Jack” Dailey

• Served two tours in Vietnam where he completed 450 combat missions and earned the Distinguished Flying Cross, Bronze Star, Navy Commendation Medal, and 24 Air Medals.
• First General Officer to complete helo transition at Whiting Field. This course has now become a standard for non-help qualified General Officers.
• Commander of the 1st Marine Amphibious Brigade, Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii where he flew the F-4S, CH-46E, CH-53D, and UH-1N aircraft.
• Appointed to General and assumed the post as Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps on August 1, 1990. His operational experience includes over 7,500 flying hours in fighters, light attack, reconnaissance and electronic warfare aircraft, transports, and helicopters.
• Served as as the Deputy Administrator of NASA from 1992 to 1999.
• Co-chaired the Aeronautics and Astronautics Coordinating Board, Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum’s Advisory Board, and was a delegate to the Research and Technology Organization in support of NATO.
• Became the Director of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in 2000. The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center opened in 2003 under General Dailey’s leadership, displaying more than 300 aircraft and space artifacts.