Lieutenant Colonel Leonard Wills
Branch of Service: Air Force
Years of Service: 1953-1974
Military Occupation: Navigator and Instructor
Honors/Awards: Distinguished Flying Cross; Air Medal, 13 awards
Leonard Wills was born in Mt. Sterling, Kentucky, and graduated from the University of Kentucky in 1953 with a degree in agriculture. In 1956, Lt. Wills was the first and only Weapons Control Officer stationed on the Hawaiian Islands where he oversaw the construction of a new radar station on the north side of Oahu.
In 1960, Major Wills reported for duty as Forward Air Controller/Navigator on the Cessna O-2 Skymaster and later the OV-10 Bronco aircraft assigned to the 20th Tactical Air Support Squadron located in Da Nang, Vietnam. From there he was forward deployed to Pleiku. He flew over 200 combat missions. After his tour in Southeast Asia, Lt. Col. Wills was reassigned to the 30th Military Airlift Squadron as Chief Navigator at McGuire AFB, New Jersey in 1970, navigating the C141 Starlifter aircraft.
It is estimated that Lt. Col. Wills completed his career amassing over 5,000 hours on the C-141 Starlifter, around 400+ combat hours in the OV-2 and OV-10, and when totaled with his navigator instructor time, he had executed over 10,000 hours of powered flight in his career. He retired from the Air Force in February 1974.
Following his retirement, Wills earned a master’s degree from Central Michigan. He worked in human resources for RCA and Cardinal Hill Hospital. Wills was an active member of the Church of Christ. He died in 2025.