Andrew P. Iosue

Andrew Philip Iosue was born on 7 November 1927 in Somerville, Massachusetts. He graduated from Everett High School in Everett, Massachusetts, in 1945.

He studied at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, graduating with a bachelor of science degree in bacteriology in 1951, and later earned a master's degree from Cornell University. He was later given honorary doctorates by the University of Massachusetts, the University of Rochester, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (doctor of aeronautics, December 1983) and the University of Akron (doctor of laws, May 1985).

Iosue entered active duty in July 1951 as a medical service officer, working as a bacteriologist at Westover Air Force Base in Massachusetts. He then entered flight training, received his pilot wings at Reese Air Force Base, Texas, in March 1954 and completed training at Mather Air Force Base, California, that September.

His first flying assignment was with the 36th Rescue Flight of the Air Rescue Squadron at Johnson Air Base in Japan. From July 1957 to August 1960 he was an Air Force ROTC instructor at Cornell University, and he then flew with the 354th Tactical Fighter Wing at Myrtle Beach Air Force Base, South Carolina.

In June 1963 he moved into tactical airlift, joining the 317th Troop Carrier Wing at Évreux Air Base, France, flying the C-130 Hercules. He moved with the wing to Lockbourne Air Force Base, Ohio, in 1964 and served there until July 1966 as a C-130 instructor pilot and chief of wing training. He then spent four years as chief of the rated officer assignments section at the Air Force Military Personnel Center at Randolph Air Force Base.

In July 1970 Iosue went to South Vietnam to command the 504th Tactical Air Support Group at Cam Ranh Bay Air Base, the unit responsible for forward air controllers in Southeast Asia. In May 1971 he became commander of the 374th Tactical Airlift Wing at Ching Chuan Kang Air Base in Taiwan.

In that post he helped develop and put into use a low level C-130 drop system to supply An Loc in South Vietnam during the siege of May 1972. He flew more than 200 combat missions in Southeast Asia. In January 1973, in support of the release of American prisoners of war, he flew the first US Air Force aircraft to land at Gia Lam airbase in Hanoi in 19 years.

From June 1973 Iosue served at Air Force headquarters in Washington as deputy director and then director of personnel programs. He was next named commander of the US Air Force Recruiting Service and deputy chief of staff for recruiting at Air Training Command.

In September 1976 he took command of the Air Force Military Training Center at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, where every enlisted airman did basic training. In April 1979 he returned to headquarters as deputy chief of staff for manpower and personnel.

He took command of Air Training Command in 1983 as a four star general, overseeing basic, technical and flying training across the Air Force, and retired on 1 September 1986 after 35 years of service. His decorations included the Air Force Distinguished Service Medal, the Legion of Merit with two oak leaf clusters, the Distinguished Flying Cross with oak leaf cluster, the Air Medal with three oak leaf clusters and South Korea's Order of National Security Merit.

After retiring, Iosue made his home in San Antonio, Texas. He was a director of Kelly Field National Bank and of Government Personnel Mutual Life Insurance Company, president of the San Antonio Golf Association, vice president of the Rotary Club of San Antonio and a past president of Ratama Race Track. He served on the executive boards of the Alamo Area Boy Scouts, the United Way, the World Affairs Council and C.A.M.P., the Children's Association for Maximum Potential, and on development boards for the University of Massachusetts and the University of the Incarnate Word.

A widower, he married Shirley Case, an Air Force widow, in October 2011. He also kept a summer home in Crosslake, Minnesota.

Andrew P. Iosue died on 27 October 2026, at the age of 98. His death was announced by Demaine Funeral Home of Alexandria, Virginia, which was caring for the arrangements. The cause of death has not been made public, and no services had been scheduled at the time of the announcement.

Iosue's career spanned the Air Force from the Korean War era to the 1980s, and from the laboratory to the flight deck and finally to the top of its training system. He is remembered for his airlift work in Vietnam, including the An Loc resupply and the first Air Force landing in Hanoi as prisoners of war came home, and for leading the commands that recruited and trained a generation of airmen.