General Despinoy to address Peru Rotary Published March 13, 2007 GRISSOM AIR RESERVE BASE, Ind -- Brig. Gen. Dean J. Despinoy, 434th Air Refueling Wing commander, will be the featured speaker at the March 20 meeting of the Peru Rotary Club. The meeting will be at Noon at the Siding Restaurant, 8 West 10th Street. General Despinoy's presentation will focus on current events at Grissom and the base's impact on the local area. Grissom ARB is home to the 434th Air Refueling Wing, the largest KC-135R Stratotanker unit in the Air Force Reserve Command. The wing and its people routinely deploy around the world in support of various Air Force missions. Grissom is also one of the largest employers in the area and has an annual economic impact in excess of $86 million. General Despinoy started his military career in 1969, entering the Navy and serving on board both conventional and nuclear fast attack submarines as an electronics technician. He left the Navy and earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Indiana University. He was commissioned into the U.S. Air Force in 1977 as a distinguished graduate of the Notre Dame University Reserve Officer Training Corps program. He served in many positions within Strategic Air Command, transferring to the Air Force Reserve Command in 1987. General Despinoy served on the Jeddah Saudi Arabia Battle Staff during Desert Storm, commanded several deployed units in Turkey, France and Spain during contingency operations and served as the Deputy Director of Mobility Forces during Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. He is a command pilot with more than 4,300 flying hours. This is the second in a series of presentations the general will give in the local region in the upcoming months.
