La Salle grad General Philip Conley ‘45, (USAF, Ret.) came back to his alma mater in early November from his home in California and had a very busy two week visit.

“I love coming back to La Salle and seeing what’s new on campus and meeting teachers, students and my fellow alums,” said Phil who grew up in West Warwick, Rhode Island.  “I try to come back three or four times a year and when I do, I always try to have lunch with several of my classmates at the American Legion Post in Cranston.”

His first “official duty” upon arriving was to be inducted into the La Salle Academy Hall of Fame on the evening of November 4 at Rhodes-on-the-Pawtuxet in Cranston.  Obviously, it was a very joyous evening and a wonderful way to begin his most recent La Salle visit.

That was followed by an afternoon meeting with the PEGASUS 10-12 students a few days later in the Shea Science Building lecture room where he told the room full of students about his years at La Salle and the U.S. Naval Academy and his career in the U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force.

Next was his participation the La Salle Veterans Day Mass and Diploma Ceremony in the Brothers Chapel during which he was not only the ranking military person in attendance but also a reader of the Prayers of the Faithful.  At the Veterans Day reception that followed, Gen. Conley talked with two of the honorees who would have graduated with him in 1945 had they not left school early to serve in World War II.

He had one more visit to his school before departing to his home in Santa Barbara, California. That was to meet with another group of students in La Salle science Ann Kaiser’s Engineering Point 1 class and discuss his years at the Air force Flight Test Center, Edwards AFB in California.

Gen. Conley told the class about his three assignments totaling 12 years at Edwards that became central to his future Air Force career. He served initially as a plot and flight test engineer, later becoming the chief of bomber flight test engineering. After completing his second tour in Vietnam in 1971, he was again assigned to Edwards as Center Vice Commander and Inspector General. In 1978 he assumed command of the Center, a post he held for the next 4 1/2 years.

He told the students about the test programs he directed and flew which included the B-1, F-16, F-15, and A-10, all of which remain primary combat aircraft at the present time. He spoke about being the commander for the first shuttle landing on the Edwards dry lake bed and when on the Fourth of July, 1982 he hosted President Ronald Reagan who had visited Edwards to view the first shuttle landing on a conventional runway. This landing completed the shuttle test program and it was declared operational.

General Conley is a command pilot with more than 4,200 hours of flight time in 86 different aircraft types/models.  He retired from active duty October 1, 1983 and became associated with Burdeshaw Associates, Ltd, a Bethesda, MD consulting firm.  In that capacity he served as a consultant to many major U.S. corporations including General Electric, Boeing, John Deere, Kodak, Honeywell and ITT as well as the Department of Defense.  

Phil and his wife Shirley married 51 years ago and have four children:  Dr. Sharon Conley, PhD, Anne Pellegrini, James Conley and Colonel Kathleen Conley USAF (Ret.) who in 1980 was the first female graduate of the Air Force Academy.

Phil and Shirley retired to Santa Barbara in 1986 where he has served on boards of the Flight Test Historical Society, The Pierre Claeyssens Veterans Museum and Library (a WWII museum) and the California Branch of the American Irish Historical Society.