Colonel Dugard was a career United States Air Force Officer a Command Pilot with over 5600 hours of flying time in various aircraft including the B-47 B-52 F-102 U-2 and the supersonic B-58 Hustler. He served as a Strategic Air Command Wing Commander for three wings including the last combat wing in southeast Asia The second of his two tours in support of the Vietnam War. He was a squadron commander of a B-52 squadron and flew combat missions over North Vietnam targets to include during Lineback