David Vaughan graduated from the United States Air Force Academy in 1962 with a bachelor of science degree in engineering sciences. Commissioned a regular officer in the Air Force, he attended pilot training at Webb Air Force Base, Big Spring, Texas, from 1962 to 1963. While at Webb AFB, he flew T-37 and T-38 jet trainer aircraft. At the time he entered pilot training, the T-38, the Air Force’s first supersonic trainer, had just entered the Air Force inventory. Upon completion of pilot training, he was assigned to fly the KC-97G, a four-engine, propeller-driven, air refueling aircraft flown by units of the Strategic Air Command. He was assigned first to the 44th Air Refueling Squadron and then the 307th Air Refueling Squadron, both units located at Selfridge AFB near Detroit, Michigan.
While assigned to the 44th and 307th Air Refueling Squadrons, Vaughan served often on alert status at Selfridge AFB and at remote sites, including Harmon AFB, Newfoundland; Goose Bay, Labrador; and Namao Air Field, near Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. His primary flying duties involved maintaining proficiency in air-to-air refueling of the B-47 aircraft. When the KC-97 and B-47 aircraft were removed from active service, he transitioned into Tactical Air Command’s C-130 aircraft, commonly known as the “Hercules,” a four-engine, turbo-prop, tactical airlift aircraft.
Vaughan received his checkout in the C-130E at Sewart AFB, near Smyrna, Tennessee. In the spring of 1965, he was assigned to the 347th Tactical Airlift Squadron at Dyess AFB, Abilene, Texas. During the year he was stationed at Dyess, he flew a variety of missions, including 60-day temporary duty missions to Europe, where he flew out of Evreux AB, France, and Mildenhall AB, England. His cargo-hauling missions took him to Spain, Greece, Turkey, Libya, Senegal, and Liberia, in addition to the standard cargo runs to England, France, and Germany. He also flew missions in support of the Military Airlift Command on flights to the Pacific, Japan, and Alaska.
In 1967 Vaughan volunteered to fly C-130Es in Southeast Asia and was assigned to the 345th Tactical Airlift Squadron located at Ching Chuan Kang Air Base, near Taichung, Taiwan, where he was stationed from February of 1967 through April of 1968. Vaughan flew a variety of airlift missions to the Philippines, Japan, Korea, Guam, Thailand, and Vietnam. As an instructor pilot, he flew nearly continually on the in-country shuttle in South Vietnam from December 1967 through March 1968, during some of the most intense activities associated with the 1968 Tet Offensive. During this period he was involved in aerial resupply efforts to numerous small fields, including An Khe, An Hoa, Dak To, LZ English, Kham Duc, Hue, Bao Loc, Song Be, and Khe Sanh. He flew into Khe Sanh many times and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his last flight into Khe Sanh, which occurred on 4 February 1968. During his fifteen months in Southeast Asia, he accumulated over 1000 hours of flying time, 500 hours of which were combat hours. In addition to the DFC, he was awarded the Air Medal with two oak leaf clusters.
After returning from Southeast Asia, Vaughan attended the University of Michigan, where, under Air Force sponsorship, he received a master of arts degree in English language and literature. He then taught English as a member of the faculty of the Air Force Academy. In addition to providing classroom instruction, he flew as an instructor pilot in the Academy’s T-41 pilot indoctrination program, instructing ten cadets. In 1971 he attended the University of Washington, again under Air Force sponsorship, receiving his Ph.D. in English in 1974. Following three more years of faculty duty at the Academy, he completed his Air Force career by serving as a liaison officer with the Maryland Wing of the Civil Air Patrol and then as training officer for the Middle East Region of the Civil Air Patrol at Andrews AFB, Maryland. He retired after twenty years of service in 1982, having accumulated over 3500 flying hours in over ten aircraft.