THE O’MALLEY AWARD CARRIES ON THE FIVE LEADERSHIP PRINCIPLES OF GENERAL O’MALLEY. THEY WERE INTEGRITY, JOB KNOWLEDGE, SENSITIVITY TOWARD OTHERS, BEING YOURSELF AND COMMUNICATING. ALL OF THIS WAS COMBINED WITH DEDICATION TO THE MISSION.
A central highlight each year at the Air Force Ball is the presentation of the O’Malley Distinguished Space Leadership Award. The Lance P. Sijan Chapter of the Air Force Association established the O’Malley Award to recognize the contributions of leaders in achieving General O’Malley’s vision of “…providing an intensified space focus and reorienting USAF philosophy toward an operational approach by advocating the operational use of space systems at the highest levels of the Air Force.” General O’Malley was a longtime advocate for properly organizing space forces to make them more accessible to warfighters. His advocacy and leadership ultimately led to the creation of today’s Air Force Space Command in 1982. Tragically General O’Malley died during an aircraft mishap in 1985 while serving as the Commander of Tactical Air Command.
The Perot-O’Malley-Sijan Chapter Connection
Information contributed by Gayle White
Most of the Lance P. Sijan Chapter members are fully aware that a highlight each year at the Air Force Ball is the presentation of the O’Malley Distinguished Space Leadership Award. The Chapter established the O’Malley Award to recognize the contributions of leaders in achieving General O’Malley’s vision of “…providing an intensified space focus and reorienting USAF philosophy toward an operational approach by advocating the operational use of space systems at the highest levels of the Air Force.” General O’Malley was a longtime advocate for properly organizing space forces to make them more accessible to warfighters. His advocacy and leadership ultimately led to the creation of today’s Air Force Space Command in 1982.
However, what very few Chapter members know or remember is the H. Ross Perot, General Jerome F. O’Malley and the Sijan Chapter are connected through history and the O’Malley Award. Mr. Perot passed away in July, 2019, and is well remembered as a “self-made Texas billionaire who rose from a childhood of Depression-era poverty and twice mounted outsider campaigns for President…The most famous event in his business career didn’t involve sales and earnings, however. In 1979, he financed a private commando raid to free two Electronic Data Systems, Corp. employees who were being held in a prison in Iran. ” (The Gazette, July 10, 2019) As Mr. Perot was talking with Bill Clements, Texas governor and former Deputy Secretary of Defense about the project, “Clements said, ‘You need to contact Jerry O’Malley at the Pentagon.” O’Malley was Vice Director of Operations under the Joint Chief of Staff at the time, and he was already familiar with Perot who had made extraordinary efforts on behalf of the US prisoners of war. “O’Malley appreciated the efforts Perot had made to help prisoners O’Malley had known as fellow aviators.” (Velocity Speed with Direction, Aloysius G. Casey and Patrick A. Casey, Pgs 191-192) Perot met with O’Malley, resulting in assistance with detailed maps, airfield data and Iranian radar capability. “The rescue mission played out to a successful conclusion over the next week with intense high drama as described in Ken Follett’s book, On Wings of Eagles. (Velocity, 192)
After General O’Malley’s tragic death in an aircraft mishap in 1985 while serving as the Commander of Tactical Air Command, H. Ross Perot personally funded the Sijan Chapter’s efforts to get the O’Malley awards started. He even offered to attend one of the chapter’s award ceremonies to highlight his support for the awards and his high regard for O’Malley. The Sijan Chapter’s presentation each year of the O’Malley award is significant for the recognition of the leaders who have and are still shaping the contributions of space in defending the United States. Without the generous support of H. Ross Perot and his connection to General Jerome F. O’Malley, this award might never have been possible.