John Haaren Obituary

John Haaren passed away on the 31st of March, 2015.

John Haaren was born in New York City April 18, 1929 his father Arthur H. Haaren was an attorney, his mother was Mary M. Haaren.

He attended Iona High School in New Rochelle, New York during his High School years; he lived in Larchmont, New York, two blocks from the Larchmont Yacht Club. He was a crewmember on some of the large racing yawls and participated in many races.

He was a Midshipman at the United States Naval Academy and graduated with the class of 1952. He was commissioned a 2nd Lt. in the United States Air Force on the sixth of June 1952. He earned a Master of Science Degree from the George Washington University. He was an Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Astronautics and Aeronautics.

John Haaren served in the Air Force for 23 years and achieved the rank of Colonel. He served in Strategic Air Command (SAC) as a Combat Ready B-47 Navigator Bombardier. He was a senior controller for the deployed SAC Mission at Eielson AFB Alaska. He was an operations officer aboard the SAC Airborne Command Post. At 15th Air Force and SAC Headquarters, his work was in the ballistic missile area. He was part of the Air Force team that selected the silos at Maelstrom AFB, the first Minuteman Wing. He was the Project Officer for Advanced Missile Systems.

Vietnam- He served in Vietnam for two tours- flying C-130's as a Navigator and Mission Commander. After accumulating over 1,000 hours of Combat Time, he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. Near the end of his 2nd tour, he was the Vice Commander of the 374th Tactical Airlift Wing.

His last positions in the Air Force were with Air Force Systems Command (AFSC). He was the first Program Manager for the Peacekeeper Missile Program. He managed the very first airborne launch of the Minuteman Missile from an Air Force plane. While at AFSC Headquarters at Andrew's AFB, he had prime responsibility for the GPS Program and communications architecture for Air Force One.

Upon retirement from the Air Force, he worked for the Communications Satellite Corporation (COMSAT) as Director of Corporate Planning where he managed the Cable vs. Satellite functions, as well as the Dow Jones experiment to deliver the Wall Street Journal via satellite links.

After COMSAT, he was Vice President for Analytical Systems Engineering Corporation (ASEC) where he wrote major portions of the Joint Chiefs of Staffs (JCS) Master Navigation Plan, the first Federal Radio Navigation Plan, and the first Air Staff Satellite Master Plan.

He worked as a Lead Engineer for MITRE Corporation at Sandia Laboratory as the test engineer for STRATCOM's mobile alternate headquarters. He designed major segments of the Mobile Satellite Control Proof Concept system. He also supported Air Force Space Command in the Space Based Radar Program in the systems architecture function.

His last paying job was the Director of the Western Region for the Analytic Services Corporation. He designed and constructed the Air Force Command's Strategic Master Plan for three years. In addition, he worked on satellite control with emphasis on information furnished to the combat forces on demand, in near real time.

In 2000, he finally retired from a paying job and later did some volunteer work with the Service Corps of Retired Executives, an outgrowth of the Small Business Administration. Later he was the Chief Financial Officer for a charity called The Home Front Cares, He wasn't getting paid, but was working about as hard as when he actually had a paycheck.

A celebration of his life will be on May 9th, he has requested that in lieu of flowers that a donation be made to "The Home Front Cares".