Citizen Staff Writer
Jet flyover will be part of funeral, not reaction to terrorists
By PAUL L. ALLEN
Citizen Staff Writer
A funeral service tomorrow for a Tucson man who served as a national director of the Air National Guard will involve a 21-gun salute and a flyover by jet fighters – something military authorities warn Tucsonans not to mistake for terrorist activity.
The service for Maj. Gen. John T. Guice will be at 3 p.m. at St. James United Methodist Church, 3255 N. Campbell Ave.
The military salute and fly-by involving four F-16 fighter aircraft from the Guard’s 162nd Fighter Wing based here, will occur at about 3:40 p.m., said public affairs spokesman Lt. Col. Chuck Roque.
Maj. Gen. Guice, 77, died Monday of natural causes. He had lived in Tucson since his retirement in 1982.
After completing pilot training in May 1944, he was assigned briefly for P-51 training before he was appointed to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. He graduated from the academy in 1947.
He was assigned to several bases following the end of World War II, including Davis-Monthan Air Force Base here.
He left active duty in 1955, joining the Air Force Reserve. A year later, he joined the Arizona Air National Guard here and was assigned as operations officer of the 152nd Fighter-Interceptor Squadron. He later served as deputy commander of operations for the 162nd Fighter Group in Tucson.
In 1966, he returned to active duty as Arizona National Guard representative to Fourth Air Force Headquarters in California.
Later he was assigned to the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense in Washington, D.C.
In 1972, the general was assigned as executive of the National Guard Bureau, moving up to deputy director of the Air National Guard in 1974 and director in 1977.
Survivors include his wife, Charlotte; and four sons, James, Steven and Joseph, all of Tucson, and Thomas of Prescott.