David Franklin Wherley Jr. (February 9, 1947 – June 22, 2009) was a United States Air Force Major General who served as commander of the District of Columbia National Guard.

Early life

Wherley and his future wife, Ann, attended York Catholic High School together in their hometown of York, Pennsylvania. They graduated in 1965, and married on July 19, 1969.

Career

Wherley began his military career in 1969 when he received his commission as a

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

through the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) program at

Fordham University Fordham University () is a Private university, private Jesuit universities, Jesuit research university in New York City. Established in 1841 and named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the The Bronx, Bronx in which its origina ...

. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Fordham, and in 1977 gained a Master of Business Administration from the University of Maryland, College Park. After he was released from active duty Wherley served in a number of staff assignments with the National Guard in Maryland, and for a short time deployed as the deputy operations group commander for fighters at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia. As a pilot and instructor, he clocked up more than 5,000 hours of flying time over a multitude of missions. Wherley gained his first command in 1985 with the

121st Fighter Squadron The 121st Fighter Squadron (121 FS) is a unit of the District of Columbia Air National Guard 113th Wing located at Joint Base Andrews, Camp Springs, Maryland. The 121st is equipped with the Block 30 F-16C/D Fighting Falcon. The squadron is a de ...

, and went on to command Detachment 1 (later to be re-designated 201st Airlift Squadron). At the time of the 9/11 attacks in 2001, Wherley was commander of

113th Wing The 113th Wing, known as the "Capital Guardians", is a unit of the District of Columbia Air National Guard, stationed at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland. If activated to federal service, the fighter portion of the Wing is gained by the United State ...

, the Guard unit responsible for protecting Washington D.C.. That morning, Wherley ordered his pilots, who did not launch until after the

Pentagon In geometry, a pentagon (from the Greek πέντε ''pente'' meaning ''five'' and γωνία ''gonia'' meaning ''angle'') is any five-sided polygon or 5-gon. The sum of the internal angles in a simple pentagon is 540°. A pentagon may be simpl ...

attack, to operate

weapons free Weapons Tight is a NATO brevity code "weapon control order" used in anti-aircraft warfare, imposing a status whereby weapons systems may only be fired at targets confirmed as hostile. Compare to Wiktionary:weapons hold, Weapons Hold, whereby it is ...

, meaning that they were permitted to shoot at will. Wherley was appointed commanding general of the District of Columbia National Guard in 2003. He retired from that position and from the Air Force in 2008.

Death

On June 22, 2009, Wherley and his wife Ann were killed in a collision between two Red Line trains, shortly after concluding a volunteer orientation program at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. The Wherleys were interred together at Arlington National Cemetery on June 30, 2009.Burial Detail: Wherley, David F
– ANC Explorer

Assignments

# September 1969 – September 1970, student, undergraduate pilot training, 3576th Student Squadron, Vance Air Force Base, Oklahoma. # September 1970 – October 1972, T-38 instructor pilot, 3553rd Pilot Training Squadron, Moody Air Force Base, Georgia. # October 1972 – October 1973, T-38 class commander, 3550th Student Squadron, Moody Air Force Base, Georgia. # October 1973 – September 1978, F-105 pilot,

Andrews Air Force Base Andrews Air Force Base (Andrews AFB, AAFB) is the airfield portion of Joint Base Andrews, which is under the jurisdiction of the United States Air Force. In 2009, Andrews Air Force Base merged with Naval Air Facility Washington to form Joint B ...

, Maryland. # September 1978 – June 1982, flight safety officer,

National Guard Bureau The National Guard Bureau is the federal instrument responsible for the administration of the National Guard established by the United States Congress as a joint bureau of the Department of the Army and the Department of the Air Force. It was cre ...

, Pentagon, Washington, D.C. # June 1982 – June 1985, F-4 instructor pilot, 121st Fighter Squadron, Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland. # June 1985 – December 1985, operations officer, 121st Fighter Squadron, Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland. # December 1985 – July 1987, commander, 121st Fighter Squadron, Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland. # July 1987 – March 1989, director of operations, Headquarters, District of Columbia Air National Guard, Washington, D.C. # March 1989 – November 1995, commander, Detachment 1/201st Airlift Squadron, Headquarters, District of Columbia Air National Guard, later Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland. # November 1995 – December 1997, vice commander,

, Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland. # January 1998 – April 1998, deputy commander for operations (fighters),

4404th Wing (Provisional) The 4404th Wing (Provisional) is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last was assigned to the Air Combat Command (ACC), stationed at Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia. The mission of the 4404th Wing (Provisional) was to serve as ...

, Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia # May 1998 – June 2003, commander, 113th Wing, Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland. # July 2003 – 2008, commanding general, District of Columbia National Guard, Washington, D.C.

Flight information

:Rating: Command Pilot :Flight hours: More than 5,000 :Aircraft flown:

General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is a single-engine Multirole combat aircraft, multirole fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force (USAF). Designed as an air superiority day fighter, it ...

, McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II, Lockheed T-33, Northrop T-38 Talon, Republic F-105 Thunderchief, C-21 Learjet,

Boeing C-22 The Boeing 727 is an American narrow-body airliner that was developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. After the heavy 707 quad-jet was introduced in 1958, Boeing addressed the demand for shorter flight lengths from smaller airpo ...

C-38 Courier The Gulfstream G100, formerly known as the IAI Astra SPX, is an Israel Aerospace Industries-manufactured twin-engine business jet, that was produced for Gulfstream Aerospace. Deliveries began in 1986. The United States Air Force employs the a ...

Awards and decorations

Notes

References

External links

*
A Capital Guardian Remembered...
Tribute page to Gen. Wherley at the D.C. National Guard website
Arlington National Cemetery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wherley Jr., David F. 1947 births 2009 deaths Accidental deaths in Washington, D.C. Burials at Arlington National Cemetery Aviators from Pennsylvania Fordham University alumni Military personnel from Pennsylvania Commanding generals of the District of Columbia National Guard People associated with the September 11 attacks People from York, Pennsylvania Railway accident deaths in the United States Recipients of the Air Medal Recipients of the Legion of Merit United States Air Force generals University of Maryland, College Park alumni