Air Force General, Pentagon Assistant Vice Chief of Staff

Howard W. Leaf, 85, a retired Air Force lieutenant general and highly decorated combat veteran who retired as assistant vice chief of staff at the Pentagon in 1984, died April 25 of congestive heart failure at his home in the Prince George's County community of Aquasco.

He served in the Army Air Forces during World War II and joined the newly formed Air Force in 1950. He was a fighter pilot in the Korean and Vietnam wars.

His decorations included the Distinguished Service Medal and two awards of the Silver Star, one of which was for leading a raid on an oil refinery in North Vietnam. His other decorations included two awards of the Legion of Merit, two awards of the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Meritorious Service Medal and 16 awards of the Air Medal. He accumulated 5,600 flying hours during his career.

His first assignment at the Pentagon, from 1961 to 1964, was in the Office of Scientific Research for the nuclear detection program. During the early 1970s, he was stationed at Langley Air Force Base as deputy chief of staff for requirements, and in the late 1970s he oversaw weapons testing at Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque.

From 1980 until 1983, he was inspector general of the Air Force, responsible for overseeing the group in charge of investigations, anti-terrorism and counterintelligence.

In 1986, the Air Force created an award in his honor for officers and civilians who work in Air Force inspection.

Howard Wesley Leaf was born in Menominee, Wis., and received a bachelor's degree in geophysical engineering from the Colorado School of Mines in 1950 and a master's degree in geophysics from St. Louis University in 1955.

After he retired from the Air Force, he worked for an engineering company in McLean, and from 1991 to 1997 was a civilian director of the Air Force's Test and Evaluation Directorate at the Pentagon.

Survivors include his wife of 53 years, Madonna Ronan Leaf of Aquasco; six children, Mary Beth Leaf of Arlington, Barbara A. Leaf of Rome, Timothy M. Leaf of Springfield, Anne Marie Moore of Arlington, Thomas M. Leaf of Brooksville, Maine, and Army Maj. Daniel Leaf of Fayetteville, N.C.; a sister; and 11 grandchildren.

-- Lauren Wiseman