LEL

The initial meeting was held at the Ramada Inn. AFA State President Bud Walters and AFA State Secretary Tommy Sylvester conducted the meeting. Officers of the Ouachita Chapter were elected with Harold Brenner as President, Ralph Michaelis as Vice President, John Sheppard as Secretary and Arthur Wellinger as Treasurer. We were given a $100 Grant from AFA State to get started. We received our charter from Hq Air Force Association and held our first General Membership Meeting at the Royal Vista Inn with 38 members and guests in attendance. In October 1998 the Ouachita Chapter was renamed to honor Arkansas Native and the financial organizer of the 8th Air Force Historical Museum, BGen Lewis E. Lyle. The Lyle Chapter members are located in the western and southern counties of Arkansas, and its leaders have mainly come from the Hot Springs area. The chapter calls itself “The Old Retired Chapter”. Members were responsible for the designing, fundraising and finally erecting the Garland County Veteran’s Memorial. Recently they have co-sponsored the Arkansas School for Mathematics , Science and the Arts participation in the AFA Cyber Patriot competition. The school’s team took first place in the state. Several noted individuals have served as Chapter President: Harold Brenner, Leroy Cooper, Richard Tooke, Morris Cash, Jimmie Atchley, Darrell Flannery, Leonard Buch, Lloyd Greenwell, Josie Fernandez and currently Larry Louden. The chapter also awards several scholarships to deserving graduating seniors, interested in obtaining a degree in an aerospace career field.

Lewis E. Lyle Chapter
LEL Chapter Minutes
Lewis E. Lyle Biography