David F. Lucier

David Lucier was born to two WWII Veterans. His mom was a member of the elite Women’s’ Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) and his dad was a Lt. Commander in the US Navy, who served in the South Pacific on a destroyer during the height of the war. He and his ship mates earned 16 battle stars during the course of his deployment. Eventually, Phil and “Charley” (as she was known since childhood) had 11 children…7 girls and 4 boys. Eldest sibling, E’Louise, was born in Indiana, David, Suzy and Larry were born in Tallahassee, Florida and the remaining siblings were born in Rochester, NY. In 1961, Phil and Charley moved their family to St. Louis, Missouri where Phil co-founded what was to become the third largest independent telephone company in the US. Profound tragedy struck in 1970 when Phil was murdered…a few short months after David returned home from Vietnam and just four days before his first grandchild was born. David entered the US Army from St. Louis, MO in 1967 at the age of 19 after graduating from Christian Brothers College High School in St. Louis, MO. He successfully completed basic training, advanced airborne infantry training, parachute training, and Special Forces training as a weapons and medical specialist. In late 1968, Mr. Lucier volunteered and was assigned to a special operations “A-Team” with the II Corps Mobile Strike Force (Mike Force), a private army consisting of primitive mountain tribal peoples who were responsible for interdicting North Vietnamese men and material traversing the Ho Chi Minh Trail along the tri border area of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. Mr. Lucier was decorated for both valor and meritorious service. Upon separation from service, he attended Arizona State University (ASU) on the GI Bill and graduated with honors in 1974 with a degree in Political Science. After a career in telecommunication finance and real estate. Shortly after 9-11-01, Mr. Lucier went to work for the Department of Defense as a Security Contractor in Iraq from 2003 to 2005 and worked for the Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force – Afghanistan in 2008. Mr. Lucier is a member of several Veterans’ organizations including the Special Operations Association, the Special Forces Association, and the Mike Force Association, among others. Additionally, he has been extremely active…participating in many aspects of community life. In 2009, Mr. Lucier was inducted into the Arizona Veterans Hall of Fame and in 2010 designed the comprehensive Veterans supportive initiative at ASU. In 2011, he successfully helped direct the passage of the Instate Tuition for Veterans Bill bringing hundreds of millions of dollars to Tempe, Mesa and across the state. Further, in 2012, Mr. Lucier founded the Arizona Veterans & Military Leadership Alliance, a Veterans advocacy group whose vision is to establish Arizona as the most Veteran supportive state in the nation through the three circles of success: education & training, jobs & economic opportunities, and health & wellness. For the past few years, Lucier has served on the Special Operations Association and Special Forces Association scholarship selection committee. David was also elected to the SOA Board of Directors and as an officer of the Special Forces Association – Chapter XXII (Arizona). He often testifies at the Arizona Legislature for Veteran supportive legislation and has designed and expanded several Veterans’ initiatives at Arizona State University, UofA, NAU and other institutions of higher learning. Lucier co-hosted the “Veterans Heritage Hour”, a weekly internet radio show which focused on Veterans’ history, national security policy, and the future of war and conflict.