FULLERTON : Air Force Veteran Gets Airport Post

Roland Elder, a 20-year Air Force veteran from Yorba Linda, has been appointed director of Fullerton Municipal Airport.

Elder fills the post vacated when Rod Murphy left in September to become director of Riverside Municipal Airport. Elder’s appointment by City Manager William C. Winter is effective Nov. 13.

After college and graduate work in Arkansas and Missouri, Elder joined the Air Force and was commissioned a lieutenant. He served five six-month tours in Vietnam as a navigator aboard B-52 bombers, served as missile launch officer at United States bases, retired in 1987 with the rank of lieutenant colonel, and went to work for Northrop Corp.

Winter appointed Elder on the basis of recommendations by an airport manager’s panel that included members from neighboring Buena Park, where some small planes have crashed after leaving the Fullerton airport. Some residents there have been up in arms over the airport.

“I understand the concerns of the residents of Buena Park,” Elder said in a prepared statement. “As a Yorba Linda resident, I feel I live on the other end of the runway as my home is under the east approach to the airport. One of my chief goals will be to make sure the airport is operated as safely and as quietly as possible.”