Dr. Boyd L. Dastrup

Boyd L. Dastrup grew up in Ogden, Utah, and graduated from Ogden High School in 1967. He attended Weber College and majored in History. At Weber, he played baseball as a pitcher. After graduating from college, he enlisted in the Army and served during the Vietnam War. In 1974, after his three-year enlistment, He decided to return to college, and entered a master's program in History at Utah State University in Logan. He followed with pursuit of a doctorate in military history at Kansas State University. For his dissertation, he wrote about the U.S. military occupation of Nuremberg, Germany, 1945-49. As Dastrup was getting ready to defend his dissertation, he began working with the Air Force's history program at Sheppard Air Force Base, where he began his civil service career in 1981. As the historian at Sheppard's Technical Training Center, he researched, wrote, and published about the center. During this time, the Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) was expanding the history program because of an increased emphasis on research, writing, publishing, and teaching to help better develop professional Soldiers. After three years at Sheppard Air Force Base, in 1984, Boyd became the historian at the U.S. Army Field Artillery School. A big part of his job was teaching military history in the Warrant Officer Basic Course (WOBC), Warrant Officer Advanced Course (WOAC), Basic Officer Leader Course (BOLC), and Captains Career Course (CCC). The WOBC and BOLC six-hour military history class covers battle analyses, the role and use of military history in the professional development of leaders, FA branch history, and an FA Museum tour. The 10-hour WOAC and CCC classes additionally included the history of combined arms warfare, and a student-led staff ride to the Battle of Washita. Another part of his position was writing and publishing. Boyd authored “King of Battle: A branch History of the US Army’s Field Artillery”, as well as numerous other articles and books. He has appeared on "The History Channel" and "A&E". He contributed countless articles to the FA Journal over his tenure. Boyd was also instrumental in producing the six-part documentary on the history of the Field Artillery. Dr. Dastrup earned his Honorable Order of St. Barbara in 1994 and his Ancient Order of St Barbara in 2006. Dr. Boyd Dastrup retired in 2018 but his presence and works will impact the branch for future generations.