Colonel John J. Clune (October 29, 1932 – April 4, 1992) was the long-time director of athletics at the

United States Air Force Academy The United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) is a United States service academies, United States service academy in Air Force Academy, Colorado, Air Force Academy Colorado, immediately north of Colorado Springs, Colorado, Colorado Springs. I ...

. The

Clune Arena The Cadet Field House is an indoor sports complex in the western United States, located at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado, near Colorado Springs. The multi-purpose facility was built in 1968, and is at an approximate elevation of abov ...

at the academy is named in his memory. A native of

Jersey City, New Jersey Jersey City is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, second-most populous

, Clune graduated from St. Peter's High School, where he earned all-state honors in basketball. He was a 1954 graduate of the

United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (USNA, Navy, or Annapolis) is a United States Service academies, federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as United States Secre ...

, where he earned All-American honors in

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

, and held scoring records that lasted for 30 years. He earned a master's degree in electrical engineering from the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

, completed the

Armed Forces Staff College The Joint Forces Staff College (JFSC), located in Norfolk, Virginia, was established as the Armed Forces Staff College in 1946 and incorporated into the National Defense University in August 1981. It educates and acculturates joint and multinat ...

in 1959 and the

Industrial College of the Armed Forces The Dwight D. Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy (Eisenhower School), formerly known as the Industrial College of the Armed Forces (ICAF), is a part of the National Defense University (Washington, D.C.), National Defens ...

in 1972. His initial assignments were in missile operations, missile maintenance and administration. He served as an Air Officer Commanding at the Air Force Academy from 1965 to 1968. Prior to returning the academy, he was chief of the Electronics and Equipment Division,

Air Force Logistics Command An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmosphere ...

and Chief of the Logistics Engineering Branch, Headquarters U.S. Air Force. In 1975 he was appointed Director of Athletics at the Air Force Academy. During his tenure as the Air Force Academy athletic director, he arranged for the academy to become a member of the

Western Athletic Conference The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the Western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, Texas, Utah and Washington (state), Washington. Due to ...

, the first service academy to join a conference. He was responsible for initiating a 10-sport intercollegiate program for women when the first class was admitted in 1976. Once joining the WAC, Col. Clune served on the compliance committee, finance committee and the extra events committee. Clune served as president of the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics and as a member of the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

's Postseason Football Committee. He is the former chairman of the board of directors of the

College Football Association The College Football Association (CFA) was a group formed by many of the American colleges with top-level college football programs in order to negotiate contracts with TV networks to televise football games. It was formed in 1977 by 63 schools from ...

and served as chair of the NCAA Voting Committee. He was also instrumental in working with Colorado Springs civic leaders in bringing the

United States Olympic Training Center The United States Olympic & Paralympic Training Centers (OPTCs) are two campuses created by the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) as training facilities for its Olympic and Paralympic athletes. They are located in Colorado Spr ...

, Olympic House and two Olympic Sports Festivals to

Colorado Springs Colorado Springs is the most populous city in El Paso County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 478,961 at the 2020 census, a 15.02% increase since 2010. Colorado Springs is the second-most populous c ...

. He served as the president of the Air Force Academy Athletic Association and was one of the 10 board members designated by Congress to serve on the Academy Board, which is the governing body of the Air Force Academy. While in the military, Clune was rated as a senior missileman. Among his military decorations the

Legion of Merit The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a Awards and decorations of the United States military, military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievemen ...

, two Meritorious Service Medals and the

Air Force Commendation Medal The Commendation Medal is a mid-level United States military decoration presented for sustained acts of heroism or meritorious service. Each branch of the United States Armed Forces issues its own version of the Commendation Medal, with a fift ...

. Clune was married to Pat Clune and had children. Clune died of cancer in 1992 after serving 16 years as the athletic director at the

Air Force Academy An air force academy or air academy is a national institution that provides initial officer training, possibly including undergraduate level education, to air force officer cadets who are preparing to be commissioned officers in a national air forc ...

. In honor of his longtime service to Air Force athletics, the basketball arena within the Cadet Field House at USAFA was renamed

Honors

In 1995 Clune was inducted into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame, where he was recognized as "the most important man in the history of Air Force Academy athletics". In 2003 the National Football Foundation honored Clune with the John L. Toner Award, in recognition of his work developing athletics at the Academy and in the Colorado Springs area.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clune, John J. 1932 births 1992 deaths Forwards (basketball) Air Force Falcons athletic directors Navy Midshipmen men's basketball players New York Knicks draft picks United States Air Force officers Dwight D. Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy alumni USC Viterbi School of Engineering alumni Basketball players from Jersey City, New Jersey American men's basketball players Military personnel from Jersey City, New Jersey United States Naval Academy alumni 20th-century American sportsmen