Francis J. Kane '47, M '70
Colonel (R), U.S. ArmyFrancis J. Kane graduated from high school in Dunkirk, New York and entered St. Bonaventure College in 1940 and joined the Army ROTC program. In 1943, one year before his scheduled graduation, he was ordered to active duty and attended Officer Candidate School at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Upon earning a commission as a Field Artillery second lieutenant, he served with the 11th Field Artillery Battalion, 24th Infantry Division in the Pacific Theater during World War II, to include duty in the Philippians and occupation duty in Japan.
In 1946, his military status was reverted to the Army Reserve and he returned to St. Bonaventure to complete a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry/Physics in 1947. His Nation called Kane again, however, and in 1950 he was recalled to active duty and ordered to attend the General School at Fort Riley, Kansas. He deployed to Korea and served for twelve months as a Forward Observer and Regimental Liaison and later as a Division Liaison with the Commonwealth Division, a multinational organization comprised of British, Canadian and Australian forces that was part of British Commonwealth Forces Korea. In 1952, he returned to the United States to attend the Anti-Aircraft Advanced Course and until 1954, to command a battery in the Washington, D.C. Brigade.
Kane attended the Guided Missile Staff Officers Course at Fort Bliss, Texas in 1954 and was branch transferred to Air Defense Artillery. Several postings in a Nike Battalion and additional schooling followed and he was eventually assigned as the OIC of TO&E Development in the Commandant’s Office, Air Defense Artillery School. From 1960 to 1962, he served as the Executive Officer, 512th Warhead Support Missile Group in Northern Italy before returning to the United States to attend Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. He was assigned as the G3 Briefing Officer for NORAD in Colorado Springs in 1963.
In 1965, Kane was selected as the Senior U.S. Artillery Advisor for the Imperial Hawk Missile System with the Chinese Nationalist Army in Taiwan. He returned to his alma mater in 1967 as the Associate Professor of Military Science at St. Bonaventure University. Before leaving the University in 1969, he earned a Masters of Science degree in Education. In his final year of active service, he served as G2 & G3, Eighth Army Rear Command in Korea. He retired as a colonel in 1970.
Kane’s post-military career included several years with Raytheon Corporation as the coordinator of manpower, equipment and training documentation for the Saudi Arabian Army’s Improved Nike Hawk weapons system. In Saudi Arabia, he established a Patriot Missile Systems School. Kane earned a Doctorate of Education in Higher Education Management/Education Psychology at New Mexico State University in 1973 and taught management courses for 13 years at Webster University’s Fort Bliss site.
Active in the St. Michaels Catholic community and a Past District Governor of the Lions Club, Kane’s numerous military awards include induction into the Order of Saint Barbara. He is also Past Commander of the El Paso Chapter and Department of the Rio Grande, Military Order of the World Wars (MOWW.)