Colonel Stanley D. Fair was born and raised in Delphos, Ohio. In 1943, he was appointed to the U.S. Military Academy and later commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Sea Coast Artillery.

Colonel Fair went on to hold the positions of Action Officer, Office of the Chief of Research and Development, Department of the Army; Chemical Officer, Advanced Research Projects Agency, Vietnam; and Chemical, Biological and Radiological Systems Officer at Combat Development Center, Fort Belvoir, Virginia where he was instrumental in a complete review of the Army’s nuclear policy.

In 1966, Colonel Fair was assigned as Chemical, Biological, and Radiological Standardization Representative in Ottawa, Canada. In 1968, he served at the Combat Development Command Institute of Advanced Studies at Carlisle Barracks where he chaired several nuclear studies programs. As Commandant of the Chemical Corps School from 1971 to 1972 at Fort McClellan, he contributed to a revising of the curriculum standards.

Colonel fair was a recognized authority on chemical and nuclear warfare, and authored numerous articles for military journals.