Beverly Hilton Hotel
Beverly Hills, California

GENERAL KEVIN P. CHILTON

Gen. Kevin P. Chilton is Commander, U.S. Strategic Command, Offutt Air Force Base, Neb. He is responsible for the global command and control of U.S. strategic forces to meet decisive national security objectives. USSTRATCOM provides a broad range of strategic capabilities and options for the President and Secretary of Defense. Command mission areas include full-spectrum global strike; space operations; computer network operations; Department of Defense information operations; strategic warning; integrated missile defense; global command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; combating weapons of mass destruction; and specialized expertise to the joint warfighter.

General Chilton is a distinguished graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy Class of 1976. A Guggenheim Fellow, he completed a Master of Science degree in mechanical engineering at Columbia University. He flew operational assignments in the RF-4C and F-15 and is a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School. General Chilton conducted weapons testing in various models of the F-4 and F-15 prior to joining the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in 1987. At NASA he flew on three space shuttle missions and served as the Deputy Program Manager for Operations for the International Space Station Program.

The general has served on the Air Force Space Command staff, the Air Staff and the Joint Staff, and he has commanded the 9th Reconnaissance Wing, 8th Air Force, Joint Functional Component Command for Space and Global Strike, and Air Force Space Command.

MAJOR GENERAL BEN IVAN FUNK

Major General Ben I. Funk, Commander of the Air Force Systems Command’s Space Systems Division, Los Angeles AFS, Calif., was a third year Denver University student majoring in chemical engineering when he decided to become a military pilot.

Winning his wings in 1936 and commissioned in 1937, he has – in the past 28 years – made significant contributions to the progress of aeronautical and ballistic missile systems. He has become an acknowledged military expert in the field of industrial management, and now holds a key position in the development of United States space capabilities.

His first assignment after being appointed to the regular officer corps in 1938 was with the 19th Bombardment Group at Albuquerque, N.M. When World War II broke out, General Funk was a lieutenant flying a Liberator on a ferrying mission to the Middle East. He spent several months island-hopping in the Far East during the retreat from the Philippines and Java by U.S. Forces.

His experience with B-24 and B-17 bombers during this period led to his stateside assignment at Air Materiel Headquarters at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, where his combat-bred suggestions for modifications in those aircraft were carried out under his guidance. His subsequent work in helping to engineer changes in the B-29 aircraft earned him his first Legion of Merit.

In 1944 he flew missions over the Burma “Hump” to air bases in China. In 1945, as his last wartime assignment, he headed the 346th Bombardment Group at Okinawa. There his job was to direct the proposed air strikes by B-29’s on the enemy mainland. War’s end terminated that assignment.

In August 1946, General Funk – then a Colonel – entered the Air Force Institute of Technology graduating in 1948 with a bachelor of science degree in industrial management. He was then assigned as chief of the Aircraft and Missile section, and later as deputy chief of the Aircraft Procurement Division at Air Materiel Command Headquarters. During this period he was engaged in increasingly responsible procurement and production duties associated with the evolution of such new Air Force aircraft as the B-36, the B-50, the B-45, the B-47, the B-84 and the F-86.

In 1949 he completed the Harvard Graduate School of Business Advanced Management Program.

Serving as Deputy Chief of Procurement at Air Materiel Command for about a year, General Funk then was assigned to Erding, Germany, and a three-year tour as commander of the 84th Air Depot Wing, USAFE. In 1953, while serving in this position, he was promoted to brigadier general.

Returning to the States on July 1, 1954, General Funk was designated Inspector General of the Air Materiel Command at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, Ohio. In March 1956, he was transferred to Los Angeles, Calif., as AMC’s first Deputy Director for Ballistic Missiles, and as Chief of the Ballistic Missiles Office. Here he worked closely with General B.A. Schriever in the high priority ballistic missile development and acquisition program. On September 15, 1958, the Ballistic Missiles Office was elevated to Command status and was renamed the Ballistic Missiles Center with General Funk as its first commander.

On February 1, 1960, General Funk was assigned as Commander of the San Bernardino Air Materiel Area (AMC) with headquarters at Norton Air Force Base, Calif.

And in October, 1962, General Funk returned to Los Angeles as Commander of the Space Systems Division of Air Force Systems Command.

His decorations include the Legion of Merit with one oak leaf cluster, and Distinguished Flying Cross with one oak leaf cluster. He is rated a command pilot. In 1959, he was accorded an honorary doctorate degree (Public Service) from Denver University. For the past several years he has served on the University of Southern California’s Graduate School Advisory Committee on Executive Programs. He is also a consulting professor at USC.

LIEUTENANT GENERAL MICHAEL A. HAMEL

Lt. Gen. Michael A. Hamel is Commander, Space and Missile Systems Center, Air Force Space Command, Los Angeles Air Force Base, Calif. General Hamel is responsible for managing the research, design, development, acquisition and sustainment of space and missile systems, launch, command and control, and operational satellite systems. He is responsible for more than 6,500 employees nationwide and an annual total budget in excess of $10 billion. General Hamel is the Air Force Program Executive Officer for Space and is responsible for the Air Force Satellite Control Network; space launch and range programs; the Space-Based Infrared System Program; military satellite communication programs; the Global Positioning System; intercontinental ballistic missile programs; Defense Meteorological Satellite Program; the space superiority system programs and other emerging transformational space programs.

General Hamel was commissioned a second lieutenant through the U.S. Air Force Academy in June 1972. His career includes assignments in a variety of command, acquisition, operations and policy positions involving space, system development, intelligence, space operations and launch. The general has served in senior staff positions at Headquarters U.S. Air Force and Air Force Space Command, and he was the Vice President's military adviser on defense, nonproliferation and space policy. Prior to his current position, General Hamel commanded the 14th Air Force "Flying Tigers," and was responsible for all U.S. Air Force space forces and operations as well as the execution of assigned U.S. Strategic Command’s space operations.

LIEUTENANT GENERAL RICHARD C. HENRY

Lt. Gen. Richard C. Henry is commander of the Space Division, Air Force Systems Command, Los Angeles Air Force Station, Calif. He also serves as vice commander of Space Command and as the Department of Defense manager for the National Space Transportation System.

General Henry was born in 1925, in Streator, Ill. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in February 1944 and served in the infantry until his appointment as a cadet to the U.S. Military Academy, West Point, N.Y., in 1945. He graduated from the academy in 1949 with a commission as a second lieutenant and a bachelor of science degree in military engineering. The general received master of science degrees in aeronautical engineering and instrumentation engineering from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor in 1954 and graduated from the National War College, Fort Lesley J. McNair, Washington, D.C., in 1967.

After completing pilot training in August 1950 at Vance Air Force Base, Okla., General Henry was assigned to the 43rd Bombardment Wing, Strategic Air Command, Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., as a B-50 combat crewmember. He entered the University of Michigan graduate school under the Air Force Institute of Technology program in June 1952.

Following graduation he returned to SAC in June 1954 with duty at Holloman Air Force Base, N.M., and later at the Air Force Ballistic Missile Division, Inglewood, Calif. In January 1959 he was assigned to Headquarters 7th Air Division, High Wycombe Air Station, England, as a staff officer for the Thor intermediate-range ballistic missile deployment.

General Henry was assigned to Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C., in March 1960 as a requirements officer in the Directorate of Operational Requirements, working with the military space programs. In February 1962 General Henry joined the Office of Manned Space Flight, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and was named chief, Apollo Navigation/Guidance and Lunar Module Development programs. From December 1963 to July 1964, he served as director of Gemini program control. He then transferred to the Manned Spacecraft Center, Houston, as manager of the Gemini program until August 1966.

After graduation from the National War College in June 1967, he was assigned to the 479th Tactical Fighter Wing, George Air Force Base, Calif., as assistant director of operations. In February 1968 he became director of operations. In March 1969 General Henry transferred to the Republic of Vietnam as vice commander of the 37th Tactical Fighter Wing at Phu Cat Air Base. He joined the 33rd Tactical Fighter Wing at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., in April 1970 as vice commander and in October 1970 took command of the wing.

The general moved to Headquarters Tactical Air Command, Langley Air Force Base, Va., in March 1972 as inspector general. He became the command's deputy chief of staff for requirements in November 1973.

In August 1974 he was named vice commander of the Space and Missile Systems Organization at Los Angeles Air Force Station. From September 1976 to April 1978, General Henry was assigned to Air Force headquarters as director of development and acquisition, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff, Research and Development. He was named commander of the Space and Missile Systems Organization in May 1978 and in October 1979 the organization's name was changed to Space Division.

A command pilot with more than 4,000 flying hours, including 207 combat missions in F-4s while in Southeast Asia, General Henry also wears the Master Missile Badge. His military decorations and awards include the Distinguished Service Medal with oak leaf cluster, Legion of Merit, Distinguished Flying Cross, Meritorious Service Medal, Air Medal with nine oak leaf clusters, Air Force Commendation Medal with two oak leaf clusters and Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with palm. While assigned with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, he received the administration's Sustained Superior Performance Award and three Group Achievement Awards.

He was promoted to lieutenant general May 1, 1978, with same date of rank.

GENERAL C. ROBERT "BOB" KEHLER

Gen. C. Robert "Bob" Kehler is Commander, Air Force Space Command, Peterson Air Force Base, Colo. He is responsible for the development, acquisition and operation of the Air Force's space and missile systems. The general oversees a global network of satellite command and control, communications, missile warning and launch facilities, and ensures the combat readiness of America's intercontinental ballistic missile force. He leads more than 39,700 space professionals who provide combat forces and capabilities to North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Strategic Command.

General Kehler entered the Air Force in 1975 as a distinguished graduate of the Air Force ROTC program. He has commanded at the squadron, group and wing levels, and has a broad range of operational and command tours in ICBM operations, space launch, space operations, missile warning and space control. He commanded a Minuteman ICBM operations group at Whiteman AFB, Mo., and the Air Force's largest ICBM operations group at Malmstrom AFB, Mont. He served as Deputy Director of Operations, Air Force Space Command; and commanded both the 30th Space Wing at Vandenberg AFB, Calif., and the 21st Space Wing, Peterson AFB, Colo. Most recently, as Deputy Commander, U.S. Strategic Command, he helped provide the President and Secretary of Defense with a broad range of strategic capabilities and options for the joint warfighter through several diverse mission areas, including space operations, integrated missile defense, computer network operations and global strike.

The general's staff assignments include wing-level planning and tours with the Air Staff, Strategic Air Command headquarters and Air Force Space Command. He was also assigned to the Secretary of the Air Force's Office of Legislative Liaison, where he was the point man on Capitol Hill for matters regarding the President's ICBM Modernization Program. During an assignment to the Joint Staff, he helped formulate revolutionary changes to nuclear war plan structure and targeting. As Director of the National Security Space Office, he integrated the activities of a number of space organizations on behalf of the Under Secretary of the Air Force and Director, National Reconnaissance Office.

GENERAL DONALD J. KUTYNA

General Donald J. Kutyna is commander in chief of the North American Aerospace Defense Command and the U.S. Space Command, both headquartered at Peterson Air Force Base, Colo.

General Kutyna was born in 1933, in Chicago, where he graduated from Lane Technical High School in 1951. He attended the University of Iowa for two years and subsequently was appointed to the U.S. Military Academy, graduating with a bachelor of science degree in 1957. The general received a master of science degree in aeronautics and astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1965. He completed the Industrial College of the Armed Forces in 1976.

Upon completing pilot training at Vance Air Force Base, Okla., in September 1958, General Kutyna was assigned to the 33rd Bombardment Squadron at March Air Force Base, Calif., serving as a B-47 combat crew commander until June 1963. After graduating from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in June 1965, he was assigned to the Aerospace Research Pilot School, Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., first as a student and then as a staff director, training test pilots and astronauts for U.S. aircraft and space programs.

From December 1969 to January 1971 he served a combat tour of duty with the 44th Tactical Fighter Squadron at Takhli Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand, completing 120 combat missions in the F-105 tactical fighter. Upon his return from Southeast Asia, the general was assigned to Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C., as a development planner in the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Research and Development. In June 1973, after a tour of duty with the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board, he was assigned as executive officer to the undersecretary of the Air Force.

In August 1975 General Kutyna entered the Industrial College of the Armed Forces. After graduation in July 1976, he transferred to Electronic Systems Division, Hanscom Air Force Base, Mass., with duty as assistant deputy for international programs. He then served as program manager for foreign military sales of the E-3A Airborne Warning and Control System aircraft and, later, became assistant program director for the overall E-3A program. In June 1980 he was appointed deputy for surveillance and control systems, responsible for the development and acquisition of the sensors and command centers used today by NORAD and the U.S. Space Command in the satisfaction of their worldwide missions.

General Kutyna became deputy commander for space launch and control systems at Space Division, Air Force Systems Command, Los Angeles Air Force Station, Calif., in June 1982. In this position he managed the Department of Defense space shuttle program, including the design and construction of the West Coast space shuttle launch site at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.; the acquisition of space shuttle upper stage boosters; and the operational aspects of launching military payloads on the shuttle.

Other responsibilities encompassed the development, acquisition and launch support of all Air Force expendable launch vehicles, including the Titan and Atlas space boosters and the new Titan IV heavy lift launch vehicle, which provides a capability equivalent to the space shuttle. His programs for control of space missions encompassed the operations and upgrade of the Air Force satellite control network, and development of Air Force Space Command's Consolidated Space Operations Center, Falcon Air Force Station, Colo.

In June 1984 the general became director of space systems and command, control and communications, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff, Research, Development and Acquisition, at Air Force headquarters. After the loss of the space shuttle Challenger in January 1986, General Kutyna was appointed to serve as a member of the presidential commission investigating that accident and spearheaded the effort to bring expendable launch vehicles back into the nation's space inventory.

General Kutyna returned to Los Angeles Air Force Station as vice commander of Space Division in June 1986, overseeing all space system acquisitions, with particular emphasis on programs associated with the Strategic Defense Initiative.

In November 1987 the general became commander of the Air Force Space Command, the newest major command in the Air Force, with headquarters at Peterson Air Force Base. General Kutyna's forces conducted missile warning, space surveillance and satellite control operations at 46 locations around the world. He assumed his present command in April 1990.

The general is a command pilot with more than 4,500 flying hours in 25 different fighters and bombers. His military awards and decorations include the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit with oak leaf cluster, Distinguished Flying Cross with oak leaf cluster, Air Medal with eight oak leaf clusters, and Air Force Commendation Medal with two oak leaf clusters. He received the National Geographic Society's General Thomas D. White U.S. Air Force Space Trophy in June 1987. The award is given to the individual who has made the most outstanding contribution to the nation's progress in space.

He was promoted to general April 1, 1990, with same date of rank.

GENERAL LANCE W. LORD

Gen. Lance W. Lord is Commander, Air Force Space Command, Peterson Air Force Base, Colo. He is responsible for the development, acquisition and operation of the Air Force's space and missile systems. The general oversees a global network of satellite command and control, communications, missile warning and launch facilities, and ensures the combat readiness of America's intercontinental ballistic missile force. He leads more than 39,700 space professionals who provide combat forces and capabilities to North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Strategic Command.

General Lord entered the Air Force in 1969 as a graduate of the Otterbein College ROTC program. He completed a series of Air Staff and Department of Defense-level assignments in strategic missiles after serving four years of Minuteman II ICBM alert duty. He directed the Ground-Launched Cruise Missile Program Management Office in Europe. He was a Military Assistant to the Director of Net Assessment with the Office of the Secretary of Defense and represented the Air Force as a research associate in international security affairs at Ohio State University.

General Lord commanded two ICBM wings in Wyoming and North Dakota. In California he commanded a space wing responsible for satellite launch and ballistic missile test launch operations. He served as Director of Plans and as Vice Commander for Headquarters Air Force Space Command. The general led Air Force education and training as Commandant of Squadron Officer School, Commander of 2nd Air Force, Commander of Air University and Director of Education for Air Education and Training Command. Prior to assuming his current position, General Lord was the Assistant Vice Chief of Staff for Headquarters U.S. Air Force.

BRIGADIER GENERAL ELLEN M. PAWLIKOWSKI

Brig. Gen. Ellen M. Pawlikowski is Vice Commander, Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles Air Force Base, Calif. General Pawlikowski is responsible for assisting the commander in managing the research, design, development, acquisition and sustainment of space and missile systems, launch, command and control, and operational satellite systems. The Space and Missile Systems Center is the nation's center of technical expertise for military space acquisition with more than 6,500 employees nationwide and an annual total budget in excess of $10 billion.

General Pawlikowski entered the Air Force in 1978 through the ROTC program at New Jersey Institute of Technology. She attended the University of California at Berkeley, Calif., and received a Doctorate of Philosophy in chemical engineering in December 1981, entering active duty at McClellan AFB, Calif., in April 1982. The general has served in a variety of technical management, leadership and staff positions, and she has served as Deputy Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Counterproliferation in Office of the Secretary of Defense. Prior to her current assignment, she was Commander, Military Satellite Communications Systems Wing, Space and Missile Systems Center.