H. H. Arnold Award
Named for the World War II leader of the Army Air Forces, The Air & Space Forces Association’s H. H. Arnold Award has been presented annually in recognition of the most outstanding contributions in the field of aerospace activity. Since 1986, it has been AFA’s highest honor to a member of the armed forces in the field of national defense.
Past Winners
| 2024 | Gen. David Thompson, USSF (Ret.), former Vice Chief of Space Operations |
| 2023 | Gen. Glen D. VanHerck, Cmdr., NORTHCOM/NORAD |
| 2022 | Gen. Tod D. Wolters, USAF (Ret.), former Cmdr., USEUCOM and NATOSACEUR |
| 2021 | Gen. John W. “Jay,” Raymond, USSF, Chief of Space Operations |
| 2020 | Gen. David L. Goldfein, USAF (Ret.), former Chief of Staff, USAF |
| 2019 | Gen. Ellen M. Pawlikowski, USAF (Ret.), former Cmdr., AFMC |
| 2018 | Gen. Herbert J. Carlisle, USAF (Ret.), former Cmdr., AFMC |
| 2017 | Lt. Gen. Christopher C. Bogdan, USAF (Ret.), former PEO, F-35 Program |
| 2016 | Gen. Mark A. Welsh III, USAF (Ret.), former Chief of Staff |
| 2015 | Gen. Janet C. Wolfenbarger, USAF (Ret.), former Cmdr., AFMC |
| 2014 | Gen. C. Robert Kehler, USAF (Ret.), former Cmdr., STRATCOM |
| 2013 | Gen. Douglas M. Fraser, USAF (Ret.), former Cmdr., SOUTHCOM |
| 2012 | Gen. Norton A. Schwartz, USAF (Ret.), former Chief of Staff |
| 2011 | Gen. Duncan J. McNabb, Cmdr., TRANSCOM |
| 2010 | Lt. Gen. David A. Deptula, USAF Deputy Chief of Staff, ISR |
| 2009 | Gen. John D. W. Corley, Cmdr., ACC |
| 2008 | Gen. Bruce Carlson, Cmdr., AFMC |
| 2007 | Gen. Ronald E. Keys, Cmdr., ACC |
| 2006 | Gen. Lance W. Lord, USAF (Ret.), former Cmdr., AFSPC |
| 2005 | Gen. Gregory S. Martin, USAF (Ret.), former Cmdr., AFMC |
| 2004 | Gen. John P. Jumper, Chief of Staff, USAF |
| 2003 | Lt. Gen. T. Michael Moseley, Cmdr., air component, CENTCOM, and 9th Air Force |
| 2002 | Gen. Richard B. Myers, USAF, Chm., Joint Chiefs of Staff |
| 2001 | Gen. Joseph W. Ralston, CINC, EUCOM |
| 2000 | Gen. Michael E. Ryan, Chief of Staff, USAF |
| 1999 | Lt. Gen. Michael C. Short, Cmdr., Allied Air Forces Southern Europe |
| 1998 | Gen. Richard E. Hawley, Cmdr., ACC |
| 1997 | Men and women of the United States Air Force |
| 1996 | Gen. Ronald R. Fogleman, Chief of Staff, USAF |
| 1995 | World War II Army Air Forces veterans |
| 1994 | Gen. John Michael Loh, Cmdr., Air Combat Command |
| 1993 | Gen. Merrill A. McPeak, Chief of Staff, USAF |
| 1992 | Gen. Colin L. Powell, USA, Chm., Joint Chiefs of Staff |
| 1991 | Lt. Gen. Charles A. Horner, Cmdr., CENTCOM Air Forces and 9th Air Force |
| 1990 | Gen. John T. Chain, CINC, SAC |
| 1989 | Gen. Larry D. Welch, Chief of Staff, USAF |
| 1988 | Men and women of the Ground-Launched Cruise Missile team |
| 1987 | Adm. William J. Crowe Jr., USN, Chm., Joint Chiefs of Staff |
| 1986 | Gen. Charles A. Gabriel, USAF (Ret.), former Air Force Chief of Staff |
| 1984 | The President’s Commission on Strategic Forces (Scowcroft Commission) |
| 1983 | Ronald W. Reagan, President of the United States |
| 1982 | Gen. Lew Allen Jr., USAF (Ret.), former Chief of Staff |
| 1981 | Gen. David C. Jones, USAF, Chm., Joint Chiefs of Staff |
| 1980 | Gen. Richard H. Ellis, USAF, CINC, SAC |
| 1979 | Sen. John C. Stennis |
| 1978 | Gen. Alexander M. Haig Jr., USA, Supreme Allied Commander, Europe |
| 1977 | Sen. Howard W. Cannon |
| 1976 | Sen. Barry M. Goldwater |
| 1975 | James R. Schlesinger, Secretary of Defense |
| 1974 | Gen. George S. Brown, USAF, Chm., Joint Chiefs of Staff |
| 1973 | Gen. John D. Ryan, USAF (Ret.), former Chief of Staff |
| 1972 | Air units of the allied forces in Southeast Asia (Air Force, Navy, Army, Marine Corps, and the Vietnamese Air Force) |
| 1971 | John S. Foster Jr., Dir. of Defense Research and Engineering |
| 1970 | Apollo 11 team (J. L. Atwood; Lt. Gen. S. C. Phillips, USAF; and astronauts Neil Armstrong and USAF Cols. Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins) |
| 1969 | (No presentation) |
| 1968 | Col. Frank Borman, USAF; Capt. James Lovell, USN; and Lt. Col. William Anders, USAF, Apollo 8 crew |
| 1967 | Gen. William W. Momyer, Cmdr., 7th Air Force, PACAF |
| 1966 | The 8th, 12th, 355th, 366th, and 388th Tactical Fighter Wings and the 432nd and 460th TRWs |
| 1965 | The 2nd Air Division, PACAF |
| 1964 | Gen. Curtis E. LeMay, Chief of Staff, USAF |
| 1963 | The 363rd Tactical Recon. Wing and the 4080th Strategic Wing |
| 1962 | A. C. Dickieson and John R. Pierce, Bell Telephone Laboratories |
| 1961 | Lyle S. Garlock, Assistant SECAF |
| 1960 | Gen. Thomas D. White, Chief of Staff, USAF |
| 1959 | Gen. Thomas S. Power, CINC, SAC |
| 1958 | Maj. Gen. Bernard A. Schriever, Cmdr., Ballistic Missile Div., ARDC |
| 1957 | Edward P. Curtis, special assistant to the President |
| 1956 | Sen. W. Stuart Symington |
| 1955 | Gen. Nathan F. Twining, Chief of Staff, USAF |
| 1954 | John Foster Dulles, Secretary of State |
| 1953 | Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg, USAF (Ret.), former Air Force Chief of Staff |
| 1952 | Sen. Lyndon B. Johnson and Sen. Joseph C. O’Mahoney |
| 1951 | Gen. Curtis E. LeMay and the personnel of Strategic Air Command |
| 1950 | Airmen of the United Nations in the Far East |
| 1949 | Maj. Gen. William H. Tunner and the men of the Berlin Airlift |
| 1948 | W. Stuart Symington, Secretary of the Air Force |