Norton A. Schwartz

Norton Schwartz

Schwartz circa 2008
Born (1951-12-14) December 14, 1951
Toms River, New Jersey, U.S.
Allegiance  United States
Service/branch  United States Air Force
Years of service 1973–2012
Rank General
Commands held Chief of Staff of the Air Force
U.S. Transportation Command
Eleventh Air Force
Alaskan Command
U.S. Special Operations Command-Pacific
16th Special Operations Wing
36th Airlift Squadron
Battles/wars Gulf War
Awards See below

Norton Allan Schwartz[1] (born December 14, 1951)[2] is a retired United States Air Force general[3] who served as the 19th Chief of Staff of the Air Force from August 12, 2008 until his retirement in 2012.[4] As Chief of Staff, he served as the senior uniformed Air Force officer responsible for the organization, training and equipping of nearly 700,000 active-duty Air Force, Air Force Reserve, Air National Guard and civilian forces serving in the United States and overseas. As a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Schwartz functioned as a military adviser to the Secretary of Defense, National Security Council and the President. He previously served as Commander, United States Transportation Command from September 2005 to August 2008.

Schwartz graduated from the United States Air Force Academy in 1973. He is an alumnus of the National War College, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and a 1994 Fellow of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Seminar XXI. He has served as Commander of the U.S. Special Operations Command Pacific, as well as Alaskan Command, Alaskan North American Aerospace Defense Command Region and the 11th Air Force.

Schwartz is a USAF Command Pilot with more than 4,400 flying hours in a variety of aircraft. He has flown C-130 Hercules and MC-130 Combat Talon I and Combat Talon II aircraft and MH-53 Pave Low III and Pave Low IV, and MH-60 Black Hawk and Pave Hawk special ops helicopters. His operational background goes back to the final days of the Vietnam War; at the time, he was a crew member taking part in the 1975 airlift evacuation of Saigon.[5] By 1991 he was chief of staff of the Joint Special Operations Task Force for Northern Iraq during the first Gulf War. He participated as a crew member in the 1975 airlift evacuation of Saigon, and in 1991 served as Chief of Staff of the Joint Special Operations Task Force for Northern Iraq in operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. In 1997, he led the Joint Task Force that prepared for the noncombatant evacuation of U.S. citizens in Cambodia.

Schwartz is the first Air Force Chief of Staff with a background as an Air Force transport and special operations airplane and helicopter pilot and not with a background as a fighter or bomber pilot. It is speculated that Secretary of Defense Robert Gates picked him for that reason.[6]

Official Air Force portrait painting of General Norton Schwartz painted by Michele Rushworth

Background

Schwartz grew up in Toms River, New Jersey,[7] the son of a typewriter salesman.[8] The first Jewish Chief of Staff of the Air Force, Schwartz was a member of the U.S. Air Force Academy Jewish choir before his 1973 graduation.[9] In 2004 Schwartz was awarded the Jewish Community Center's Military Leadership Award. In accepting the award, Schwartz said he was "proud to be identified as Jewish as well as an American military leader."

Education

Assignments

  1. August 1973 – September 1974, student, undergraduate pilot training, Laughlin AFB, Texas
  2. October 1974 – January 1975, student, C-130 initial qualification training, Little Rock AFB, Arkansas
  3. February 1975 – October 1977, C-130E aircraft commander, 776th and 21st Tactical Airlift Squadrons, Clark Air Base, Philippines
  4. October 1977 – December 1977, student, Squadron Officer School, Maxwell AFB, Alabama
  5. December 1977 – October 1979, C-130E/H flight examiner, 61st Tactical Airlift Squadron, Little Rock AFB, Arkansas
  6. October 1979 – November 1980, intern, Air Staff Training Program, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Plans, Operations and Readiness, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C.
  7. November 1980 – July 1983, MC-130E flight examiner, 8th Special Operations Squadron, Hurlburt Field, Florida
  8. July 1983 – January 1984, student, Armed Forces Staff College, Norfolk, Virginia
  9. January 1984 – April 1986, action officer, Directorate of Plans, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Plans and Operations, Headquarters, U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C.
  10. May 1986 – June 1988, Commander, 36th Tactical Airlift Squadron, McChord AFB, Washington
  11. August 1988 – June 1989, student, National War College, Fort Lesley J. McNair, Washington, D.C.
  12. July 1989 – July 1991, Director of Plans and Policy, Special Operations Command Europe, Patch Barracks, Stuttgart-Vaihingen, Germany
  13. August 1991 – May 1993, Deputy Commander for Operations and Commander, 1st Special Operations Group, Hurlburt Field, Florida
  14. May 1993 – May 1995, Deputy Director of Operations, later, Deputy Director of Forces, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Plans and Operations, Headquarters, U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C.
  15. June 1995 – May 1997, Commander, 16th Special Operations Wing, Hurlburt Field, Florida
  16. June 1997 – October 1998, Commander, Special Operations Command, Pacific, Camp H.M. Smith, Hawaii
  17. October 1998 – January 2000, Director of Strategic Planning, Deputy Chief of Staff for Plans and Programs, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C.
  18. January 2000 – September 2000, Deputy Commander in Chief, U.S. Special Operations Command, MacDill AFB, Florida
  19. September 2000 – October 2002, Commander, Alaskan Command, Alaskan North American Aerospace Defense Command Region and 11th Air Force, Elmendorf AFB, Alaska.
  20. October 2002 – October 2004, Director for Operations, the Joint Staff, Pentagon, Washington, D.C.
  21. October 2004 – August 2005, Director, the Joint Staff, Pentagon, Washington, D. C.
  22. September 2005 – September 2008, Commander, U.S. Transportation Command, Scott AFB, Illinois
  23. August 2008 – August 2012, Chief of Staff, Headquarters, U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C.

Flight information

Awards and decorations

Air Force Command Pilot Badge
Parachutist Badge
Joint Chiefs of Staff Badge
Headquarters Air Force Badge
Defense Distinguished Service Medal with three bronze oak leaf clusters
 Air Force Distinguished Service Medal with bronze oak leaf cluster
 Defense Superior Service Medal with bronze oak leaf cluster
Width-44 crimson ribbon with a pair of width-2 white stripes on the edges Legion of Merit with two bronze oak leaf clusters
Defense Meritorious Service Medal
Width-44 crimson ribbon with two width-8 white stripes at distance 4 from the edges. Meritorious Service Medal with two bronze oak leaf clusters
 Air Force Commendation Medal with bronze oak leaf cluster
Width-44 myrtle green ribbon with width-3 white stripes at the edges and five width-1 stripes down the center; the central white stripes are width-2 apart Army Commendation Medal
Air Force Achievement Medal
Joint Meritorious Unit Award with silver and three bronze oak leaf clusters
V
 Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with Valor device and three bronze oak leaf clusters
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award (Fifth award requires second ribbon due to accouterment spacing)
Air Force Organizational Excellence Award
Combat Readiness Medal with two bronze oak leaf clusters
Bronze star
Bronze star
Width=44 scarlet ribbon with a central width-4 golden yellow stripe, flanked by pairs of width-1 scarlet, white, Old Glory blue, and white stripes
 National Defense Service Medal with two service stars
Bronze star
Bronze star
Width-44 ribbon with the following stripes, arranged symmetrically from the edges to the center: width-2 black, width-4 chamois, width-2 Old Glory blue, width-2 white, width-2 Old Glory red, width-6 chamouis, width-3 myrtle green up to a central width-2 black stripe
 Southwest Asia Service Medal with two service stars
Global War on Terrorism Service Medal
Bronze star
Bronze star
Bronze star
 Humanitarian Service Medal with three service stars
Air Force Overseas Short Tour Service Ribbon
 Air Force Overseas Long Tour Service Ribbon with bronze oak leaf cluster
Air Force Longevity Service Award with silver and three bronze oak leaf clusters
Small Arms Expert Marksmanship Ribbon
Air Force Training Ribbon
Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland[10]
Kuwait Liberation Medal (Kuwait)

Effective dates of promotion

Promotions
Insignia Rank Date
GeneralOctober 1, 2005
Lieutenant General January 18, 2000
Major GeneralMarch 4, 1999
Brigadier GeneralJanuary 1, 1996
ColonelFebruary 1, 1991
Lieutenant ColonelMarch 1, 1985
MajorNovember 1, 1982
CaptainJune 6, 1977
First LieutenantJune 6, 1975
Second LieutenantJune 6, 1973

References

  1. ↑
  2. ↑
  3. ↑ "Gen. Norton Schwartz biography". USA Today. Associated Press. June 9, 2008. Retrieved April 27, 2010.
  4. ↑ "General Norton A. Schwartz". Air Force Link. Archived from the original on December 12, 2012. Retrieved July 14, 2009.
  5. ↑ http://defensetech.org/2008/06/13/schwartz-a-chief-to-mend-fences/
  6. ↑ "Schwartz a Chief to Mend Fences", Defense Tech, June 13, 2008. Retrieved November 3, 2010.
  7. ↑ National Journal, Decision Makers. Archived September 1, 2010, at the Wayback Machine.
  8. ↑ "New Chief Aims To Restore Air Force's Reputation". NPR. August 26, 2008. Retrieved October 7, 2010.
  9. ↑ "Jewish General To Pilot Evangelical-Friendly Air Force". The Jewish Daily Forward. June 12, 2008. Retrieved October 6, 2010.
  10. ↑ Krzyż Komandorski Orderu Zasługi Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej dla dowódcy USAF – prezydent.pl
Military offices
Preceded by
Timothy J. Keating		 Director of the Joint Staff
2004 - 2005 		Succeeded by
Walter L. Sharp
Preceded by
John W. Handy		 Commander, United States Transportation Command
2005 - 2008 		Succeeded by
Duncan J. McNabb
Preceded by
Michael Moseley		 Chief of Staff of the Air Force
2008–2012 		Succeeded by
Mark Welsh
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/14/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.