Brigadier General MERLE D. HART

Brig. Gen. Merle D. Hart is the Director of Staff, Headquarters AFRC, Robins Air Force Base, Georgia. 

General Hart enlisted in the Air Force in December 1973 and received his commission as a second lieutenant through Officer Training School in 1981. A Master Navigator with more than 6,200 flying hours, General Hart flown in most major worldwide contingencies and 151 countries during his over four decades of continual service.  He served in a variety of enlisted and officer positions throughout his active duty and Reserve career. After serving almost 15 years as a traditional reservist, while owning and operating a successful electronic sensor and engineering company, he entered the Air Reserve Technician program in 1997. 

EDUCATION
1980 Bachelor of Science, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah
1986 Squadron Officers School
1988 Masters of Arts in Counseling, Liberty University, Lynchburg, Va.
1997 Air Command and Staff College
2002 Air War College
2004 National Security Management Course, Syracuse University, N.Y.

ASSIGNMENTS
1. March 1974 - December 1974, student, Electronic Crypto Technician School, Sheppard AFB, Texas
2. January 1975 - August 1977, technician, 1964th Communications Group, Ramstein Air Base, Germany
3. September 1977 - June 1980, 405th Combat Logistics Support Squadron, F-105, F-4 aircraft maintenance, Hill AFB, Utah
4. June 1980 - June 1981, aircraft maintenance, 911th Tactical Airlift Group, Pittsburgh International Airport - Air Reserve Station, Penn.
5. June 1981- October 1981, Officer Training School, Medina Annex, Lackland AFB, Texas
6. November 1981 - March 1983, student, Undergraduate and Advanced Navigation Training, Mather AFB, Calif.
7. April 1983 - July 1983, student, C-130 training, Little Rock AFB, Ark.
8. July 1983 - August 1997, traditional Reservist, 910th Airlift Wing, Youngstown ARS, Ohio
9. August 1997 - January 1999, air reserve technician, tactics officer and Chief of Operations Support Flight, 910th Airlift Wing, Youngstown ARS, Ohio
10. January 1999 - July 2001, Deputy Commander, 910th Operations Group, Youngstown ARS, Ohio
11. July 2001 - June 2002, Director of Operations, 910th Airlift Wing, Youngstown ARS, Ohio
12. June 2002 - October 2004, Commander, 914th Operations Group, 914th Airlift Wing, Niagara Falls, N.Y.
13. October 2004 - June 2007, Commander, 440th Airlift Wing, General Mitchell International Airport - Air Reserve Station, Wis.
14. June 2007 - September 2011, Commander, 440th Airlift Wing, Pope AFB, N.C.
15. September 2011 - November 2011, special assistant to the Vice Commander, Headquarters AFRC Robins AFB, Ga.
16. November 2011- March 2012, special assistant to the Vice Commander, AFRC
17. March 2012 - June 2013, Director of Strategic Initiatives, AFRC/Strategic Initiatives Office
18. June 2013 - June 2014, Senior Military Authority and Commander NATO Headquarters Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
19. July 2014 - present, Director of Staff, Headquarters AFRC, Robins AFB, Ga. 

 

 

FLIGHT INFORMATIONRating: master navigator
Flight hours: more than 6,263 hours 
Aircraft flown: T-43Z, C-9A, C-130,B,E,H1,H2, H2.5, H3

MAJOR AWARDS AND DECORATIONS
Air Force Distinguished Service Medal
Defense Superior Service Medal
Legion of Merit
Bronze Star
Meritorious Service Medal, three oak leaf clusters
Air Medal with oak leaf cluster
Aerial Achievement Medal, two oak leaf clusters
Air Force Commendation Medal with oak leaf cluster
Air Force Achievement Medal
Joint Meritorious Unit Award with oak leaf cluster
Meritorious Unit Award with oak leaf cluster
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with four oak leaf clusters
Combat Readiness Medal with two silver and two bronze oak leaf clusters
Air Force Good Conduct Medal
Air Reserve Forces Meritorious Service Medal
National Defense Service Medal with two bronze service stars
Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal with bronze service star
Southwest Asia Service Medal with bronze service star
Iraq Campaign Medal with with bronze service star
Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal
Global War on Terrorism Service Medal
Armed Forces Service Medal with bronze service star
Military Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal
Air Force Overseas Ribbon - Long Tour
Humanitarian Service Medal with two bronze service stars
Air Force Expeditionary Service Ribbon with gold border
Armed Forces Reserve Medal with four 'M' devices, three devices
NATO Medal
Kuwait Liberation Medal (government of Kuwait) 

EFFECTIVE DATES OF PROMOTION
Second Lieutenant Oct. 1, 1981
First Lieutenant Feb. 12, 1984
Captain Oct. 17, 1986
Major March 1992
Lieutenant Colonel Sept. 1,1999
Colonel Jan. 30, 2003
Brigadier General Feb. 2, 2010

(Current as of June 2015)