MAJOR GENERAL CHARLES F.G. KUYK JR. Major General Charles F.G. Kuyk Jr. is commander, Twenty-Second Air Force, Military Airlift Command, with headquarters at Travis Air Force Base, Calif. General Kuyk was born in 1926, in New York City. He enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in July 1944 and served until he entered the U.S. Military Academy, West Point, N.Y. He graduated from the academy in June 1950 with a commission as a second lieutenant and a bachelor of science degree in military science. He has a master's degree in international relations from The George Washington University, Washington, D.C., and is a graduate of the Command and Staff School of the Naval War College and the Air War College. He received his pilot wings in 1951. After B-29 combat crew training, he was assigned to the 19th Bombardment Group on Okinawa, where he flew 32 combat missions during the Korean War. In 1952 General Kuyk served with the Strategic Air Command's 93rd Bombardment Wing at Castle Air Force Base, Calif., as a B-50 pilot. In 1953 he entered navigator-bombardier training in preparation for assignment as a B-47 pilot. In April 1954 he was assigned to the 310th Bombardment Wing, Salina Air Force Base, Kan., where he served as aircraft commander, instructor pilot and assistant operations officer. In August 1958 General Kuyk entered the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School, and from 1959 to August 1962 he was an experimental test pilot at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., where he primarily flew tests on B-47, B-52G and B-52H bomber aircraft. In August 1962 he entered the Command and Staff School of the Naval War College at Newport, R.I., and concurrently earned his master's degree in international relations from The George Washington University. In August 1963 General Kuyk was assigned to the Aeronautical Systems Division, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, where he was a test pilot and chief of the Bomber Operations Division. In August 1966 he entered the Air War College at Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala. General Kuyk served from October 1967 to November 1968 at Takhli, Thailand, where he flew 168 combat missions in EB-66 aircraft while assigned as operations officer and then commander of the 42nd Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron. From December 1968 to April 1971, General Kuyk served on the Air Staff in the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff, Research and Development. During this assignment he was chief of the Strategic Aircraft Division responsible for development plans for bomber aircraft modifications and new systems such as the B-1, short range attack missile and subsonic cruise armed decoy. He next served four years in the Military Airlift Command, first as vice commander of the 62nd Military Airlift Wing of McChord Air Force Base, Wash. In July 1972 he was transferred to Headquarters Military Airlift Command, Scott Air Force Base, Ill., as assistant deputy chief of staff, operations. In June 1973 he was named commander of the 436th Military Airlift Wing, Dover Air Force Base, Del. In May 1975 General Kuyk assumed duty as deputy director for strategic forces, Directorate of Operational Requirements, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff, Research and Development, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, and in February 1977 was named director of operational requirements, where he served until assuming command of the Twenty-Second Air Force on July 17, 1978. He is a command pilot with more than 11,000 flying hours in more than 50 types of aircraft, including 930 combat hours on 200 missions. His military decorations and awards include the Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit with oak leaf cluster, Distinguished Flying Cross, Bronze Star Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, Air Medal with 10 oak leaf clusters, Air Force Commendation Medal with two oak leaf clusters and the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award ribbon with two oak leaf clusters and "V" device. General Kuyk was promoted to the grade of major general Jan. 18, 1977, with date of rank Nov. 1, 1973. (Current as of February 1979)