Major General Charles L. Wilson is vice commander of the Acquisition Logistics Division, Air Force Logistics Command, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.
General Wilson was born in 1924, in Paris, Texas. He graduated from Paschal High School, Forth Worth, Texas, in 1942 and attended Texas A&M University for one year. In May 1944, he graduated from aviation cadet flying training as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Air Corps.
He then served 18 months in the Southwest Pacific as a C-47/C-46 pilot and operations officer with the 403d Troop Carrier Group. He left active duty in August 1946 and become a member of the organized reserve at Hensley Field, Dallas, Texas, where he was an active flier for four years while attending Southern Methodist University. He graduated from SMU in 1950 with two bachelor's degrees, one in science (mechanical engineering) and the other a double major in business administration (statistics and industrial production management).
In May 1951, during the Korean war, he was called to active duty for 21 months as operations officer with the 443d Troop Carrier Group, Donaldson Air Force Base, S.C. Soon after his return to inactive duty, he accepted a regular Air Force commission on Aug. 3, 1953, and then served four years with the U.S. Air Forces in Europe as a group and wing operations officer in the 465th and 317th troop carrier wings.
After one year in the Class of '58 at Air Command and Staff College, Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala., he served two years as a plans officer at Headquarters 1st Missile Division, Strategic Air Command, Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. From July 1961 to July 1963, he was a graduate student at Massachusetts Institute of Technology at Cambridge, Mass., where he received a master of science degree in aeronautics and astronautics.
General Wilson next served two years as an astronautical engineer and plans officer in the Directorate of Plans at Headquarters Strategic Air Command, Offutt Air Force Base, Neb. He then attended the U.S. Army War College in the Class of '66 at Carlisle Barracks, Pa.
In July 1966 he was assigned to Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C., as chief, Strategic and Defense Branch, Directorate of Command Control and Communications. He later served two years in the Organization of the Joint Chiefs of Staff as chief, Systems Division, Joint Command Control Requirements Group.
In July 1970, he left Washington and began a four-year tour of duty in Air Force Systems Command. First he served a year in Los Angeles, Calif., as deputy commander of the Air Force Satellite Control Facility in the Space and Missile Systems Organization, then spent 10 months at Bedford, Mass., as vice commander, Electronic Systems Division, L.G. Hanscom Field. In May 1972 he moved to Andrews Air Force Base, Md., as the inspector general in Headquarters Air Force Systems Command; then in September 1972, he became chief of staff for procurement and production, and responsible for procurement policy and guidance for 5,600 personnel handling annual contract awards of more than $6.5 billion.
In August 1974, General Wilson assumed duties as chief, Special Project Office, Static War Headquarters, Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe, Belgium, where for almost four years he was directly responsible to the chief of staff for coordinating and managing a $100 million international project for acquisition of a new protected underground command center for SHAPE. He assumed his present duty as vice commander of the Acquisition Logistics Division, AFLC, in May 1978.
His military decorations and awards include the Distinguished Service Medal with oak leaf cluster, Meritorious Service Medal, Joint Service Commendation Medal with two oak leaf clusters, Army Commendation Medal with oak leaf cluster, Presidential Unit Citation Emblem and the Missileman Badge. He is a command pilot with more than 5,000 flying hours.
He was promoted to the grade of major general effective May 1, 1975, with a date of rank of July 1, 1972.
(Current as of February 2021)