Major General John H. Wilkins is director of medical inspection, Air Force Inspection and Safety Center, Norton Air Force Base, Calif.
General Wilkins was born in McAlester, Okla., in 1921. He attended Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md., and received a doctor of medicine degree in May 1945. He served his internship and residency in surgery at Roosevelt Hospital, New York City; Brooke Army Hospital, Fort Sam Houston, Texas; and Gorgas Hospital Ancon, Canal Zone.
In June 1943 General Wilkins began his military career by enlisting in the Army under its Specialized Training Program. He began active duty as a medical officer in May 1946 at Brooke Army Medical Center, Fort Sam Houston, Texas, and in October 1946 was assigned to the Regional Army Air Forces Hospital at Lackland Field, Texas, as a general surgeon.
His next assignment, in February 1948, was to Gorgas Hospital, Panama Canal Zone, where he was assistant resident in surgery, until April. He then went to Albrook Air Force Base, Canal Zone, to be base flight surgeon for the 20th Troop Carrier Squadron. In June 1949 he proceeded to Ramey Air Force Base, Puerto Rico, where he became base flight surgeon and chief of the Surgical Service.
In November 1949 General Wilkins returned to the United States for duty at Carswell Air Force Base, Texas, as chief of the Surgical Service and flight surgeon for the 9th Bombardment Squadron, 7th Bombardment Wing. In June 1950 he was transferred to Washington, D.C., as chief of the Aircrew Standards Branch, Office of the Surgeon General, Headquarters U.S. Air Force.
In July 1954 he assumed duties as base surgeon and hospital commander at Norton Air Force Base, Calif. Three years later, he was appointed aviation and preventive medicine inspector for the Air Force inspector general, also at Norton Air Force Base. He entered the Air War College, Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala., in July 1959.
In June 1960 General Wilkins was assigned as deputy surgeon with the Third Air Force, in England. After a year, he was transferred to Germany to be director of professional services in Headquarters Seventeenth Air Force at Ramstein Air Base.
He returned to the United States in July 1963 and went to Lockbourne Air Force Base, Ohio, as commander of the USAF Hospital and surgeon for the 801st Air Division. General Wilkins returned to Washington, D.C., in March 1965 and was assigned to the Office of the Surgeon General, Headquarters U.S. Air Force. While there, he served as chief of the Plans and Management Division and later, as deputy director of Plans and Hospitalization.
General Wilkins became command surgeon for Aerospace Defense Command and North American Air Defense Command at Ent Air Force Base, Colo., in August 1970. He returned to the Office of the Surgeon General in Washington, D.C., as director of Medical Plans and Resources, in July 1971. He was appointed as director of medical inspection, Air Force Inspection and Safety Center, Norton Air Force Base, Calif., in July 1974.
He holds the aeronautical rating of chief flight surgeon, and is a graduate of the Flight Surgeon Course and the Wing Surgeon Course given by the Air Force School of Aviation Medicine, Brooks Air Force Base, Texas. He is a member of the Aerospace Medical Association, American Medical Association, Association of Military Surgeons of the United States, American College of Hospital Administrators, Society of Air Force Flight Surgeons, and the Air Force Association.
His military decorations and awards include the Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit with two oak leaf clusters, and the Air Force Commendation Medal with two oak leaf clusters. His hometown is Tulsa, Okla.
He was promoted to the grade of major general effective April 2, 1973, with date of rank Aug. 1, 1969.
(Current as of Sept. 15, 1974)