LIEUTENANT GENERAL KENNETH W. SCHULTZ

Lt. Gen. Kenneth W. Schultz is commander, Space and Missile Systems Organization, of the Air Force Systems Command, at Los Angeles Air Force Station, Calif.

General Schultz was born in 1920, in Buffalo, N.Y., where he graduated from East High School in 1937. He was awarded the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Award for excellence in science and mathematics in the state of New York. He received a bachelor of science degree in aeronautical engineering, summa, cum laude, from New York University in 1951, and later studied graduate engineering at Ohio State University. He received a master of business administration degree from The George Washington University in 1961 and graduated from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces in 1961.

He entered aviation cadet training at Maxwell Field, Ala., in November 1941; continued training at Arcadia, Fla., Augusta and Albany, Ga.; and received his pilot wings and commission as second lieutenant in July 1942. In addition to his present military rating as a command pilot, General Schultz possesses a commercial pilot's license.

During World War II, General Schultz went to the European Theater of Operations in November 1942 as commander of the 95th Bombardment Squadron, equipped with B-26 bomber aircraft, and served in campaigns in North Africa, Sicily, Sardinia, and Italy. At the end of the war, he was serving in Washington, D.C., as chief, Flying Safety Division in the Army Air Forces headquarters.

In July 1948 he entered New York University under the U.S. Air Force Institute of Technology program to study aeronautical engineering.

General Schultz began his association with Air Force research and development with his assignment in June 1951 to Wright Air Development Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. He served successively as deputy chief, Aircraft and Missile Preliminary Design Branch; deputy chief, Aerodynamics Branch; and chief, operations. In July 1953 he became assistant director, Flight and All-Weather Testing, and later became director. As an active test pilot and director, he participated in the all-weather evaluation, weapons effects, and component testing of fighter aircraft through the Century series, bomber aircraft through the B-52, and the latest cargo and helicopter aircraft. In addition, he conducted flight evaluation of British and French aircraft and was one of the test pilots who flew the Russian Mig-15.

He was assigned in July 1956 as deputy commander of a Strategic Air Command F-84 organization, the 12th Strategic Fighter Wing at Bergstrom Air Force Base, Texas. In August 1957 he went to England as commander of a SAC B-47 Reflex Alert Force with headquarters at Royal Air Force Station Upper Heyford. He entered the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, Washington, D.C., in August 1960.

In June 1961 General Schultz was assigned to Headquarters U.S. Air Force where he served in the Directorate of Development Planning as chief, Special Systems Division; chief, Space Development Plans Division; and lastly as deputy director of development planning, space. In June 1964 he became assistant for manned space flight and in May 1965 special project officer for the Deputy Chief of Staff, Research and Development.

General Schultz rejoined the Air Force Systems Command in July 1965 and served at Norton Air Force Base, Calif., as deputy for ballistic missile reentry systems for the Space and Missile Systems Organization (then the Ballistic Systems Division). In June 1967 he assumed duties as deputy for Minuteman, Space and Missile Systems Organization. During this period, the Minuteman program office designed and developed the Minuteman III, the country's first MIRV intercontinental missile.

In August 1971 General Schultz was assigned as deputy chief of staff, systems, Air Force Systems Command, Andrews Air Force Base, Md. He became commander of the Space and Missile Systems Organization at Los Angeles Air Force Station, Calif., in August 1972.

His military decorations and awards include the Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal with seven oak leaf clusters, Air Force Commendation Medal, Army Commendation Medal with oak leaf cluster, and the Purple Heart. In 1970 he received the Eugene M. Zuckert Management Award and the Air Force Association's Theodore von Karman Trophy (the Association's highest honor for distinguished service in the field of aerospace science and engineering). In 1971 he received the Arnold Air Society Zuckert Award for Management.

He is a member of the Tau Beta Pi Honorary Engineering Society and was recipient of the California State Air Force Association's highest award, The Military Man of the Year for 1969. He is also a member of the Board of Governors of the National Space Club.

General Schultz's hometown is Buffalo, N.Y.

He was promoted to grade of lieutenant general Aug. 25, 1972.


(Current as of Aug. 1, 1974)