Lieutenant General George K. Muellner is principal deputy, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Washington, D.C. He serves as the Air Force acquisition executive in carrying out the management responsibilities for the Air Force acquisition system to include direction, guidance and supervision over all matters pertaining to the formulation, review, approval and execution of plans, policies and programs relative to acquisition. Additionally, he is designated as the Air Force chief information officer
The general entered the Air Force through the Reserve Officer Training Corps program at the University of Illinois. Most of his career was spent as a fighter pilot, fighter weapons instructor and test pilot with more than 5,300 hours in F-4, A-7, F-15 and F-16 aircraft. He completed 690 combat missions in Vietnam flying the F-4, and during Operation Desert Storm he commanded the Joint Stars deployment, logging another 50 combat sorties. He has commanded a classified test squadron, the Joint Stars Squadron and a tactical fighter wing.
As director of requirements at Air Combat Command, he orchestrated the operational requirements for all of the combat air forces and then became the mission area director for tactical, command, control and communications (C3), and weapons programs for the assistant secretary of the Air Force, acquisition. As the program executive officer for the Joint Advanced Strike Technology Program, he created this joint service development activity.
EDUCATION
1967 Bachelor of science degree in aeronautical and astronautical engineering, University of Illinois
1974 Master of science degree in aeronautical systems management, University of Southern California
1978 Naval War College, by correspondence
1979 Master's degree in electrical engineering, California State University
1983 Master's degree in business administration, Auburn University
1983 Air War College, Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala.
1991 Defense Systems Management College, Fort Belvoir, Va.
ASSIGNMENTS
1. October 1968 - May 1970, F-4 pilot, 12th Tactical Fighter Wing, Cam Ranh Bay Air Base, South Vietnam and the 479th Tactical Fighter Wing, George Air Force Base, Calif.
2. June 1970 - July 1971, wing weapons officer, 8th Tactical Fighter Wing, Ubon Royal Thai Air Base, Thailand
3. July 1971 - May 1973, F-4F weapons instructor pilot, German Fighter Weapons School, George Air Force Base, Calif.
4. May 1973 - July 1982, F-15 operational test pilot, 4486th Test Squadron, Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. Also served as chief of systems testing, USAF Test Pilot School; test pilot with the F-16 Combined Test Force; and operations officer and commander, 6513th Test Squadron, testing classified aircraft
5. July 1982 - June 1983, Air War College, Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala.
6. June 1983 - September 1983, weapons and tactics chief, Headquarters U.S. Air Forces in Europe, Ramstein Air Base, West Germany
7. September 1983 - September 1984, director of operations and training, Headquarters U.S. Air Forces in Europe, Ramstein Air Base, West Germany
8. September 1984 - May 1985, director of standardization and evaluation, flying the F-16, Headquarters U.S. Air Forces in Europe, Ramstein Air Base, West Germany
9. May 1985 - June 1987, deputy commander for operations, 36th Tactical Fighter Wing, Bitburg Air Base, West Germany
10. June 1987 - May 1988, vice commander, 57th Fighter Weapons Wing, Nellis Air Force Base, Nev.
11. May 1988 - September 1989, commander, 35th Tactical Fighter Wing, George Air Force Base, Calif.
12. September 1989 - December 1990, assistant deputy chief of staff for requirements, Headquarters Tactical Air Command, Langley Air Force Base, Va.
13. December 1990 - April 1991, formed the 4411th Joint STARS Squadron and employed the Joint Surveillance Targeting and Attack Radar System aircraft in support of Operation Desert Storm
14. April 1991 - June 1992, deputy chief of staff for requirements, Headquarters Tactical Air Command, Langley Air Force Base, Va.
15. June 1992 - September 1993, deputy chief of staff for requirements, Headquarters Air Combat Command, Langley Air Force Base, Va.
16. September 1993 - December 1993, mission area director, tactical, command, control and communications (C3), and weapons programs, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force, (Acquisition), Washington, D.C.
17. December 1993 - August 1995, director and program executive officer, Joint Advanced Strike Technology Program, Washington, D.C.
18. August 1995 - present, principal deputy, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force (Acquisition), Washington, D.C.
FLIGHT INFORMATION
Rating: Command pilot, parachutist, missile officer
Flight hours: More than 5,300 fighter hours
Aircraft flown: F-4, F-15, A-7, F-16, and 117 others
MAJOR AWARDS AND DECORATIONS
Defense Distinguished Service Medal
Legion of Merit
Distinguished Flying Cross with three oak leaf clusters
Purple Heart
Meritorious Service Medal with three oak leaf clusters
Air Medal with 27 oak leaf clusters
Air Force Commendation Medal with three oak leaf clusters
OTHER ACHIEVEMENTS
1991 and 1994 Aviation Week Laureate
Jimmy Doolittle Fellow, Aerospace Education of the Air Force Association
Distinguished Service Award, Association of Old Crows
Air Force Association Theodore von Karman Award
Clarence L. (Kelly) Johnson Award, Engineers Council
EFFECTIVE DATES OF PROMOTION
Second Lieutenant Mar 8, 1967
First Lieutenant Sep 19, 1968
Captain Mar 19, 1970
Major Sep 1, 1978
Lieutenant Colonel Oct 1, 1980
Colonel Nov 1, 1984
Brigadier General Oct 1, 1991
Major General Sep 28, 1994
Lieutenant General Aug 1, 1995
PUBLISHED ARTICLES
"Air Superiority with the Eagle," Tactics Analysis Bulletin, August 1975
"Developmental Testing Advanced Avionics Systems," USAF TPS Test, November 1977
"Closed Loop Flying Qualities Evaluations," AFFTC Manual, March 1978
"Flight Test in Combat," Cockpit, September 1991
(Current as of March 1998)