BRIGADIER GENERAL WILLIAM G. KING JR.
Retired
April 01,1971
Died June 21,2009
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Brigadier General William G. King Jr., is director of special projects, Office of the Secretary of the Air Force, and has additional duty as deputy commander for satellite programs, Space and Missile Systems Organization, Los Angeles Air Force Station, Calif.
General King was born in Topeka, Kan., in 1918. He attended Kansas public schools and graduated from the Dodge City High School in 1937. He attended Kansas State University where he received a commission from the Army Reserve Officers Training Corps Program as a second lieutenant in the Coast Artillery Corps. Active military duty during World War II interrupted his undergraduate work.
During World War II, General King spent 39 months in the Pacific Theater of Operations serving as an antiaircraft artillery officer. He returned to Kansas State University to complete a final semester work for a bachelor of science degree in civil engineering and graduated in January 1946.
He accepted a regular Army commission in 1947 and reentered active duty at Fort Warren, Wyo., with the Aviation Engineers Training School as a group commander. General King became a member of the U.S. Air Force upon its formation in 1947.
In 1949 after completing the guided missile course at Fort Bliss, Texas, he was assigned to the newly formed Joint Long Range Proving Center at Patrick Air Force Base, Fla. In this assignment he participated in a variety of activities including the initial exploration and surveys of the islands that became the downrange stations of the Air Force Eastern Test Range. He also served as the station commander at Grand Bahama Island Auxiliary Air Base.
General King attended the University of Chicago and received his master's degree in business administration in research and development management in 1954. His next assignment returned him to the Air Research and Development Command, Detachment 1, at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, where he served as the weapon systems project officer for the Snark Weapon System and for the Advance Reconnaissance System.
In July 1959 he began a series of assignments in the Los Angeles area which lasted for eight years. He served briefly as a program director for a space program within the Air Force Ballistic Missile Division before being assigned to the Directorate of Special Projects, Office of the Secretary of the Air Force. In September 1966 he became commander of the Air Force Satellite Control Facility, headquarters of the worldwide tracking network, located at the Los Angeles Air Force Station.
In August 1967 he reported for duty as the assistant deputy chief of staff for operations, Headquarters Air Force Systems Command, Andrews Air Force Base, Md. In January 1969 he became assistant to the director of special projects, Office of the Secretary of the Air Force, Los Angeles Air Force Station, Calif.
He became Director of Special Projects, Office of the Secretary of the Air Force, Los Angeles Air Force Station, Calif., in July 1969.
His military decorations include the Legion of Merit with oak leaf cluster, Bronze Star Medal, and Air Force Commendation Medal with oak leaf cluster.
(Current as of Oct. 15, 1969)