MAJOR GENERAL WILLIAM S. HINTON JR. Maj. Gen. William S. Hinton Jr. is assistant deputy chief of staff, air and space operations, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C. He provides support to the deputy chief of staff for air and space operations and serves in his absence in carrying out his responsibilities to the secretary of the Air Force and the chief of staff for planning, operations, requirements and force structure necessary to support the warfighter with air and space power. As the Air Force deputy operations deputy to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, he determines operational requirements, concepts, doctrine, strategy, training and the assets necessary to support national security objectives and military strategy. The general entered the Air Force in 1967 after commissioning through the ROTC program at the University of North Carolina. He is a command pilot with more than 4,400 flying hours and 300 combat missions. His command experience includes a fighter wing and the Air Force's unique air intervention composite wing, which he formed and led at Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho. He also commanded the 3rd Air Force with responsibility for all U.S. Air Force bases and operations in Europe, north of the Alps, as well as air operations in sub-Sahara Africa. While at 3rd Air Force, the general was selected to command Joint Task Force Eagle Vista, which provided all U.S. military support for President Clinton's historic six-nation visit to Africa in 1998. From April to June 1999, he commanded Joint Task Force Shining Hope, providing humanitarian relief for more than 400,000 Kosovo refugees in Albania.EDUCATION1967 Bachelor of arts degree in history, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 1974 Squadron Officer School 1977 Air Command and Staff College 1979 Master's degree in public administration, Golden Gate University 1982 Joint Services Staff College, Canberra, Australia 1989 Executive Development Program, University of Illinois 1997 National Security Leadership Course, Syracuse University and Johns Hopkins UniversityASSIGNMENTS1. October 1967 - December 1968, undergraduate pilot training, Craig Air Force Base, Ala. 2. August 1969 - July 1970, A-37 pilot and flight lead, 604th Special Operations Squadron, Bien Hoa Air Base, South Vietnam 3. July 1970 - June 1971, A-37 pilot, flight lead, 603rd Special Operations Squadron, Hurlburt Field, Fla. 4. June 1971 - August 1974, A-37 instructor pilot and wing weapons officer, 4532nd Special Operations Training Squadron, 4510th Special Operations Training Group and the 6th Special Operations Squadron, 23rd Tactical Fighter Wing, England Air Force Base, La. 5. October 1974 - October 1975, F-4 instructor pilot and flight commander, 36th Tactical Fighter Squadron, 51st Composite Wing, Osan Air Base, South Korea 6. November 1975 - November 1978, F-4 instructor pilot, flight commander and flight examiner, 62nd Tactical Fighter Training Squadron, 56th Tactical Training Wing, MacDill Air Force Base, Fla. 7. November 1978 - June 1982, F-16 action officer, F-16 Systems Management Office, and later, F-16 branch chief, Fighter Division, Deputy Chief of Staff for Requirements, Headquarters Tactical Air Command, Langley Air Force Base, Va. 8. June 1982 - December 1982, student, Joint Services Staff College, Canberra, Australia 9. April 1983 - June 1984, A-10 pilot, 510th Tactical Fighter Squadron, and later, operations officer, 509th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Royal Air Force Bentwaters, England 10. June 1984 - February 1986, commander, Detachment 3, 81st Tactical Fighter Wing, Ahlhorn Air Base, West Germany 11. February 1986 - July 1987, deputy chief, Tactical Fighter Division, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Research, Development and Acquisition, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C. 12. September 1987 - April 1988, deputy commander for tactics and test, 57th Fighter Weapons Wing, Nellis Air Force Base, Nev. 13. April 1988 - August 1989, vice commander, 474th Tactical Fighter Wing, Nellis Air Force Base, Nev. 14. August 1989 - July 1991, commander, 58th Tactical Training Wing, Luke Air Force Base, Ariz. 15. July 1991 - June 1993, commander, 366th Wing (Composite), Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho 16. July 1993 - October 1993, special assistant to the commander, Headquarters Air Combat Command, Langley Air Force Base, Va. 17. October 1993 - July 1995, director of requirements, Headquarters Air Combat Command, Langley Air Force Base, Va. 18. July 1995 - July 1997, deputy commander, 6th Allied Tactical Air Force, NATO, Izmir, Turkey 19. July 1997 - July 1999, commander, 3rd Air Force, Royal Air Force Mildenhall, England 20. July 1999 - December 1999, director for Expeditionary Aerospace Force Implementation, Deputy Chief of Staff for Air and Space Operations, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C. 21. December 1999 - present, assistant deputy chief of staff for air and space operations, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C.FLIGHT INFORMATIONRating: Command pilotFlight hours: More than 4,400 Aircraft flown: F-15E, F-16A/C/CG, F-111D, EF-111, A-10, F-4C/D/E, A-37, T-38 and T-37MAJOR AWARDS AND DECORATIONSDefense Distinguished Service MedalDistinguished Service Medal with oak leaf clusterDefense Superior Service MedalLegion of MeritDistinguished Flying CrossMeritorious Service Medal with three oak leaf clustersAir Medal with nine oak leaf clustersAir Force Commendation Medal with two oak leaf clustersPresidential Unit CitationJoint Meritorious Unit AwardAir Force Outstanding Unit Award with "V" device and four oak leaf clustersCombat Readiness Medal with three oak leaf clustersNational Defense Service Medal with service starVietnam Service Medal with four service starsHumanitarian Service MedalRepublic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with PalmRepublic of Vietnam Campaign MedalEFFECTIVE DATES OF PROMOTIONSecond Lieutenant Jun 5, 1967First Lieutenant Apr 23, 1969Captain Oct 23, 1970Major Aug 1, 1979Lieutenant Colonel Nov 1, 1981Colonel Nov 1, 1986Brigadier General Sep 1, 1992Major General Aug 1, 1995 (Current as of July 2000)