BRIGADIER GENERAL CHARLES P. CABELL JR.

Brig. Gen. Charles P. Cabell Jr. is the commandant, Defense Systems Management College, Fort Belvoir, Va.

General Cabell was born in San Antonio, Texas, in 1936, and graduated from Gonzaga High School, Washington, D.C., in 1953. He received a bachelor's degree in engineering from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force in 1958. The general earned a master's degree in astronautics from the Air Force Institute of Technology at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, in 1967 and a master's degree in systems management from the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, in 1971. He completed the Air War College, Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala., in 1974.

In August 1958 General Cabell entered flight training and received his pilot wings at Vance Air Force Base, Okla., in October 1959. He was then assigned to Chennault Air Force Base, La., where he flew B-47s. From August 1960 to June 1965, he served at Loring Air Force Base, Maine, as a B-52 pilot.

After completing the Air Force Institute of Technology program in June 1967, the general went to the Republic of Vietnam where he initially served as an aircraft commander in F-4 Phantoms at Cam Ranh Bay Air Base, and then as a forward air controller and air liaison officer flying 0-1 Bird Dogs in the III Corps area. General Cabell has more than 500 combat flying hours. Upon returning to the United States in May 1969, he was assigned to the Satellite Test Center in Sunnyvale, Calif., as director of the field test force for a number of satellite programs. He earned his master's degree in systems management during this assignment.

He graduated from the Air War College in June 1974, and was selected to serve as military assistant to the director of land warfare for the Directorate of Defense Research and Engineering in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Washington, D.C. In 1976 he became military assistant to the chief scientist of the Air Force, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C.

From May 1978 to May 1981, General Cabell was assigned to the Electronic Systems Division at Hanscom Air Force Base, Mass., where he held several key positions, including deputy director for the Base and Installations Security Systems Program, director for the Iranian Air Defense Program, director for the Combat Information Systems Directorate and assistant deputy for Communications and Information Systems.

The general then transferred to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base as deputy for Reconnaissance, Strike and Electronic Warfare Systems with Aeronautical Systems Division, and in September 1982 he was named commander of the Aeronautical Systems Division's Air Force Wright Aeronautical Laboratories. In March 1983 General Cabell returned to Hanscom Air Force Base as the deputy for Airborne Warning and Control Systems, Headquarters Electronic Systems Division, Air Force Systems Command. He assumed his present duties in September 1985.

General Cabell is a command pilot with 3,500 flying hours. His military decorations and awards include the Legion of Merit with two oak leaf clusters, Distinguished Flying Cross, Bronze Star Medal, Meritorious Service Medal with oak leaf cluster and Air Medal with 17 oak leaf clusters.

The general is the third member of his family to attain general officer status. His late father, General Charles P. Cabell, retired from the U.S. Air Force in 1962. At that time, he was the deputy director of the Central Intelligence Agency. His great-grandfather was a brigade commander for the Confederacy until captured in 1863 by Union forces.

He was promoted to brigadier general Aug. 1, 1983, with same date of rank.


(Current as of March 1986)