Brig. Gen. David Poythress is mobilization assistant to the Staff Judge Advocate, Air Mobility Command, Scott Air Force Base, III. He serves as chief adviser to the Staff Judge Advocate on Reserve matters, and oversees the training and readiness of some 148 judge advocate and 85 paralegal personnel assigned to AMC. The general serves in the dual capacity of Reserve adviser to the General Counsel, U.S. Transportation Command.
General Poythress is a distinguished military graduate of Emory University's Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps program. He entered active duty as assistant staff judge advocate at Bergstrom AFB, Texas, in 1967. He served four years on active duty as assistant staff judge advocate at the base and wing level, including a tour as Chief of Military Justice at Da Nang Air Base, South Vietnam. He was certified as trial defense counsel and also served as Chief of Civil Law at the numbered air force command level. The general has served in the Air Force Reserve continuously since 1972 as senior Reserve legal officer at various levels. As the senior Reserve legal officer attached to 9th Air Force, he was called to active duty to help oversee the use of Reserve legal resources in the continental United States during operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm.
In his civilian capacity, he is state labor commissioner of Georgia, an elected constitutional office.
EDUCATION
1964 Bachelor of Arts degree, Emory University, Atlanta, Ga.
1967 Doctor of Laws degree, Emory University, Atlanta, Ga.
1982 National Security Management Course, by correspondence
1986 Air War College, by correspondence
ASSIGNMENTS
1. August 1967 - September 1968, assistant staff judge advocate, Bergstrom AFB, Texas
2. September 1968 - August 1969, Chief of Civil Law, 12th Air Force, Bergstrom AFB, Texas
3. August 1969 - August 1970, assistant staff judge advocate and Chief of Military Justice, Da Nang Air Base, South Vietnam
4. September 1970 - August 1971, assistant staff judge advocate and military judge, Hamilton AFB, Calif.
5. July 1973 - August 1989, assistant staff judge advocate, Warner Robins Air Logistics Center, Robins AFB, Ga.
6. September 1989 - March 1991, senior individual mobilization augmentee to the Staff Judge Advocate, 9th Air Force, Shaw AFB, S.C.
7. March 1991 - present, mobilization assistant to the Staff Judge Advocate, Air Mobility Command, Scott AFB, III.
MAJOR AWARDS AND DECORATIONS
Meritorious Service Medal with oak leaf cluster
Air Force Commendation Medal with oak leaf cluster
EFFECTIVE DATES OF PROMOTION
Second Lieutenant June 8, 1964
First Lieutenant June 8, 1967
Captain June 11, 1969
Major June 8,1978
Lieutenant Colonel Sept. 21, 1983
Colonel March 28, 1988
Brigadier General Feb. 9, 1994
(Current as of January 1996)