List of United States Air Force Academy alumni
Table:
Name

Class year

Notability

References

Nicole Malachowski

1996

Colonel; first woman to serve as a pilot with the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds

[159]

Shawna Rochelle Kimbrell

1998

Major; first African-American woman to serve as a combat pilot

[160]

Janet C. Wolfenbarger

1980

General; as of June 5, 2012, first female in the U.S. Air Force to attain the rank of General.

Charles V. Bush

1963

Officer; first African-American to graduate from the U.S. Air Force Academy

[161]

Paul K. Carlton, Jr.

1969

Lieutenant General; Surgeon General of the U.S. Air Force; recipient of the Distinguished Service Medal; son of General Paul K. Carlton

[162]

Charles C. Baldwin

1969

Major General; Chief of Chaplains of the U.S. Air Force; Pilot; recipient of the Distinguished Service Medal with Oak leaf cluster, Legion of Merit with Oak leaf cluster, Distinguished Flying Cross with Oak leaf cluster

[151]

Scott A. Hammond

1975

Major General; Commander and Chief of Staff of the Georgia Air National Guard

[163]

Héctor Andrés Negroni

1961

Colonel; Fighter PIlot, Historian, Defense Industry Executive and first Puerto Rican to graduate from the U.S. Air Force Academy

Susan K. Mashiko

1980

Major General; first female of Japanese descent from any military service to be promoted to Flag/General Officer

[164]

Sharon K.G. Dunbar

1982

Major General; first military member of Korean descent to be promoted to Flag/General Officer; first female to command the Air Force District of Washington and Hill Air Force Base

[165]

Drawing on the following table and the relevant paragraphs listed below.

Respond to the question below: What was the 1963 alumnus known for being ? Provide just your answer in a JSON object {"answer": "YOUR ANSWER"}. Base your answer solely on the given information.

Nicole Margaret Ellingwood Malachowski ( born September 26 , 1974 ) is a retired United States Air Force officer and the first female pilot selected to fly as part of the USAF Air Demonstration Squadron , better known as the Thunderbirds . Malachowski was a Civil Air Patrol cadet before she entered the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1992 . She was commissioned as a second lieutenant upon graduation in 1996 . Her first public performance with the Thunderbirds was in March 2006 , and her aviator call sign was FiFi . She spent the 2006 and 2007 air show seasons flying the Number 3 ( Right Wing ) aircraft in the diamond formation . Between September 1 , 2008 and August 31 , 2009 , Malachowski was on special assignment , participating in the White House Fellows Program for the Class of 2008-2009 , assigned to the General Services Administration . In 2011 , she took command of the 333d Fighter Squadron at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base , North Carolina . In September 2015 , she returned to the White House to become the executive director of its Joining Forces initiative for supporting veterans , service members , and military families . She retired from the Air Force in 2017 after attaining the rank of colonel .
Colonel ( /ˈkɜːrnəl/ kernel ; abbreviated Col. , Col or COL ) is a senior military officer rank below the general officer ranks . However , in some small military forces , such as those of Monaco or the Vatican , colonel is the highest rank . It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations . Historically , in the seventeenth , eighteenth and nineteenth centuries , a colonel was typically in charge of a regiment in an army . Modern usage varies greatly , and in some cases , the term is used as an honorific title that may have no direct relationship to military service . The rank of colonel is typically above the rank of lieutenant colonel . The rank above colonel is typically called brigadier , brigade general or brigadier general . Equivalent naval ranks may be called captain or ship-of-the-line captain . In the Commonwealth air force rank system , the equivalent rank is group captain .
The USAF Air Demonstration Squadron ( Thunderbirds ) is the air demonstration squadron of the United States Air Force ( USAF ) . The Thunderbirds are assigned to the 57th Wing , and are based at Nellis Air Force Base , Nevada . Created 67 years ago in 1953 , the USAF Thunderbirds are the third-oldest formal flying aerobatic team ( under the same name ) in the world , after the French Air Force Patrouille de France formed in 1931 and the United States Navy Blue Angels formed in 1946 . The Thunderbirds Squadron tours the United States and much of the world , performing aerobatic formation and solo flying in specially marked aircraft . The squadron 's name is taken from the legendary creature that appears in the mythologies of several indigenous North American cultures .
Shawna Rochelle Kimbrell is a Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Air Force , and the first female African-American fighter pilot in the history of that service . She flew the F-16 Fighting Falcon during combat missions in Operation Northern Watch . She is stationed at Nellis Air Force Base where she is a member of the 78th Attack Squadron and serves as an MQ-9 Pilot and Mission Commander .
Major is a military rank of commissioned officer status , with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world .
African Americans ( also referred to as Black Americans or Afro-Americans ) are an ethnic group of Americans with total or partial ancestry from any of the black racial groups of Africa . The phrase generally refers to descendants of enslaved black people who are from the United States . African Americans constitute the third largest ethnic group and the second largest racial group in the US , after White Americans and Hispanic and Latino Americans . Most African Americans are descendants of enslaved peoples within the boundaries of the present United States . On average , African Americans are of West/Central African and European descent , and some also have Native American ancestry . According to U.S. Census Bureau data , African immigrants generally do not self-identify as African American . The overwhelming majority of African immigrants identify instead with their own respective ethnicities ( ≈95% ) . Immigrants from some Caribbean , Central American , and South American nations and their descendants may or may not also self-identify with the term . African-American history starts in the 16th century , with peoples from West Africa forcibly taken as slaves to Latin America , and in the 17th century with West African slaves taken to English colonies in North America . After the founding of the United States , black people continued to be enslaved , and the last four million black slaves were only liberated after the Civil War in 1865 . Due to notions of white supremacy , they were treated as second-class citizens . The Naturalization Act of 1790 limited U.S. citizenship to whites only , and only white men who owned property could vote .
Janet Carol Wolfenbarger ( née Libby ; born 1958 ) is a retired United States Air Force four-star general who served as the eighth commander of Air Force Materiel Command from June 5 , 2012 , to June 8 , 2015 . She was the first woman to achieve the rank of four-star general in the Air Force . Wolfenbarger retired from the Air Force after over 35 years of service .
In the United States Army , United States Marine Corps , United States Air Force , and United States Space Force , general ( abbreviated as GEN in the Army or Gen in the Marine Corps , Air Force , and Space Force ) is a four-star general officer rank , with the pay grade of O-10 . General ranks above lieutenant general and below General of the Army or General of the Air Force ; the Marine Corps and Space Force does not have an established grade above general . General is equivalent to the rank of admiral in the other uniformed services . Since the grades of General of the Army and General of the Air Force are reserved for wartime use only , and since the Marine Corps has no five-star equivalent , the grade of general is the highest appointment an officer can achieve in peacetime .
Charles Vernon Bush ( December 17 , 1939 - November 5 , 2012 ) was an American civil rights activist , retired senior corporate executive and former U.S. Air Force officer . In 1954 , Bush was selected by Chief Justice Earl Warren for appointment as the first African-American page of the Supreme Court of the United States . He was also one of the first three African-American Cadets to attend the U.S. Air Force Academy and the first African American to graduate from there .
An officer is a member of an armed forces or uniformed service who holds a position of authority . In its broadest sense , the term officer refers to commissioned officers , non-commissioned officers , and warrant officers . However , when used without further detail , the term almost always refers to only commissioned officers , the more senior portion of a force who derive their authority from a commission from the head of state .
Lieutenant General ( Dr. ) Paul Kendall Carlton Jr. ( born May 13 , 1947 ) was the 17th Surgeon General of the United States Air Force , Headquarters U.S. Air Force , Bolling Air Force Base , D.C. General Carlton was commissioned after being honored a distinguished graduate of the United States Air Force Academy in 1969 . He is a fellow and former Air Force governor of the American College of Surgeons . He was named a consultant in general surgery to the Air Force surgeon general in 1981 . He conceptualized and implemented the first Air Force rapid-response surgical team in Europe - the flying ambulance surgical trauma team . He remains an active surgeon having performed more than 4,000 operations as principal surgeon and 6,000 as first assistant . He has published extensively in medical literature . An active flier , General Carlton holds Federal Aviation Administration commercial , instrument , multi-engine , glider and instructor ratings . During Operation Desert Storm , he commanded the 1702nd Air Refueling Wing Contingency Hospital , completing 32 combat support missions and 140 combat flying hours in the C-21 , C-130 , KC-10 and KC-135 . He retired from the Air Force December 1 , 2002 . After retiring from the Air Force , General Carlton was named Director of the Homeland Security Initiative for the Texas A & M Health Science Center to address homeland security issues related to human health . General Carlton is the managing member of PK Concepts , LLC .
General Paul Kendall Carlton ( April 14 , 1921 - November 23 , 2009 ) , also known as P. K. Carlton , was commander in chief of the Military Airlift Command , with headquarters at Scott Air Force Base , Illinois .
Charles Cread Baldwin ( born April 7 , 1947 ) is a former Chief of Chaplains of the United States Air Force .
Scott A. Hammond is a former major general and Commander and Chief of Staff of the Georgia Air National Guard .
The Georgia Air National Guard ( GA ANG ) is the aerial militia of the State of Georgia , United States of America . It is , along with the Georgia Army National Guard , an element of the Georgia National Guard . As state militia units , the units in the Georgia Air National Guard are not in the normal United States Air Force chain of command . They are under the jurisdiction of the Governor of Georgia through the office of the Georgia Adjutant General unless they are federalized by order of the President of the United States . The Georgia Air National Guard is headquartered in Atlanta , GA , and its commander is Brigadier General Thomas F Grabowski .
Colonel Héctor Andrés Negroni ( born January 30 , 1938 ) is an Air Force officer , historian , senior aerospace defense executive , author and the first Puerto Rican graduate of the United States Air Force Academy . He was commissioned by Spain 's Fifth Centennial Commission to write the Historia Militar de Puerto Rico ( A Military History of Puerto Rico ) .
Susan K. Mashiko is a retired United States Air Force major general who served as the Deputy Director , National Reconnaissance Office , Chantilly , Virginia . Her responsibilities include assisting the director and principal deputy director in managing the strategic and tactical operations of the NRO . Also , as the commander , Air Force Space Command Element , she manages all air force personnel and resources assigned to the NRO and serves as the senior adviser to the DNRO on all military matters . Mashiko is the first Japanese American woman to be promoted to flag rank .
Major general ( abbreviated MG , maj. gen. and similar ) is a military rank used in many countries . It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general . The disappearance of the sergeant in the title explains the apparently confusing phenomenon whereby a lieutenant general outranks a major general while a major outranks a lieutenant . In the Commonwealth and the United States , it is a division commander 's rank subordinate to the rank of lieutenant general and senior to the ranks of brigadier and brigadier general . In the Commonwealth , major general is equivalent to the navy rank of rear admiral , and in air forces with a separate rank structure , it is equivalent to air vice-marshal . In some countries , including much of Eastern Europe , major general is the lowest of the general officer ranks , with no brigadier-grade rank .
Major General Sharon K.G . ( Kim Greiman ) Dunbar is a retired United States Air Force general officer . She was the first female in Air Force history to serve as Commanding General of the Air Force District of Washington ( AFDW ) , the Air Force component to the Joint Force Headquarters National Capital Region , and Commander of the 320th Air Expeditionary Wing , both headquartered at Joint Base Andrews , Maryland . In this unique dual-command position , Dunbar oversaw Air Force operations in the National Capital Region with specific responsibilities for organizing , training and equipping combat forces for aero-space expeditionary operations as well as for continuity of government and continuity of operations associated with homeland security response , disaster relief , civil support operations , and national special security events . She was likewise the senior Air Force officer responsible for the execution of major ceremonial events such as the 57th Presidential Inauguration in 2013 . As the AFDW Commander , Dunbar provided major command-level support for 60,000 military and civilian personnel assigned worldwide and was the Uniform Code of Military Justice authority for 40,000 Airmen .
The Air Force District of Washington ( AFDW ) is a Direct Reporting Unit of the United States Air Force . AFDW oversees Air Force operations in the Washington , D.C. region ( also known as the National Capital Region or NCR ) . As a Direct Reporting Unit , AFDW is directly subordinate to the Chief of Staff , Headquarters , United States Air Force , and serves as the Air Force service component to the JFHQ-NCR . AFDW was originally headquartered on Bolling Air Force Base , but changed to Joint Base Andrews-Naval Air Facility Washington ( JBA-NAFW ) .
Hill Air Force Base ( IATA : HIF , ICAO : KHIF , FAA LID : HIF ) is a major U.S. Air Force base located in northern Utah , just south of the city of Ogden , and near the towns of Layton , Clearfield , Riverdale , Roy , and Sunset . It is about 30 miles ( 48 km ) north of Salt Lake City . The base was named in honor of Major Ployer Peter Hill of the U.S. Army Air Corps , who died test-flying NX13372 , the original Model 299 prototype of the B-17 Flying Fortress bomber . In this decade Hill AFB is still the sixth-largest employer in the state of Utah , and the third-largest one excluding the State Government and Higher Education employers . Hill AFB is the home of the Air Force Materiel Command 's ( AFMC ) Ogden Air Logistics Complex which is the worldwide manager for a wide range of aircraft , engines , missiles , software , avionics , and accessories components . The commander of the Air Logistics Complex is Brigadier General H. Brent Baker Sr . The Ogden Air Logistics Complex is part of the Air Force Sustainment Center . The host unit at Hill AFB is the Air Force Material Command 's 75th Air Base Wing ( 75 ABW ) , which provides services and support for the Ogden Air Logistics Complex and its subordinate organizations . The Wing and Installation Commander of Hill Air Force Base is Colonel Jon A. Eberlan . Additional tenant units at Hill AFB include operational fighter wings of the Air Combat Command ( ACC ) and the Air Force Reserve Command ( AFRC ) .