Gerald Wayne "Ged" Wright (born July 7, 1942) is an American politician and military officer.
Wright was commissioned into the United States Armed Forces in June 1964. In 1970 he joined the Minnesota Air National Guard and later transferred to the Oklahoma Air National Guard in 1973. He retired with the rank of brigadier general effective March 31, 1999. [1]
Wright was commissioned through the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) in June, 1964, graduated from Undergraduate Pilot Training at Vance Air Force Base in January 1966. Stationed at Randolph Air Force Base, he was an Instructor Pilot from October, 1967 to February, 1968 and an Academic Instructor from February, 1968 to March, 1970. He joined the Minnesota Air National Guard 109th Tactical Airlift Squadron in March 1970 as a transport pilot. He joined the Oklahoma Air National Guard 125th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Tulsa Air National Guard Base in August 1973 as a fighter pilot flying the F-100 and then the A-7. He then served as Flight Commander in the 125th Tactical Fighter Squadron, 125th Tactical Fighter Squadron Assistant Operations Officer, 138th Fighter Group Chief of Standardization, Headquarters, Oklahoma Air National Guard Staff Officer and was last assigned as the Chief of Staff, Headquarters, Oklahoma Air National Guard. [1]
Wright took office as a Republican member of the Oklahoma Senate in January 1983, and served until 1999. During his final term as state senator, Wright served as leader of the Republican caucus. [2] During his 1998 legislative campaign, Wright received an endorsement from the Tulsa World . [3] He lost to Scott Pruitt in the Republican primary. [4] [5] Wright said of Pruitt in December 2016, "There are a number of people who cross your path, and I’ve come across a lot of them in my career in the military, politics and law, who are great self-promoters, and he’s one of them. Maybe that’s what you’ve got to do." [6]
Wright's children Brian, Brent and Jenna have also served in the U.S. Army, Army National Guard and Air National Guard. [7]
Bruce Allen Carlson, was the 17th Director of the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). He is a former four-star general in the United States Air Force and served as the sixth Commander, Air Force Materiel Command, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. The command conducts research, development, test and evaluation, and provides acquisition management services and logistics support necessary to keep Air Force weapon systems ready for war. After over 37 years of service, he retired from the Air Force on January 1, 2009. Carlson served as a general authority and a member of the Second Quorum of the Seventy of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from April 2009 to October 2015.
The Oklahoma Air National Guard is the aerial militia of the State of Oklahoma, United States of America. It is, along with the Oklahoma Army National Guard, an element of the Oklahoma National Guard.
The 138th Fighter Wing is a unit of the Oklahoma Air National Guard, stationed at the Tulsa Air National Guard Base at Tulsa International Airport in Tulsa, Oklahoma. If activated to federal service as a United States Air Force unit, the 138 FW is gained by the Air Combat Command (ACC).
Brigadier General Antonio J. Ramos was an officer of the United States Air Force. He was the first Hispanic to serve as commander, Air Force Security Assistance Center, Air Force Materiel Command, and dual-hatted as Assistant to the Commander for International Affairs, Headquarters Air Force Materiel Command.
The 185th Special Operations Squadron is a unit of the Oklahoma Air National Guard's 137th Special Operations Wing, located at Will Rogers World Airport, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The 185th is the only National Guard unit to be equipped with the MC-12W. The unit is known as the "Sooners". Famous unit alumni include former Vietnam prisoner of war Brig. Gen. James Robinson "Robbie" Risner and Astronaut Captain Fred Wallace Haise Jr., Apollo 13 Lunar Module Pilot.
The 125th Fighter Squadron is a unit of the Oklahoma Air National Guard 138th Fighter Wing located at Tulsa Air National Guard Base, Oklahoma. The 125th is equipped with the Block 42 F-16C Fighting Falcon.
The 127th Command and Control Squadron was a unit of the Kansas Air National Guard 184th Intelligence Wing stationed at McConnell Air Force Base, Wichita, Kansas. The 127th was a non-flying squadron operating the Distributed Common Ground System. The unit was inactivated on 29 September 2014.
Brigadier General Alberto A. Nido is a former United States Air Force officer who during World War II served in the Royal Canadian Air Force, the British Royal Air Force and in the United States Army Air Forces. He was also the co-founder of the Puerto Rico Air National Guard.
David A. Robinson is a retired major general in the United States Air Force who served as mobilization assistant to the Chief of the Air Force Reserve, Headquarters United States Air Force, Washington, D.C.
Major General Stephen Phelps Cortright USAF (retired), is an American military officer and attorney from Oklahoma who served as the Adjutant General of Oklahoma under Governor Frank Keating from 1995 to 2003. Concurrent with his service as adjutant general, Cortright served in Keating's cabinet as the Oklahoma Secretary of the Military.
Billy Martin Minter was a general and deputy commander in chief, United States Air Forces in Europe, and commander of the Allied Air Forces Central Europe, with headquarters at Ramstein Air Base, Germany.
Lieutenant General C.D. Moore II is a retired United States Air Force officer who served as Commander, Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. The organization is the single center responsible for total life cycle management covering all aircraft, engines, munitions, and electronic systems.
Daniel James III was a lieutenant general in the United States Air Force who served as the director of the Air National Guard from June 3, 2002, to May 20, 2006.
Lieutenant General Leon Scott Rice is the former director of the Air National Guard. He previously served as The Adjutant General (TAG) and Commander of the Massachusetts National Guard and as an assistant to Gen Mark A. Welsh III, former commander of the United States Air Forces in Europe. Rice has also served as commander of USAF Forces deployed for United States Central Command in the Middle East Area of Operations. He is a Boeing 777 first officer flying for United Airlines in Washington Dulles International Airport. On 3 April 2012 he was appointed by Governor Deval Patrick as The Adjutant General (TAG) of the Massachusetts National Guard and reappointed as The Adjutant General by Governor Charles Baker on 12 May 2015. Rice retired from the U.S. Air Force on 1 August 2020 after over 40 years of service.
Philip G. Killey is a retired United States Air Force officer. He attained the rank of major general, and served as Adjutant General of the South Dakota National Guard, Director of the Air National Guard and Commander of First Air Force.
Gary L. Ebben is a retired brigadier general in the Wisconsin Air National Guard. He served as the interim adjutant general of the Wisconsin National Guard prior to his retirement.
The 137th Special Operations Group is an associate unit of the Oklahoma Air National Guard stationed at Will Rogers Air National Guard Base. If activated for federal service, the group is gained by Air Force Special Operations Command.
Joseph Lauren Lengyel is a retired United States Air Force four-star general who last served as the 28th chief of the National Guard Bureau from August 2016 to August 2020. As chief, he was responsible for ensuring that nearly 460,000 Army National Guard and Air National Guard personnel are accessible, capable and ready to protect the homeland and to provide combat capabilities to the United States Army and the United States Air Force. Lengyel is a command pilot with more than 3,000 flying hours primarily in the F-16.
Major General William K. James of United States Air Force, was director of the Defense Mapping Agency (DMA) between June 1990 and June 1993. Under his leadership Major General James redirected the DMA – a heritage organization of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency – from producing products to meet the requirements of the Cold War to a concept of a Global Geospatial Information System (GGIS) directly accessible to combat commanders of the Rapid Deployment Forces. The GGIS was a major paradigm shift in warfare with the delivery of geographic information to fast-moving military forces. James died in 2022 at the age of 86.
Brigadier General Ralph Thomas "Tom" Browning, was a United States Air Force command pilot who was a prisoner of war (POW) during the Vietnam War, was the commander of two air divisions, and commander of the 58th Fighter Wing, Luke Air Force Base, Arizona. After retirement from the USAF, he became CEO of Greater Phoenix Leadership, Inc. in Phoenix, Arizona, a business organization supporting community improvement efforts in the areas of transportation, education and economic development.