General (ret) Norton A. Schwartz was the 19th Chief of Staff of the U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C. As Chief, he served as the senior uniformed Air Force officer responsible for the organization, training and equipping of 680,000 active-duty, Guard, Reserve and civilian forces serving in the United States and overseas. As a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the general and other service chiefs function as military advisers to the Secretary of Defense, National Security Council and the President. He is currently the president and CEO of the Institute for Defense Analyses, a nonprofit research firm that is headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia.

General Schwartz graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1973. He is an alumnus of the National War College, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and a 1994 Fellow of Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Seminar XXI. He has served as Commander of the Special Operations Command-Pacific, as well as Alaskan Command, Alaskan North American Aerospace Defense Command Region, and the 11th Air Force. Prior to assuming his current position, General Schwartz was Commander, U.S. Transportation Command and served as the single manager for global air, land and sea transportation for the Department of Defense.

General Schwartz is a command pilot with more than 4,400 flying hours in a variety of aircraft. He participated as a crewmember in the 1975 airlift evacuation of Saigon, and in 1991 served as Chief of Staff of the Joint Special Operations Task Force for Northern Iraq in operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. In 1997, he led the Joint Task Force that prepared for the noncombatant evacuation of U.S. citizens in Cambodia.

EDUCATION
1973 Bachelor’s degree in political science and international affairs, U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colo.
1977 Squadron Officer School, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
1983 Master’s degree in business administration, Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant
1984 Armed Forces Staff College, Norfolk, Va.
1989 National War College, Fort Lesley J. McNair, Washington, D.C.
1994 Fellow, Seminar XXI, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge

FLIGHT INFORMATION
Rating: Command pilot
Flight hours: More than 4,400
Aircraft flown: C-130E/H, MC-130E/H/P, HC-130, AC-130H/U, YMC-130, MH-53 and MH-60

MAJOR AWARDS AND DECORATIONS
Defense Distinguished Service Medal with three oak leaf clusters
Air Force Distinguished Service Medal with oak leaf cluster 
Defense Superior Service Medal with oak leaf cluster
Legion of Merit with two oak leaf clusters
Defense Meritorious Service Medal
Meritorious Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters
Air Force Commendation Medal with oak leaf cluster
Army Commendation Medal