Kevin Patrick "Chilli" Chilton (born November 3, 1954) is an American mechanical engineer and retired United States Air Force four-star general, test pilot, and NASA astronaut. His last assignment was as commander of U.S. Strategic Command from October 3, 2007, to January 28, 2011. Prior to his appointment to general officer ranks, Chilton spent 11 years of his military career as a NASA astronaut. He retired from the Air Force on February 1, 2011, after having achieved the highest rank of any military astronaut. On January 30, 2012, General Chilton was named to the board of directors of Orbital Sciences Corporation.
Early life
Born November 3, 1954, in Los Angeles, California, he graduated from St. Bernard High School in Playa del Rey, California, in 1972. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering sciences from the United States Air Force Academy in 1976, and a Master of Science degree in mechanical engineering from Columbia University on a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1977. He enjoys reading and all sports, including running, snow skiing, sailing, and softball.
Early Air Force career
thumb|Kevin Chilton with his wife Cathy Chilton during a test pilot training on [[McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle|F-15 at Edwards Air Force Base, California, in 1987.|left]]
Chilton received his commission from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1976. After receiving his pilot wings at Williams Air Force Base, Arizona, in 1978, he qualified in the RF-4C Phantom II and was assigned to the 15th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron at Kadena Air Base, Japan. From 1978 until 1980, he served as a combat-ready pilot and instructor pilot in the RF-4C in Korea, Japan and the Philippines.
In 1981, he converted to the F-15 Eagle and was assigned to the 67th Tactical Fighter Squadron at Kadena Air Base, as a squadron pilot. In 1982, Chilton attended the USAF Squadron Officer School at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama, and finished as the number one graduate for the year, receiving the Secretary of the Air Force Leadership Award.
Subsequently, assigned to the 9th and 7th Tactical Fighter Squadrons at Holloman AFB, New Mexico, Chilton served as an F-15 squadron weapons officer, instructor pilot, and flight commander until 1984 when selected for the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School. He graduated number one in his class to win the Liethen-Tittle Award, as the outstanding test pilot at the school.
Chilton was assigned to Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, where he conducted weapons and systems tests in all models of the F-15 and F-4 aircraft. While a member of the 3247th Test Squadron, Chilton served as squadron safety officer, as chief of test and evaluation, and as squadron operations officer.
During his time at the Air Force, Chilton also met his future wife, Cathy Chilton, who later became an Air Force Major General. Together, they had four children.
STS-59
STS-59, the Space Radar Laboratory (SRL) mission, April 9–20, 1994, was launched aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour. SRL consisted of three large radars, SIR-C/X-SAR (Shuttle Imaging Radar C/X-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar), and a carbon monoxide sensor that were used to enhance studies of the Earth's surface and atmosphere. The imaging radars operated in three frequencies and four polarizations. This multispectral capability of the radars provided information about the Earth's surface over a wide range of scales not discernible with previous single-frequency experiments. The carbon monoxide sensor (MAPS) used gas filter radiometry to measure the global distribution of CO in the troposphere. Real-time crew observations of surface phenomena and climatic conditions augmented with over 14,000 photographs aided investigators in interpretation and calibration of the data. The mission concluded with a landing at Edwards AFB after orbiting the Earth 183 times in 269 hours.
STS-76
thumb|Astronaut Kevin P. Chilton on the deck of [[Space Shuttle Atlantis during the STS-76 missions. Chilton was the commander of the STS-76 mission.]]
Chilton commanded STS-76, the third docking mission to the Russian space station Mir, which launched on March 22, 1996, with a crew of six aboard Atlantis. Following rendezvous and docking with Mir, transfer of a NASA astronaut to Mir for a five-month stay was accomplished to begin a continuous presence of U.S. astronauts aboard Mir for the next two-year period. The crew also transferred 4800 pounds of science and mission hardware, food, water and air to Mir and returned over 1100 pounds of U.S. and ESA science and Russian hardware. The first spacewalk from the Shuttle while docked to Mir was conducted. Experiment packages were transferred from the Shuttle and mounted on the Mir docking module to detect and assess debris and contamination in a space station environment. The Spacehab module carried in the Shuttle payload bay was utilized extensively for transfer and return stowage of logistics and science and also carried Biorack, a small multipurpose laboratory used during this mission for research of plant and animal cellular function. This mission was also the first flight of Kidsat, an electronic camera controlled by classroom students via a Ku-band link between JSC Mission Control and the Shuttle, which used digitized photography from the Shuttle for science and education. Following 145 orbits of the Earth, Atlantis landed with a crew of five at Edwards Air Force Base in California on March 31, 1996, 221 hours after liftoff.
Air Force career resumed
left|thumb|General Kevin P. Chilton in 2007
Chilton left NASA in 1998 to become deputy director of political military affairs for Asia, Pacific, and the Middle East on the Joint Staff. His first military command was the 9th Reconnaissance Wing (9 RW) at Beale AFB, California, from May 1999 to September 2000. In August 2004, Chilton assumed the dual duties of commander of the Eighth Air Force (8 AF) and commander of Joint Functional Component Command for Space and Global Strike (JFCC SGS) at Barksdale AFB, Louisiana. In April 2006, Chilton was nominated to become the commander of the Air Force Space Command (AFSPC) at Peterson AFB, Colorado. On June 26, 2006, he received his fourth star and assumed command of Air Force Space Command. General Chilton is the only former astronaut to achieve four-star grade. Lieutenant General Tom Stafford, Vice Admiral Dick Truly and Lieutenant General Susan Helms have attained the rank of three stars.
As commander of Air Force Space Command, Chilton oversees the whole space operations within the United States Air Force jurisdiction including the Satellites and Ballistic Missile. Chilton also emphasized the importance role of satellites which will act as eyes for troops, especially those deployed abroad.
Commander of United States Strategic Command
thumb|Commander of the [[United States Strategic Command General Kevin P. Chilton.|left]]
In October 2007, following the appointment of Commander of Strategic Command General James E. Cartwright as Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates appointed Chilton to succeed Cartwright as the new commander of United States Strategic Command. Chilton nomination as commander of United States Strategic Command was confirmed by the United States Senate on September 28, 2007. In the case of Strategic Deterrence, Chilton emphasized the incoming dangers of United States primary adversary that has Nuclear arsenal such as North Korea. The attack led to the initiation of Operation Buckshot Yankee that led to the cleaning of the infection worm virus. In the previous part the command of Cyber was under the unit called the Joint Task Force – Computer Network Defense which also known as JTF-CND which was created following a series of thorny cyber incidents on Department of Defense. However the JTF-CND was seen to be obsolete, especially entering the new decade on-which cyber played major role especially in-order to deterred Cyber attacks that has tremendous effect especially towards the Nuclear Arsenal security system and Chilton emphasize the need of a new Cyber division that could deterred and prevent the incoming and dangerous cyber attacks. Chilton also emphasized that the Nuclear Triads and its arsenal are still needed 40 years from now. Chilton was succeeded by C. Robert Kehler who previously held the position of commander of Air Force Space Command and also succeeding Chilton in the position. in a ceremony that took place at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex
Effective dates of promotion
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Promotions
! Insignia !! Rank !! Date
|- style="text-align:center;"
||112px||General||June 26, 2006
|- style="text-align:center;"
||84px||Lieutenant general ||August 9, 2005
|- style="text-align:center;"
||56px||Major general||April 1, 2002
|- style="text-align:center;"
||28px||Brigadier general||May 1, 1999
|- style="text-align:center;"
||40px||Colonel||January 1, 1993
|- style="text-align:center;"
||28px||Lieutenant colonel||June 2, 1989
|- style="text-align:center;"
||28px||Major||May 2, 1985
|- style="text-align:center;"
||28px||Captain||June 2, 1980
|- style="text-align:center;"
||10px||First lieutenant||June 2, 1978
|- style="text-align:center;"
||10px||Second lieutenant||June 2, 1976
|-
|}
See also
- United States Strategic Command
- Eighth Air Force
References
External links
- U.S. Strategic Command Official Site
- Official U.S. Strategic Command biography of Kevin P. Chilton
- Astronautix biography of Kevin P. Chilton
- Spacefacts biography of Kevin P. Chilton
- Chilton at Spaceacts
- 2011 National Space Trophy Recipient