General Merrill A. McPeak

General McPeak was the 14th chief of staff of the US Air Force. A career fighter pilot, he spent two years flying with the Thunderbirds in nearly 200 official air shows. He flew 269 combat missions in Vietnam, many of them as commander of the celebrated "Misty" forward air controllers. Senior leadership assignments included command of the 20th Fighter Wing in NATO, the Twelfth Air Force (and concurrently U.S. Southern Command Air Forces) and the Pacific Air Forces. He was Air Force chief during Operation Desert Storm. His subsequent reorganization of the Air Force created a service better suited to meet the nation's defense needs. Following retirement from active military service, General McPeak began a second career in business. He has been an investor and director of many public and privately-held companies. He co-founded, helped fund, and for many years was chairman of Ethicspoint, perhaps Oregon's most successful business startup in decades. In 1992, San Diego State University honored him with its first ever Lifetime Achievement Award. In 1995, George Washington University gave him its Distinguished Alumni Award, the "George." He was among the initial seven inductees to the Oregon Aviation Hall of Honor. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. In 2008, he was a national co-chairman of Obama for President. In 2010, President Obama appointed General McPeak to the American Battle Monuments Commission. The Commissioners subsequently elected him its 10th Chairman, the first airman to hold that position.