Gen. Bruce Carlson is Commander, Air Force Materiel Command, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. That 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, according to information on Air Force Link, the official USAF website.

    Gen. Carlson was born in Hibbing and was commissioned in 1971 as a distinguished graduate of the University of Minnesota Air Force ROTC program. His long military career has included positions at Tactical Air Command, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, the offices of the Secretary of the Air Force and the Secretary of Defense, and as Director of Force Structure, Resources and Assessment with the Joint Staff.

    After earning his Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of Minnesota, Duluth, Colonel Carlson attended the U.S. Air Force Fighter Weapons School at Nellis AFB, Nev., in 1979; earned a Master of Arts degree from Webster University, St. Louis, Mo., in 1980, and in 1989 was a distinguished graduate, Master of Arts degree, from the Naval War College at Newport, R.I.

    He assumed his present position as Commander, Air Force Materiel Command at Wright-Patterson AFMC, Ohio on August 20, 2005 after a long list of distinguished posting from the 1970s to 2005. He is a Command pilot with more than 3,000 flight hours and has flown aircraft including the F-4, OV-10, A-10, F-16, F-111, AT-38, F-117 and B-52.

    Colonel Carlson’s major awards and decorations have included a Defense Distinguished Service Medal with oak leaf cluster; a Distinguished Service Medal with oak leaf cluster; the Legion of Merit; Meritorious Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters, and the Air Force Commendation Medal with two oak leaf clusters.