MAJ GEN CARL MCNAIR

SEPTEMBER 22, 1933 - MAY 2, 2022

Carl McNair was born to fly, born in the Naval aviation capital of Pensacola, Fl in 1933. However, instead of being a Naval aviator, he became an Army aviator, and a very distinguished one at that. After attending Emory University for a year, Carl was appointed to the United States Military Academy West Point. Despite wanting to enter the Air Force after graduation, and even buying the uniforms, Carl attended West Point, graduating in 1955, and commissioned as a U.S. 2nd Army Lieutenant in the Army. The Army’s new focus on aviation, specifically helicopters, offered an exciting opportunity for Carl to fly. He logged more than 6,000 flight hours, 1,578 of them flown in combat, in his 32-year Army career. He served as the Army’s first Branch Chief of Army Aviation as well as Brigade Commander, Deputy Commanding General and Commanding General for the U.S. Army Aviation Center in Fort Rucker, Alabama. Additional degrees earned included a B.S. and M.S. in Aerospace Engineering from Georgia Tech and and M.S. in Public Administration from Shippensburg University. Major General McNair was the unofficial voice of Army aviation, served in many leadership positions at the American Helicopter

Society (AHS), the Army Aviation Association of America (AAAA), the Association of the United States Army (AUSA), the Army Historical Foundation and the National Defense Industrial Association. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Bronze Star for Valor, 51 Air Medals, the French Order of National Merit, and the Order of Merit from Korea. He followed his military career with executive roles at many Washington D.C. corporations, including Burdeshaw Associates, DynCorp, Computer Science Corporation, CPS Professional Services and Cathexis, member of the Board of Directors of Air Methods Corporation, and devoted his time to many non-profit organizations. Major General McNair was inducted into the Army Hall of Fame in 2004, named the recipient of the Distinguished Graduate Award from the United States Military Academy in 2011, inducted into the Georgia Tech School of Engineering Hall of Fame in 2014, the Shippensburg University Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017, the 2019 Community Foundation for Northern Virginia Leadership Award. He was inducted into the Living Legends of Aviation in 2015.