Janet Carol Wolfenbarger (née Libby; born 1958) is a retired

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

four-star

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

who served as the eighth commander of

Air Force Materiel Command The Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC) is a Major Command (MAJCOM) of the United States Air Force (USAF). AFMC was created on July 1, 1992, through the amalgamation of the former Air Force Logistics Command (AFLC) and the former Air Force System ...

from June 5, 2012, to June 8, 2015. She was the first woman to achieve the rank of four-star general in the Air Force. Wolfenbarger retired from the Air Force after over 35 years of service.

Military career

Wolfenbarger was born in

Tampa, Florida Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

. She was commissioned in 1980 as a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy, and began her career in acquisition as an engineer at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. Along with her various duty assignments she furthered her education with a

Master of Science A Master of Science (; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree. In contrast to the Master of Arts degree, the Master of Science degree is typically granted for studies in sciences, engineering and medici ...

degree in

aeronautics Aeronautics is the science or art involved with the study, design process, design, and manufacturing of air flight-capable machines, and the techniques of operating aircraft and rockets within the atmosphere. While the term originally referred ...

and

astronautics Astronautics (or cosmonautics) is the practice of sending spacecraft beyond atmosphere of Earth, Earth's atmosphere into outer space. Spaceflight is one of its main applications and space science is its overarching field. The term ''astronautics' ...

from the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

in 1985 and another Master of Science degree in national resource strategy from

Industrial College of the Armed Forces The Dwight D. Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy (Eisenhower School), formerly known as the Industrial College of the Armed Forces (ICAF), is a part of the National Defense University (Washington, D.C.), National Defens ...

in 1994. She is also a graduate of the

Air Command and Staff College The Air Command and Staff College (ACSC) is located at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama and is the United States Air Force's intermediate-level Professional Military Education (PME) school. It is a subordinate command of the Air Un ...

. Her major awards and decorations include the

Legion of Merit The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a Awards and decorations of the United States military, military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievemen ...

and the Meritorious Service Medal. Wolfenbarger was the U.S. Air Force's highest-ranking woman, a distinction held until January 1, 2010, by Lt. Gen. Terry Gabreski, whom Wolfenbarger succeeded at Wright-Patterson. On February 6, 2012, President Obama nominated Wolfenbarger to become the first woman four-star general for the Air Force. This was confirmed by the US Senate on March 26, 2012, and she assumed her new rank, and became Commander,

, on June 5, 2012. Wolfenbarger graduated from Beavercreek High School in Beavercreek, Ohio, in 1976. She is the daughter of Eldon and Shirley Libby of

Paicines, California Paicines is an unincorporated community in San Benito County, California. The community is at the intersection of Panoche Road and SR 25. Bolado County Park is just over three miles (5 km) north of the community and the site of the San Be ...

. She is married to Craig "Wolf" Wolfenbarger.

Education

:1976 Beavercreek High School, Beavercreek, Ohio :1980 Bachelor of Science degree in engineering sciences, U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colo. :1983 Squadron Officer School, by correspondence :1985 Master of Science degree in aeronautics and astronautics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge :1988 Program Management Course, Defense Systems Management College, Fort Belvoir, Va. :1991 Air Command and Staff College, by correspondence :1994 Master of Science degree in national resource strategy, Industrial College of the Armed Forces, National Defense University, Fort Lesley J. McNair, Washington, D.C.

Assignments

#July 1980 – August 1981, technical intelligence analyst, Armament Division, Eglin AFB, Fla. #August 1981 – July 1983, communication systems development officer, Electronic Security Command, Kelly AFB, Texas #July 1983 – December 1984, student, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Mass. #December 1984 – October 1987, Chief, Strategic Offense Weapons Branch, Headquarters Air Force Systems Command, Andrews AFB, Md. #October 1987 – September 1988, executive officer, Headquarters Air Force Systems Command, Andrews AFB, Md. #September 1988 – July 1993, Chief, Plans and Strategies Division; Chief, Air Vehicle Analysis and Integration Team; and Chief, F-22 Subsystems Team, F-22 System Program Office, Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio #July 1993 – June 1994, student, Industrial College of the Armed Forces, National Defense University, Fort Lesley J. McNair, Washington, D.C. #June 1994 – June 1997, Lead F-22 Program Element Monitor, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, the Pentagon, Washington, D.C. #June 1997 – April 2000, Chief, B-2 Air Vehicle Team, B-2 SPO, ASC, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio #April 2000 – December 2002, B-2 System Program Director, B-2 SPO, ASC, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio #December 2002 – July 2005, Commander, C-17 Systems Group, Mobility Systems Wing, ASC, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio #August 2005 – July 2006, Director, Air Force Acquisition Center of Excellence, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, the Pentagon, Washington, D.C. #August 2006 – January 2007, Special Assistant for Command Transformation to the Commander, Headquarters Air Force Materiel Command, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio #January 2007 – July 2008, Director, Intelligence and Requirements Directorate, and Special Assistant for Command Transformation to the Commander, Headquarters AFMC, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio #July 2008 – December 2009, Director, Intelligence and Requirements Directorate, Headquarters AFMC, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio #December 2009 – September 2011, Vice Commander, Headquarters Air Force Materiel Command, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio #September 2011 – June 2012, Military Deputy, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, the Pentagon, Washington, D.C. #June 2012 – June 2015,

Awards and decorations

Other achievements

:1996 Kelly Burke Award, Department of the Air Force :2002 Stewart Award, Aeronautical Systems Center :2004 Stewart Award, Aeronautical Systems Center :2013 United Service Organizations (USO) Woman of the Year :2014 James Doolittle Award, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Security Studies Program :2014 Seymour E. and Ruth B. Harris Lecturer, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University :2015 Air Force Materiel Command Order of the Sword :2015 Retroactively prompted change to General Officer Promotion Laws

Effective dates of promotion

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wolfenbarger, Janet C. 1958 births Living people Dwight D. Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy alumni Logistics personnel of the United States military MIT School of Engineering alumni Military personnel from Dayton, Ohio People from Beavercreek, Ohio Military personnel from Tampa, Florida Recipients of the Legion of Merit American people of Swiss descent United States Air Force Academy alumni Female generals of the United States Air Force Wright-Patterson Air Force Base 21st-century American women