Terry Lee Gabreski ( Walter; born 1952) is a retired senior officer of the

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 ...

(USAF). She was the second woman to hold the rank of

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

in the USAF.. Her spouse is Col. Donald F. Gabreski. She was the Vice Commander,

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 ...

Wright-Patterson Air Force Base Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (WPAFB) is a United States Air Force base and census-designated place just east of Dayton, Ohio, in Greene County, Ohio, Greene and Montgomery County, Ohio, Montgomery counties. It includes both Wright and Patte ...

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

, which conducts research, development, test and evaluation, and provides acquisition management and logistics support necessary to keep Air Force weapon systems ready for war. She is the daughter of retired Air Force Brigadier General Alonzo Walter and the daughter-in-law of World War II and Korean War fighter ace Colonel

Gabby Gabreski Francis Stanley "Gabby" Gabreski (born Franciszek Stanisław Gabryszewski; January 28, 1919 – January 31, 2002) was a Polish-American career pilot in the United States Air Force who retired as a colonel after 26 years of military service. He wa ...

Education and personal life

Gabreski was born Terry Lee Walter in 1952, the daughter of

(USAF) Brigadier General Alonzo J. Walter, Jr. (1928–2022), then a

test pilot A test pilot is an aircraft pilot with additional training to fly and evaluate experimental, newly produced and modified aircraft with specific maneuvers, known as flight test techniques.Stinton, Darrol. ''Flying Qualities and Flight Testin ...

, and Doris Walter, who had also been a commissioned officer. After completing her

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree in

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

, where she was a member of

Delta Delta Delta Delta Delta Delta (), also known as Tri Delta, is an international collegiate Fraternities and sororities in North America, women's fraternity. It was founded on November 27, 1888 at Boston University in Boston, Massachusetts. History File:S ...

, Gabreski joined the USAF, attended

Air Force Officer Training School Officer Training School (OTS) is a United States Air Force and United States Space Force commissioning program located at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama. Overview Officer Training School is a part of the Jeanne M. Holm Center f ...

, and was commissioned a second lieutenant on 10 September 1974. She later received a

Master of Public Administration A Master of Public Administration (MPA) is a specialized professional graduate degree in public administration that prepares students for leadership roles, similar or equivalent to a Master of Business Administration but with an emphasis on the ...

degree from

Golden Gate University Golden Gate University (GGU or Golden Gate) is a private university in San Francisco, California, United States. Founded in 1901, GGU specializes in educating professionals through its schools of law, business, taxation, technology, accounting, ...

in 1978. Gabreski also attended the Executive Program for Senior Officials in National Security which was conducted in 1994 by the

John F. Kennedy School of Government The John F. Kennedy School of Government, commonly referred to as Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), is the school of public policy of Harvard University, a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Harvard Kennedy School offers master's de ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

, Cambridge, Massachusetts and the General Manager Program,

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate school, graduate business school of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university. Located in Allston, Massachusetts, HBS owns Harvard Business Publishing, which p ...

, Cambridge, Massachusetts in 2002. In 1983 she was selected as the USAF Aircraft Maintenance Company Grade Officer of the Year and was awarded the Eugene M. Zuckert Management Award in 1999 as recognition for her top-level Air Force management skills. In 1989 she married Colonel Donald Francis Gabreski (born 1949), a retired USAF pilot, eldest son of World War II and Korean War ace, Colonel Francis S. "Gabby" Gabreski, and they had two sons, born in 1992 and 1995. On her retirement Gabreski noted that she applied three times for pilot training but had been turned down each time because, being only five feet tall, she could not meet minimum height requirements for the

T-38 T38 or T-38 may refer to: Aviation * Allison T38, an American turboprop aircraft engine * Northrop T-38 Talon, an American jet trainer aircraft * Slingsby T.38 Grasshopper, a British training glider Other uses * T38 (classification), a disabi ...

Talon trainer.

Assignments

Prior to her final assignment, Gabreski served as commander of the

Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center The Oklahoma City Air Logistics Complex (OC-ALC) Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma is one of the largest units in the Air Force Materiel Command. The complex performs programmed depot maintenance on the C/KC-135, B-1B, B-52 and E-3 aircraft; expan ...

Tinker Air Force Base Tinker Air Force Base is a major United States Air Force base, with tenant U.S. Navy and other Department of Defense missions, located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, adjacent to Del City and Midwest City. The ba ...

from December 2003 to August 2005, which was the first Air Force installation to implement National Security Personnel System. She also served as Director of Logistics, Headquarters Air Force Materiel Command from August 2001 to December 2003, and as Director of Maintenance for the Deputy Chief of Staff for Installations and Logistics at Headquarters United States Air Force from January 2000 to August 2001. Other than these assignments she directed two aircraft maintenance units, served as a squadron maintenance supervisor in three units, commanded three maintenance squadrons and a logistics group and served at the Air Staff,

Secretary of the Air Force The secretary of the Air Force, sometimes referred to as the secretary of the Department of the Air Force, (SecAF, or SAF/OS) is the head of the Department of the Air Force and the service secretary for the United States Air Force and United Sta ...

and Joint Staff levels. Gabreski also served as one of the original female Air Training Officers charged with mentoring the first female cadets of the U.S. Air Force Academy. Then-Lt. Gabreski served in this role from January 1976 to September 1977 for the Class of 1980 female cadets. During Operation Allied Force in the 1999 air war against Yugoslavia, Gabreski directed logistics efforts as the A-4 for the air war across the entire theater. She holds a master aircraft maintenance badge and a basic parachute rating. TWGabreski2

Awards and decorations

Effective dates of promotion

References

External links