C. JEROME JONES

Retired Oct. 1, 1993

Brigadier General C. Jerome Jones was vice commander, Air Force Special Operations Command; and vice commander, Air Force Component Command, USSOCOM, Headquarters AFSOC, Hurlburt Field, Fla.

General Jones was born in 1941, in Jesup, Ga., and graduated from Paxon Senior High School, Jacksonville, Fla., in 1959. He earned a bachelor of arts degree in political science from the University of Florida in 1963 and a master's degree in personnel counseling from Troy State University in 1973. He completed Squadron Officer School in 1968, Armed Forces Staff College in 1978, Air War College in 1983, the Advanced Executive Program at Northwestern University's Kellogg Graduate School of Management in 1987 and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Seminar XXI in 1991.

The general was commissioned through the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps program and entered active duty in June 1964 as a student pilot. Upon completion of undergraduate pilot training at Craig Air Force Base, Ala., in June 1965, he was assigned to the 437th Military Airlift Wing, Charleston Air Force Base, S.C., as a C-130 pilot. In 1967 he transitioned to C-141 s and remained at Charleston until 1969.

From February 1969 to February 1970 General Jones served at Nha Trang Air Base, South Vietnam, as a C-130E Combat Talon special operations pilot. During this period, he flew more than 100 missions and logged 450 combat hours. In March 1970 he returned to Charleston Air Force Base, where he served as a C-141 instructor pilot and an officer controller in the airlift command post.

From April 1971 to June 1974 the general served on the Squadron Officer School faculty at Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala. He began as a section commander and later moved to the Programs Division as a curriculum management officer. While there he performed rated duties in T-33s and T-39s.

In June 1974 General Jones was assigned to the 380th Bombardment Wing, Plattsburgh Air Force Base, N.Y., and served as a Strategic Air Command FB-111 pilot and flight commander. After 18 months on a combat crew, he moved to the wing staff as an FB-111 aircrew scheduler.

Upon completion of the Armed Forces Staff College, Norfolk, Va., in February 1978, he was assigned to Headquarters Strategic Air Command, Offutt Air Force Base, Neb., as an operations staff officer in the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff, Operations. In June 1980 General Jones became chief of command presentations, Office of the Chief of Staff, SAC headquarters. He then served as deputy director for force management requirements, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff, Plans.

General Jones attended Air War College, Maxwell Air Force Base, from August 1982 to June 1983. He then became assistant deputy commander for operations, 509th Bombardment Wing, Pease Air Force Base, N.H.

In May 1984 he returned to the 380th Bombardment Wing, Plattsburgh Air Force Base, as deputy commander for operations, where his aircrews won the Fairchild Trophy as the best bomb wing in SAC. He served as vice wing commander of the 380th from June 1985 until June 1986, when he became wing commander.

In January 1988 he was assigned to the Air Staff, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C., where he served as deputy director for operations and training, Directorate of Operations, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff, Plans and Operations. In September 1989 General Jones was assigned as deputy director for strategy and policy, Strategic Plans and Policy Directorate, J-5, the Joint Staff, Washington, D.C. In this capacity he was responsible for developing the National Military Strategy, the Joint Strategic Capabilities Plan, the Unified Command Plan, and nuclear weapons policy and strategy, among many other policy issues. He assumed his present position in September 1991.

The general is a command pilot with 4,500 flying hours in the C-130E, C-141A, T-33, T-39, FB-111A, KC-135, F-15, F-16, HH-1 and HH-3. His military awards and decorations include the Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Distinguished Flying Cross, Meritorious Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters, Air Medal with two oak leaf clusters, Air Force Commendation Medal with two oak leaf clusters, Presidential Unit Citation, Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with three oak leaf clusters, and Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm.

He was promoted to brigadier general Oct. 1, 1989, with same date of rank.