Burt Field

MINOT AIR FORCE BASE — U.S. Air Force retired Lt. Gen. Burt Field, president and CEO of the Air & Space Forces Association, will be the guest speaker at the Gen. David C. Jones Chapter #135’s 42nd Annual Commanders Choice Awards banquet April 9 at the Jimmy Doolittle Event Center at Minot Air Force Base.

Commanders from each squadron, group and wing choose the winners that are honored along with JROTC, Civil Air Patrol and an area recruiter.

The chapter provides a meal and a plaque for each award winner.

Two National AFA awards will be presented at this year’s banquet.

Community members with base access who wish to attend as guests should contact George Masters, banquet chairman, at 240-6771.

According to Air & Space Forces Association, Burt leads the association’s professional staff in its mission to advocate, educate and support the Air & Space Forces. As CEO, he oversees operations and resourcing for AFA and its 120,000+ members, including events, publications and the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, the nation’s only think tank dedicated to air and space power.

A veteran of 35 years of Air Force service, Field retired from active duty in 2015 following his final tour, as deputy chief of staff for Operations, Plans, and Requirements. Throughout his career, Field commanded a squadron, the Air Force Weapons School, three wings, a numbered Air Force and a sub-unified command. A command pilot with more than 3,400 flying hours in the F-16 and F-22, he served twice on the Joint Staff and completed a tour in the State Department as the military assistant to Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, the special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan. In his last assignment, he led policy and requirements decision-making for air, space, irregular warfare, counter-proliferation, homeland security and cyber operations. Prior to that assignment, he served as the commander of United States Forces, Japan, and commander of 5th Air Force from 2010-2012, where he led the U.S. military response to support Japan during the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster of 2011.

Following his retirement, he served as the vice president of Strategic Planning for Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, developing strategies that guided and contributed to more than $5 billion in growth in a five-year period. He also managed a $500 million New Business Funds portfolio for independent research and development. Since 2020, he has been an independent defense consultant, served as a subject matter expert working with and mentoring airmen at all levels, and a member of the Board of Trustees for the U.S. Air Force Academy Falcon Foundation.

Field graduated from the Air Force Academy in 1979 and earned a master’s degree in business administration from Golden Gate University in San Francisco. He and his wife, Lisa, have two sons, both officers in the U.S. Air Force.