#VeteranOfTheDay Air Force Veteran Gregory Feest

December 8, 2022: Gregory Feest

Gregory Feest was born in Racine, Wisconsin, in 1956. He attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he enrolled in the ROTC program and graduated in 1978 with a bachelor’s in business administration. He was then commissioned in the Air Force and served at Mather Air Force Base in California as a navigator. Around four years later, he moved to Reese Air Force Base in Texas, where he completed his pilot training. Immediately afterward, he served as an F-15C instructor pilot, flight examiner and flight commander for three years.

Feest then moved to Nevada in early 1988 to serve as an F-117A nighthawk assistant operations officer. In that role, he served in Operation Just Cause in Panama and Operation Desert Storm in the Persian Gulf, dropping the first bombs in both battles. In Operation Desert Storm, he led the first air attacks against the Radar Intercept Operations Center in Iraq. Despite the heavy defenses the country employed, Feest successfully flew 39 combat missions throughout his service in the war.

After his service overseas, Feest attended the Air Command and Staff College at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama. He then served as deputy chief of senate liaison in Washington D.C., and later served in New Mexico as both an operations officer and a commander. After graduating from the National War College in Washington D.C. in 1998, he continued his career serving in several high-ranking positions across various U.S. states, including but not limited to serving as deputy director of requirements at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia; commander of the 479th Flying Training Group in Georgia; and as deputy director for force application on the Joint Staff. More than a decade after taking part in the Gulf War, he again deployed to the Middle East to fight in the War on Terror, serving in both Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.

Feest became the Air Force chief of safety in August 2010. In that role, he worked to ensure combat readiness while increasing safety. He also directed courses and research, and oversaw investigations when accidents occurred.

Feest retired from service in 2012 with the rank of major general. Throughout his career, he accumulated over 5,600 flight hours. He also earned several awards, including a Distinguished Service Medal with oak leaf cluster, a Defense Superior Service Medal with oak leaf cluster, a Legion of Merit with two oak leaf clusters, and a Distinguished Flying Cross.

We honor his service.

Writer: Khaled Maalouf

Graphic Designer: Charles F. Hundley