Charles Cread Baldwin (born April 7, 1947) is a former

Chief of Chaplains of the United States Air Force The Chief of Chaplains of the United States Air Force (HAF/HC) is the senior chaplain in the United States Air Force, the functional leader of thU.S. Air Force Chaplain Corps and the senior advisor on religious issues to the Secretary and Chief of ...

Biography

A native of

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...

, Baldwin is an ordained

Southern Baptist The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) is a Christian denomination based in the United States. It is the world's largest Baptist denomination, and the largest Protestant and second-largest Christian denomination in the United States. The word ...

pastor. He is a graduate of the

Southern Baptist Theological Seminary The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (SBTS) is a Baptist theological institute in Louisville, Kentucky. It is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. The seminary was founded in 1859 in Greenville, South Carolina, where it was at ...

. Baldwin is married to Anne, with whom he has three children and nine grandchildren. Baldwin was the first, and to date the only Air Force Chief of Chaplains who had been a rated air force pilot.

Career

Baldwin graduated from

United States Air Force Academy The United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) is a United States service academy in El Paso County, Colorado, immediately north of Colorado Springs. It educates cadets for service in the officer corps of the United States Air Force and Uni ...

in 1969. He would go on to serve in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

and the

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...

. Baldwin served as an Air Force pilot before attending seminary and changing career fields to chaplain. He flew the

EC-121 Warning Star The Lockheed EC-121 Warning Star was an American airborne early warning and control radar surveillance aircraft operational in the 1950s in both the United States Navy (USN) and United States Air Force (USAF). The military version of the Lock ...

, then later, the HH-53 "Super Jolly" as a rescue helicopter pilot. Other assignments he held include serving at Headquarters,

United States Air Forces in Europe United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two fi ...

and

North American Aerospace Defense Command North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD ), known until March 1981 as the North American Air Defense Command, is a combined organization of the United States and Canada that provides aerospace warning, air sovereignty, and protection ...

. Baldwin served as

Deputy Chief of Chaplains of the United States Air Force The Deputy Chief of Chaplains of the United States Air Force is the second senior-most chaplain in the United States Air Forcebr>Chaplain Corps holding the rank of brigadier general, and acting as principal deputy to the Chief of Chaplains of the ...

from 2001 to 2004, when he became Chief of Chaplains with the rank of

major general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

. His retirement was effective as of July 1, 2008.

Awards and military decorations

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baldwin, Charles 1947 births Living people Military personnel from New Haven, Connecticut United States Air Force generals Chiefs of Chaplains of the United States Air Force Southern Baptist ministers Recipients of the Legion of Merit Recipients of the Air Force Distinguished Service Medal Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States) Recipients of the Meritorious Service Medal (United States) Recipients of the Air Medal United States Air Force personnel of the Vietnam War United States Air Force personnel of the Gulf War United States Air Force Academy alumni Southern Baptist Theological Seminary alumni Vietnam War chaplains Gulf War chaplains Deputy Chiefs of Chaplains of the United States Air Force 20th-century American clergy