Edward Lee Hubbard (born May 18, 1938) is a retired American Air Force officer, author, artist, and internationally known

motivational speaker A motivational speaker is a speaker who makes speeches intended to motivate or inspire an audience. Such speakers may attempt to challenge or transform their audiences. The speech itself is popularly known as a pep talk. Motivational speakers ca ...

Early life and education

Hubbard was born in

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the 36th most-populous city in the United States. It is the central ...

in 1938 to Mr. and Mrs. Jess E. Hubbard, and he remained in the area for the first 24 years of his life. He graduated from Shawnee Mission High School in May 1957. From December 1957 to August 1961, he worked in the men's garment industry.

Military service

Hubbard joined the

United States Air Force Reserve The Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC) is a major command (MAJCOM) of the United States Air Force, with its headquarters at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia. It is the federal Air Reserve Component (ARC) of the U.S. Air Force, consisting of commiss ...

at Richards-Gebaur Air Force Base in 1955, at age seventeen. While there, he flew as a

flight engineer A flight engineer (FE), also sometimes called an air engineer, is the member of an aircraft's flight crew who monitors and operates its complex aircraft systems. In the early era of aviation, the position was sometimes referred to as the "air me ...

in a

C-119 The Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar (Navy and Marine Corps designation R4Q) was an American military transport aircraft developed from the World War II-era Fairchild C-82 Packet, designed to carry cargo, personnel, litter patients, and mechani ...

. In August 1961, he went on active duty and entered the aviation cadet program at James Connally Air Force Base in

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

for Basic Navigation Training. On July 6, 1962, he was commissioned and received his wings. On July 20, 1966, while flying his 26th mission over North Vietnam, Hubbard’s EB-66C was shot down by two

surface-to-air missiles A surface-to-air missile (SAM), also known as a ground-to-air missile (GTAM) or surface-to-air guided weapon (SAGW), is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft or other missiles. It is one type of anti-aircraft syst ...

. Of the six crew members, all but one survived the shoot down and subsequent captivity.Hubbard was a

First Lieutenant First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment. The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a s ...

at the time. After running through the jungle for a number of hours, he was captured by the Viet Cong and put in a POW camp. There, he stayed in a six-by-six-foot cell and lived on less than 300

calories The calorie is a unit of energy. For historical reasons, two main definitions of "calorie" are in wide use. The large calorie, food calorie, or kilogram calorie was originally defined as the amount of heat needed to raise the temperature of on ...

per day. After 2,420 days of being imprisoned, he was finally released on March 4, 1973, along with many others from his camp. This experience changed Hubbard's outlook on life. Edhubbardpentagonpainting

After returning, Hubbard started using his new, positive way of thinking, and after only eight days of implementation – increased the productivity of a $350 million resource by 50%. He later inherited an organization designated "...the worst managed..." among 58 units by an Air Force

audit An audit is an "independent examination of financial information of any entity, whether profit oriented or not, irrespective of its size or legal form when such an examination is conducted with a view to express an opinion thereon.” Auditing ...

. Within four months, Ed Hubbard turned the unit around and demonstrated statistically significant improvement in 96% of the audited areas. During ten years as head of the largest safety organization in the Air Force, they shattered all records. They achieved 30% to 70% improvements in all categories, where a 3% improvement had long been the norm. Ed Hubbard's organization was recognized as "Best in the Air Force" for ten consecutive years, and a previously accepted, multimillion-dollar loss rate per year was reduced to less than fifty thousand dollars per year. Hubbard retired from the Air Force as a colonel in 1990.

Honors and awards

Since March 22, 1983, a life-sized oil painting of Hubbard by artist, John Witt, hangs inside

the Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense. It was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As a symbol of the U.S. military, the phrase ''The Pentagon'' is often used as a metony ...

as part of the United States Air Force Art Collection. In recognition of his contributions to the Air Force, Hubbard was inducted as an honorary Chief Master Sergeant in EdHubbardTexasAandM

September 1988.

Public speaking career and later life

When talking about being incarcerated, Hubbard said that nothing he learned in the Air Force prepared him for such an experience, but every day he spent in a cell taught him that survival is possible, even in the most dire situations. In 1985, he became involved in public speaking so that others could benefit from the lessons he learned in captivity. After retiring, he founded Positive Vectors, Inc., a firm dedicated to helping others overcome any obstacle, survive any ordeal, and reach any goal by developing the right state of mind. Since then, Hubbard has traveled all over the country and spoken to thousands of members of corporate America, government agencies, and non-profit organizations. His book, ''Escape from the Box: The Wonder of Human Potential'', was published in January 1994. Hubbard currently lives in

Fort Walton Beach Fort Walton Beach is a city in southern Okaloosa County, Florida. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the population was 20,922, up from 19,507 in 2010. It is the principal city of the Fort Walton Beach− Crestview− Destin Metropolitan Statistical Area ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

with his wife, Jennifer.

References

External links

Positive Vectors Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hubbard, Edward L. 1938 births Living people Military personnel from Kansas City, Missouri United States Air Force officers Recipients of the Silver Star Recipients of the Legion of Merit Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States) Recipients of the Air Medal Vietnam War prisoners of war American motivational speakers