Air
National Guard Assistant to the Commander, Air Force Special Operations Command
Brigadier General Gerald E. Otterbein serves as the Air National Guard Assistant to the Commander, Air Force Special Operations Command, Hurlburt Field, Florida. The command is the Air Force component of United States Special Operations Command. Air Force Special Operations Command provides Air Force special operations forces for worldwide deployment and assignment to unified combatant commanders with approximately 19,000 active-duty, Reserve, Air National Guard and civilian professionals.
General Otterbein has served as the Assistant Adjutant General - Air, Pennsylvania National Guard. His duties included assisting the Deputy Adjutant General in the oversight of 4,000 Airmen located in three wings across the state. He also supported joint activities with the Pennsylvania Army National Guard to include the State Partnership Program and the State Joint Task Force.
General Otterbein enlisted in the Pennsylvania Air National Guard in 1983 and was commissioned (Distinguished Graduate) in April 1984 at the Academy of Military Science, McGhee-Tyson Air National Guard Base, Knoxville, Tennessee. His career includes participation in numerous classified missions during Operations Desert Shield/Desert Storm, Uphold Democracy, Joint Guard, Flowing Pen, Noble Anvil, Desert Thunder, Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. He has also commanded units at the flight, squadron, group and wing level.
1982 Bloomsburg State College, Bachelor of Science, Business Administration,
Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania
2002 Air War College, By Correspondence
2012 Harvard-Kennedy Business School- National and International Strategic
Studies Seminar
1. May 1984 - June 1985, Student, Undergraduate Pilot Training, 193rd Combat
Support Squadron, Williams Air Force Base, Arizona
2. June 1985 - June 1988, Pilot, Reconnaissance Electronic Warfare, 193rd
Special Operations Squadron, Middletown, Pennsylvania
3. June 1988 - June 1990, Co-Pilot, Electronic Warfare, 193rd Special Operations
Squadron, Middletown, Pennsylvania
4. June 1990 - January 2001, Pilot, Electronic Warfare, 193rd Special Operations
Squadron, Middletown, Pennsylvania
5. January 2001 - January 2002, Pilot, Operations Officer, 193rd Special
Operations Squadron, Middletown, Pennsylvania
6. January 2002 - September 2003, Commander, 193rd Special Operations Squadron,
Middletown, Pennsylvania
7. October 2003 - November 2004, Commander, 193rd Special Operations Group,
Middletown, Pennsylvania
8. November 2004 - February 2012, Vice Commander, 193rd Special Operations Wing,
Middletown, Pennsylvania
9. February 2012 - December 2012, Commander, 193rd Special Operations Wing,
Middletown, Pennsylvania
10. January 2013 - October 2013, Assistant Adjutant General - Air, Pennsylvania
National Guard, Annville, Pennsylvania
11. October 2013 - June 2015, Air
National Guard Assistant to the Commander, Air Force Special Operations Command,
Hurlburt Air Force Base, Florida
Rating: Command Pilot
Flight hours: Over 3,800
Aircraft flown: T-37, T-38, EC-130E, EC130H, EC-130J
Pilot wings from: Williams Air Force Base, Arizona
Distinguished Service Medal
Bronze Star
Meritorious Service Medal (with1 Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster)
Air Medal (with 1 Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster)
Air Force Commendation Medal
Air Force Meritorious Unit Award
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award (with V Device, 1 Silver Oak Leaf Cluster and 2
Bronze Oak Leaf Clusters)
Combat Readiness Medal (with 1 Silver Oak Leaf Cluster and 3 Bronze Oak Leaf
Clusters)
National Defense Service Medal (with 1Bronze Service Star)
Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (with 1 Bronze Service Star)
Southwest Asia Service Medal (with 2 Bronze Service Stars)
Kosovo Campaign Medal (with 1 Bronze Star)
Afghanistan Campaign Medal (with 1 Bronze Service Star)
Iraq Campaign Medal (with 2 Bronze Service Stars)
Global War on Terrorism Service Medal
Armed Forces Service Medal
Humanitarian Service Medal
Air Force Overseas Ribbon Short Tour
Air Force Expeditionary Service Ribbon (with Gold Border)
Air Force Longevity Service Award Ribbon (with 1 Silver Oak Leaf Cluster)
Armed Forces Reserve Medal (with Bronze Hourglass, M Device and Numeral 7)
Small Arms Expert Marksmanship Ribbon
Air Force Training Ribbon
Kuwait Liberation Medal (Emirate of Kuwait)
Pennsylvania Commendation Medal
Pennsylvania Governor's Unit Citation
Pennsylvania 20 Year Service Medal
Pennsylvania Major General Thomas R. White Jr. Medal
Pennsylvania Recruiting and Retention Medal
Pennsylvania General Thomas J. Stewart Medal
Commercial Airline Pilot for American Airlines with type ratings in: B-777, B-767, B-737, B-727, MD-80.
Second Lieutenant 24 May 1984
First Lieutenant 22 June 1986
Captain 19 July 1988
Major 17 July 1994
Lieutenant Colonel 11 December 1998
Colonel 3 August 2004
Brigadier General 26 March 2012
(Current as of June 2015)