Kwast set to receive second star
By Kenneth Fine
Published in News on May 4, 2011 1:46 PM
Steve Kwast
Another former 4th Fighter Wing commander is poised to receive his second star.
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates announced Tuesday that Brig. Gen. Steve Kwast was among those recently nominated by President Barack Obama for appointment to the rank of major general -- a decision that came less than two years after the officer's last promotion.
Kwast, who was a member of the 336th Fighter Squadron from 1990 to 1996, has worn many hats throughout his military career. The F-15E Strike Eagle pilot recorded 238 combat hours during operations Desert Shield, Desert Storm, Southern Watch and Enduring Freedom and has led Seymour Johnson Air Force Base personnel from Goldsboro to Afghanistan.
And he has earned several decorations during his stint in the military, including the Distinguished Flying Cross, Aerial Achievement Medal with three oak leaf clusters and the Air Force Commendation Medal, but has often said the people he has come to know during his career mean more to him than any award or honor.
Kwast is not the only former member of the 4th to achieve the rank of major general this year.
In January, Mike Holmes got the nod from the president and former 4th Operations Group Commander Brig. Gen. Darryl Roberson, the current commander of the 455th Air Expeditionary Wing at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan -- a post both Kwast and Holmes have held since leaving Seymour Johnson -- is also set to put on another star.