Four SJAFB personnel to receive their first stars
By Kenneth Fine
Published in News on November 29, 2011 1:46 PM
Four former Seymour Johnson Air Force Base officers, including the man who led the 4th Fighter Wing until April 2010, were nominated by President Barack Obama Monday for appointment to brigadier general.
And should the Senate approve the recommendation, Cols. Mark Kelly, Scott Kindsvater, John Quintas and Steven Garland are among those who will soon pin on their first star.
The list is, perhaps, headlined by Kelly, who, in 2008, was asked to cut his tour in Afghanistan short so the 4th would have a worthy commander.
But the others formerly stationed at Seymour Johnson have impressive credentials of their own.
Kindsvater spent nearly a decade at the Goldsboro installation -- from May 1991 to March 1996, he served as an instructor pilot, flight lead and mission commander for the 335th Fighter Squadron before coming back to Wayne County from June 2003 to May 2006 where he, eventually, commanded the 336th Fighter Squadron both at home and in theater.
And Quintas, during his five-year stint with the 4th, was a weapon systems officer instructor and flight commander.
Of the four, only Garland had a brief stay in Goldsboro -- he was stationed at Seymour Johnson for only six months as a student-weapon systems officer.
But he, like the others, has earned a Bronze Star during the thousands of hours he has spent in the cockpit of an F-15E Strike Eagle -- and, like Kelly, a Distinguished Flying Cross.
The following information better illustrates each of the Air Force's newest brigadier generals' service:
* Col. Mark Kelly -- A command pilot with more than 5,000 flight hours, Kelly has earned, among other awards and decorations, the Distinguished Flying Cross, Bronze Star, Royal Australian Air Force Chief of Air Force Gold Medal, Meritorious Service Medal and Air Medal.
* Col. Scott Kindsvater -- A command pilot with more than 3,600 flight hours, Kindsvater has earned, among other awards and decorations, the Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Bronze Star, De-fense Meritorious Service Medal, Air Medal and Air Force Combat Action Medal.
* Col. John Quintas -- A master navigator with more than 2,700 flight hours -- 480 of them in combat -- Quintas has earned, among other awards and decorations, the Defense Superior Service Medal, Bronze Star, Air Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Medal and NATO Medal.
* Col. Steven Garland -- A master navigator with more than 3,000 flight hours, Garland has earned, among other awards and decorations, the Defense Superior Service Medal, Distinguished Flying Cross, Bronze Star, Air Medal, Southwest Asia Service Medal, Kosovo Campaign Medal with bronze star, Afghanistan Campaign Medal with bronze star, Iraq Campaign Medal with two bronze stars, NATO Medal (Kosovo) and Kuwait Liberation Medal.