Lynch, William B.

General William Lynch was born in New York City on January 10, 1943. A 1964 graduate of Brown University, he received his Doctor of Jurisprudence degree in 1976 from Ohio Northern University.

General Lynch began his Air Force career in 1965. After Officer Training School, he completed Pilot Training and was assigned as a pilot the RF-4 Phantom. He has completed Air Command and Staff College, Air War College, and the National War College in residence.

In 1968, General Lynch was assigned to the 432nd Reconnaissance Wing, Udorn, Thailand. After 100 combat missions over North Vietnam, he was reassigned to the 10th TRW, RAF Alconbury RAF, England.

In January 1972, he was a flight commander in the 178th Tactical Fighter Group, Ohio Air National Guard, flying the F-100. In 1979, he was assigned to the 27th Tactical Fighter Wing, Cannon AFB, New Mexico, as an F-111D instructor pilot, flight commander and squadron operations officer.

In 1981, he became the Air Force Advisor to the 180th Tactical Fighter Group, Ohio Air National Guard. His duties included A-7 instructor pilot and standardization/evaluation flight examiner. He remained there until January 1984, when he transferred to the 112th Tactical Fighter Group, Pennsylvania Air National Guard, as Deputy Commander for Operations. In October 1988, General Lynch took the position as Chief, Current Operations Branch, at the Air National Guard Support Center. In this position, he was responsible for the day-to-day flying activities for each of the 91 Air National Guard flying units.

After graduating from the National War College in 1990, General Lynch returned to the National Guard Bureau as Chief of Operations Division. During Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, he was responsible for operational tasking of all 91 flying, and 244 support units in the Air National Guard. In April 1991, General Lynch returned to Pittsburgh as Deputy Commander for Operations of the 171st Air Refueling Wing, Pennsylvania Air National Guard.

He served as commander of the 171st Air Refueling Wing from January 1993 until July 1995. He was appointed Deputy Adjutant General-Air on July 1, 1995, and was promoted to the rank of Major General on August 2, 1996.

Prior to retirement, Bill Lynch was the Adjutant General for Pennsylvania. In this State cabinet-level position General Lynch was was responsible for command, control, and supervision of all Air and Army National Guard units allocated to the State of Pennsylvania. He was also responsible for five state-owned Veterans’ Homes, Scotland School for veterans’ children, and programs for Pennsylvania’s 1.3 million veterans.

A command pilot with over 5,000 flying hours, General Lynch has flown the T-37, T-33, F-100, RF-4, F-111, A-7, KC-135, and EC-130. The recipient of several Top Gun awards, he also completed 100 reconnaissance missions over North Vietnam in the RF-4C.

General Lynch’s military awards and decorations include the Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Meritorious Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters, Air Medal with nine oak leaf clusters, Air Force Commendation Medal, Presidential Unit Citation, Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with one oak leaf cluster, Air Force Organizational Excellence Award with one oak leaf cluster, Combat Readiness Medal with seven oak leaf clusters, National Defense Service Medal with one Bronze Star, Vietnam Service Medal with two Bronze Stars, Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with palm device, Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal, Parachutist Badge, General Stewart Award and General White Award.

In addition to his many military awards, Gen. Lynch was elected to Law Review and received a writing award from the National War College. He served as chairman of the Air Reserve Forces Policy Committee, was Vice President-Air of the National Guard Association of the United States, and serves on the board of the Pennsylvania National Guard Foundation, Bill was also a member of the Ohio and Federal Bar.

General Lynch is married to the former Kathleen A. Killmeyer.