Martin, James L.

Jim is a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy. Following pilot training, he was assigned to an airlift unit and later to a tactical fighter wing.

He later served as an Air Force test pilot and was instrumental in the development of fly-by-wire technology and all-weather landing systems. He transitioned to the Air Force Reserve in 1974 and has served as an airlift pilot, operations officer, squadron commander, wing and numbered Air Force staff officer and an individual mobilization augmenter. Jim Martin’s last USAF assignment was as a BGen and the mobilization assistant to the Commander, U.S. Pacific Command, Camp H. M. Smith, Hawaii.

He is a command pilot with more than 12,000 total flight hours. He retired as Senior Executive Service employee of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration at the Ames Research Center, Mountain View, CA.

Notable:

1967 Top Gun, Class 67-HR, Cannon AFB, NM
1980 Project pilot, joint Navy/NASA carrier suitability sea trials, NASA STOL research aircraft
1983 Project pilot, 35th Paris Air Show, NASA STOL research aircraft
1989 Project pilot, joint U.S./Japan Asuka STOL research aircraft program
1993 Director’s Award for Interagency Cooperation, Aeroflight Dynamics Directorate, U.S. Army Aviation and Troop Command
1995 NASA Exceptional Service Award
1998 NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal

Professional Memberships and Associations
Fellow, Society of Experimental Test Pilots
Reserve Officers Association
U.S. Air Force Academy Alumni Association
Senior Executive Association
Air Force Association

Effective Dates of Promotion
Second Lieutenant  June 5, 1963
First Lieutenant  June 5, 1964
Captain  Sept. 9, 1971
Major  Sept. 9, 1978
Lieutenant Colonel  Sept. 9, 1985
Colonel  June 1, 1989
Brigadier General  April 3, 1995