Chuck Wilson was born on November 22, 1953, in Indianapolis, Indiana. He was commissioned a 2d Lt in the U.S. Air Force through the Air Force ROTC program at Indiana University Bloomington on December 29, 1976, and he went on active duty in the Air Force on January 31, 1977. Lt Wilson attended Administrative Management & Executive Support Officer School at Keesler AFB, Mississippi, from January to April 1977, and then served as Chief of Personnel and Administration at Port Austin AFS, Michigan, from May 1977 to January 1980. His next assignment was as Commander of Headquarters Squadron at Edwards AFB, California, from January 1980 to May 1981, followed by Undergraduate Pilot Training at Reese AFB, Texas, from June 1981 to June 1982. Capt Wilson served as a KC-135Q Stratotanker Co-Pilot and then Aircraft Commander at Beale AFB, California, from July 1982 to July 1986, and then as a U-2/TR-1 Dragon Lady Flight Commander, Instructor Pilot, and Aircraft Commander at Beale AFB from July 1986 to June 1989. During this time, he became the 486th person ever to solo in the U-2 on February 18, 1987. Maj Wilson next attended U.S. Army Command & General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, from June 1989 to June 1990, followed by service as a JCS Reconnaissance & Single Integrated Operational Plan (Nuclear) Operations Officer at the National Military Command Center in the Pentagon from July 1990 to March 1992. He then served as Chief of Air Reconnaissance Plans, Programs, and Operations Joint Staff J3 Operations Directorate in the Pentagon from March 1992 to August 1993. Lt Col Wilson's next assignment was as Commander of the 4402nd Reconnaissance Squadron (Provisional) at Taif AB, Saudi Arabia, from September 1993 to April 1994, followed by service as Director of U-2 Operations with the 99th Reconnaissance Squadron of the 9th Reconnaissance Wing at Beale AFB from September 1993 to June 1995. He then served as Commander of the 5th Reconnaissance Squadron at Osan AB, South Korea, from June 1995 to August 1996. On October 20, 1995, he flew the first U-2S operational mission. Col Wilson served as a Senior Service School National Defense Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy in Washington, D.C., from August 1996 to July 1997, and then as Chief of the Manned Reconnaissance Division, Defense Airborne Reconnaissance Office in the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense in the Pentagon from July 1997 to July 1998. Col Wilson next served as Deputy Director for Airborne Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance Programs, ISR Directorate, in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (C3I) at the Pentagon from August 1998 to May 1999, followed by service as Commander of the Air Force Command and Control Training and Innovation Center that became the 505th C2 Wing at Hurlburt Field, Florida, from May 1999 to June 2001. He then served as Deputy Director in the Office of Contingency Planning and Peacekeeping, Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, with the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C., from June to September 2001. Col Wilson's final assignment was as Director of the Office of International Security Operations, Bureau of Political-Miltiary Affairs and the Senior U.S. Military Representative with the Department of State in Washington, D.C., from September 2001, until his retirement from the Air Force on December 1, 2004. Col Wilson is rated a Command Pilot and has over 3,800 flying hours in the T-37 Tweet, T-38 Talon, KC-135A and Q Stratotanker, and the TR-1 and U-2 Dragon Lady reconnaissance aircraft.