Gary R Pfingston

American military officer, who was the tenth Chief Master Sergeant appointed to the highest Non-commissioned officer position in the United States Air Force, serving from 1990 to 1994. He entered the Air Force in February 1962. Chief Pfingston spent his early years as a B-52 Crew Chief at Castle AFB, California from 1962 to 1968 and then worked on B-52s and KC-135s at Plattsburgh AFB, N.Y. from 1968 to 1972. After serving in Thailand at U-Tapao Royal Thai Air Base for a year between 1972 and 1973, he became a military Training Instructor at Lackland AFB in 1973. In 1979 he became Commandant of the Military Training Instructor School. He became a First Sergeant in 1982 and then between 1984 and 1990 he was a Senior Enlisted Advisor at George AFB, California; Bergstrom AFB, Texas; and Pacific Air Forces Headquarters, Hickam AFB, Hawaii. On 1 August 1990 he became CMSAF. Chief Pfingston’s focus during his tenure was tackling the Air Force’s draw-down and budget. After Basic Allowance for Subsistence (BAS) issues arose during increased deployments during Gulf War I, he worked to continue BAS for Airmen living in field conditions and toward increasing Servicemen’s Group Life Insurance (SGLI) amounts. His toughest challenge was Air Force downsizing. With a goal of avoiding involuntary separations during the ongoing force draw-down, he worked to get the Voluntary Separation Incentive and Special Separation Bonus programs established. He retired on 25 October 1994. He died of cancer on 23 June 2007, aged 67, in San Antonio, Texas. Link to Wikipedia biography