Kevin Patrick "Chilli" Chilton is an American mechanical engineer and retired United States Air Force four-star general, test pilot, and NASA astronaut. His last assignment was as commander of U.S. Strategic Command from October 3, 2007, to January 28, 2011. Prior to his appointment to general officer ranks, Chilton spent 11 years of his military career as a NASA astronaut. He retired from the Air Force on February 1, 2011, after having achieved the highest rank of any military astronaut. On January 30, 2012, General Chilton was named to the board of directors of Orbital Sciences Corporation.
Kevin P. Chilton
Kevin Chilton with his wife Cathy Chilton during a test pilot training on F-15 at Edwards Air Force Base, California, in 1987.
Kevin P. Chilton during his career on NASA in 1987
Chilton, standing 2nd from left, with his STS-49 crewmates
United States Strategic Command
The United States Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) is one of the eleven unified combatant commands in the United States Department of Defense. Headquartered at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, USSTRATCOM is responsible for strategic nuclear deterrence, global strike, and operating the Defense Department's Global Information Grid. It also provides a host of capabilities to support the other combatant commands, including integrated missile defense; and global command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (C4ISR). This command exists to give "national leadership a unified resource for greater understanding of specific threats around the world and the means to respond to those threats rapidly".
A Minuteman III ICBM in its missile silo
USS West Virginia, an Ohio-class nuclear-powered submarine
B-52 and B-2 bombers flying in formation
Gen. Curtis E. LeMay Building, U.S. Strategic Command Headquarters