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Stephen Cortright

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Stephen Cortright
Major General Stephen Cortright, USAF (ret.)
Former Adjutant General, State of Oklahoma
Born (1941-03-26) March 26, 1941 (age 83)
AllegianceUnited States of America
Service / branchUnited States Air Force
Oklahoma National Guard
Oklahoma Air National Guard
Years of service1964–2003
Rank Major general
CommandsAdjutant General of Oklahoma
AwardsLegion of Merit

Major General Stephen Phelps Cortright USAF (retired) (born March 26, 1941),[1] is an American military officer and attorney from Oklahoma who served as the 17th Adjutant General of Oklahoma under Governor Frank Keating from 1995 to 2003. Concurrent with his service as adjutant general, Cortright served in Keating's cabinet as the Oklahoma Secretary of the Military.

Education

Cortright received his bachelor's degree from Oklahoma State University in 1964 and earned his juris doctor from the University of Tulsa in 1973.

Military career

Cortright joined the United States Air Force on February 14, 1964. On May 12, 1964, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant and entered undergraduate pilot training at Webb Air Force Base in Texas. He is a command pilot with over 5000 hours of military flying time in the T-33, T-37, T-38, RF-4C, F-100, A-7, and F-16 aircraft. He flew 217 combat missions while serving in Vietnam from September 1966 through July 1967.

Following the end of the Vietnam War, Cortright returned to Oklahoma and became the operations officers with the 125th Tactical Fighter Squadron in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He later became the squadron's commander. He then served as the commander of the 138th Tactical Fighter Group, also based in Tulsa. From 1988 to 1992, Cortight was appointed the headquarters commander of the Oklahoma Air National Guard. In 1992, he served as the Air National Guard Assistant to the commander, Pacific Air Forces at Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii.

Dates of ranks

Promotions
Insignia Rank Date
Major general October 6, 1992
Brigadier general March 1, 1989
Colonel June 26, 1984
Lieutenant colonel July 20, 1979
Major July 3, 1975
Captain May 12, 1969
First lieutenant May 12, 1967
Second lieutenant May 12, 1964

Keating administration

In 1995, Governor of Oklahoma Frank Keating appointed Cortright to serve as the Adjutant General of Oklahoma, succeeding Gary Maynard. As adjutant general, General Cortright was the highest-ranking military official in Oklahoma, ranking only behind Governor Keating in his role as commander-in-chief. Cortright oversaw the Oklahoma Military Department and the Oklahoma National Guard. Cortright remained in that position until the end of Keating's term in 2003.[2] He was succeeded by Air Force general Harry M. Wyatt III.

Personal life

Cortright was married to his wife, Barbara Joyce (née Coleman). She was born in Tulsa February 22, 1943. Stephen and Barbara had four children, David, Tiffany, Heather and Adam, who all survive her. Barbara died on March 27, 2016, in Tulsa. Her ashes were placed at Fort Gibson National Cemetery, after a memorial service at Yale Avenue Christian Church in Tulsa.[3]

References

Political offices
Preceded by
Oklahoma Secretary of the Military
Under Governor Frank Keating

1995 - 2003
Succeeded by
Military offices
Preceded by
Gary Maynard
Adjutant General of Oklahoma
Under Governor Frank Keating

1995 - 2003
Succeeded by