Defiance native retires from Air Force

Air Force Maj. Gen. Stephen T. Sargeant.

Air Force Maj. Gen. Stephen T. Sargeant.

Air Force Maj. Gen. Stephen T. Sargeant, a Defiance, Ohio, native, retired from military service Jan. 1 after a 33-year career that took him to England, Korea, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Sargeant was a fighter pilot who flew A-10 and F-16 aircraft, according to a release from Joint Hometown News Services.

MILITARY ACHIEVEMENTS: Read more about local enlisted and commissioned military

The major general's final command tour was as the commander of the Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center at Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M. He reported directly to the Air Force chief of staff regarding the test and evaluation of more than 76 major programs, including the Joint Strike Fighter.

During his career, Sargeant served as the commandant of the Air Force Weapons School at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., and commanded the 8th Fighter Wing at Kunsan Air Base, South Korea, and the 56th Fighter Wing at Luke Air Force Base, Ariz. He served in numerous joint and coalition assignments including deputy chief of staff, strategy for Combined Joint Task Force 7 and deputy chief of staff, strategy, plans and assessment for Multi-National Force - Iraq in Baghdad.

He also served in various positions in the Pentagon, including military assistant to both the deputy secretary of defense and secretary of defense, and he was the deputy executive secretary to the National Security Council in the White House.

He spent his final year on active duty as the special assistant to the commander of the Air Education and Training Command, assisting in the establishment of F-35 Joint Strike Fighter training capability at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla.

Sergeant is a 1974 graduate of St. John's High School. He received a bachelor's degree in 1978 from the U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colo., and earned a master's degree in 1984 from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University.