Gen. Stephen W. “Seve” Wilson retired Nov. 13 after 39 years of service, ending his tenure as the Air Force’s longest-serving vice chief of staff.
Wilson, who was replaced by Gen. David W. Allvin on Nov. 12, served four years and four months in the role, surpassing the previous record set by Gen. Curtis M. Lemay, who served in the role from July 1957 to 1961. Throughout his career, Wilson accumulated more than 4,600 flight hours and 680 combat hours in B-1s and B-2s. He previously served as commander of Air Force Global Strike Command and as the deputy commander of U.S. Strategic Command before joining now-retired Chief of Staff Gen. David L. Goldfein to lead the service.
As the 39th vice chief of staff, Wilson led initiatives such as Spark Tank and his Vice Chief’s Challenge, and he partnered with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to create an “artificial intelligence accelerator.” Throughout his time at Global Strike, STRATCOM, and on the Air Staff, he also has been a key leader pushing the development of the B-21 Raider.
During the ceremony, the Air Force announced it would rename building 905 at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas, to “Wilson Hall” in his honor. As a salute to his time flying and commanding the Air Force’s bombers, a B-1 and B-52 flew over Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling in Washington, D.C., at the end of the retirement ceremony.