John Wingfield
John Wingfield
Colonel, U.S. Air Force
Col. John Robert Wingfield III was born in 1944 in Alexander City, Alabama, and raised in the small town of Goodwater. The son and grandson of veterans, he grew up with a deep love of country and a profound respect for military service. This led Wingfield to pursue his own military career, which spanned 27 years of honorable service in the United States Air Force.
Wingfield attended Goodwater High School, where he played football, basketball and baseball, but most importantly, where he met his future wife, Pat, when they were sophomores. He and Pat would later marry in 1967 after “going steady” for 8 years. During their 58 years of marriage, they built a life together that now includes their two children, and four beloved granddaughters.
Upon his graduation in 1962, Wingfield attended the United States Air Force Academy Preparatory School, and one year later received an appointment to the Academy as a member of the Class of 1967. He excelled in all aspects of the Academy’s training, receiving the Commandant's Wreath for outstanding military performance every semester of the demanding four-year curriculum and ultimately serving as Commander of the Academy's 20th Squadron.
Upon his graduation, Wingfield headed for Undergraduate Pilot Training at Craig Air Force Base in Selma. Over the next year he honed his aviator skills and on completion of his training, was awarded his USAF pilot wings.
The Viet Nam War was then raging, and Wingfield's first assignment as a newly minted pilot was a demanding and dangerous one — flying in Southeast Asia in the small, unarmed, single-engine Cessna 0-lE Birddog as a Forward Air Controller.
From January 1969 through January 1970, Wingfield's missions protected the U.S. and other friendly forces by directing air strikes against enemy aggressors engaged in firefights with ground troops, often in perilously close battles. By the end of his tour, he had been awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and 11 Air Medals.
Wingfield returned from the war with a new assignment, flying the C-141 Starlifter transport aircraft, and began what would become a long career with MAC, the Military Airlift Command. From his new duty station, Charleston Air Force Base in South Carolina, Wingfield flew worldwide transport missions, safely delivering personnel, equipment and supplies to provide vital support not only to the continuing war in Southeast Asia, but also to other crucial national security interests around the globe.
Following his first MAC tour, Wingfield was selected to attend graduate school at the prestigious Air Force Institute of Technology where he obtained a master’s degree in Aeronautical Engineering. The Air Force immediately put him and his new degree to use through an exchange assignment with NASA. Working at both Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and Patrick Air Force Base in Florida, he supported the Apollo-Soyuz and early Space Shuttle programs as well as acted as Range Control Officer for multiple missile and rocket launches.
After his time with NASA, Wingfield returned to MAC, this time as an instructor pilot in the C-141 school at Travis Air Force Base in California. Then, his next assignment took him to MAC's headquarters at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois to serve as the Division Director of Aircraft Acquisition and Modification. There, he led MAC programs that would forge the future of Airlift operations and ensure the command's ability to meet the challenges of the years to come.
With proven success, Wingfield was then assigned to Altus Air Force Base in Oklahoma and given command of an Aircraft Maintenance Squadron. He then followed that with a coveted assignment to the USAF Air War College at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery. Graduating from the year-long program, he was selected to join the Air War College faculty where he served for the next two years.
In April 1989, Wingfield became the Base Commander at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois. During this assignment, hostilities in the Middle East erupted with Iraq's invasion of Kuwait and the start of Operation Desert Shield. To lead in the critically important operational deployment of U.S. troops and equipment, Wingfield was hand-picked to command the 1630th Tactical Airlift Wing (Provisional), stationed at Al Ain Air Base in the United Arab Emirates. His skillful leadership guided this C-130 equipped wing to unparalleled success safeguarding vital supply lines and ensuring unimpeded flow of troops and material throughout Operation Desert Shield, the transition to war, and to the victorious conclusion of Operation Desert Storm.
Following the war, Wingfield returned to the States for what would be his final active-duty assignment, command of Auburn University's Air Force ROTC Detachment 005. Wingfield served in this capacity until his retirement in December 1993.
Shortly after hanging up his uniform, Wingfield joined the staff at Auburn United Methodist Church as the office administrator. For over two decades, he led the daily operations of the church and spearheaded programs that had far-reaching impact on both the congregation and the Auburn community.
His deep concern for the wellbeing of his fellow veterans led him to develop and organize AUMC's first-ever Veterans' Ministry providing fellowship to the congregation's veterans. In time, the ministry grew to reach well beyond the walls of AUMC and is now known as the Community Veterans’ Ministry. Wingfield has also worked to strengthen ties between his fellow Kiwanis Club members and extend the reach of the Auburn University Veterans’ Resource Center. He serves as a volunteer veteran mentor with the Lee County Veteran Treatment Court, helping veterans in the program maintain productive and law-abiding lives.
Col. Wingfield has lived a life that exemplifies military service, community involvement, leadership, integrity and character. We are honored to recognize him with the 2026 Auburn Distinguished Veterans Award.