YONGSAN GARRISON, South Korea — Lt. Gen. Garry R. Trexler became commander of 7th Air Force and deputy commander of the United Nations Command and U.S. Forces Korea at an Osan Air Base ceremony Wednesday, officials said.
Trexler, who most recently served as director of Air and Space Operations at Headquarters, Pacific Air Forces, succeeds Lt. Gen. Lance Smith, who now is deputy commander of the U.S. Central Command.
Gen. William J. Begert, PACAF commander, was on hand as Trexler assumed his new duties.
Trexler called the ROK-U.S. alliance “the most successful bilateral relationship in history,” according to an Air Force release.
“Each of us here is dedicated to something greater than ourselves. We live by a code and fight for a great cause.”
Trexler earned a civil engineering degree from the University of Missouri at Rolla before joining the Air Force in 1971. He earned a master’s degree in engineering management from the Air Force Institute of Technology at Rolla.
Trexler has been an instructor pilot for T-37, T-38 and F-15 aircraft, according to his official biography. He also served the U.S. Air Forces Europe Command, in the Office of the Secretary of Defense and at NATO headquarters.
The general is a command pilot with more than 2,900 flying hours. Among his major awards are the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit with oak leaf cluster, Combat Readiness Medal and National Defense Service Medal with service star.
He was promoted to lieutenant general on Nov. 18, his biography states.
