Charles H. Pitman is an American military officer and retired United States Marine Corps lieutenant general. He rose from enlistment in 1952 to senior aviation and command assignments, including commanding general of 1st Marine Aircraft Wing and deputy chief of staff for aviation at Marine Corps headquarters.
Background
Charles H. Pitman was born on October 20, 1935, in Chicago, Illinois, to Carol Latshaw Pitman and Anita Schnurr Pitman. His early life preceded a military career that developed during the Cold War, when the United States expanded and modernized its air and expeditionary forces.
He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in 1952. His subsequent advancement from enlisted service through the officer ranks connected his career with the Marine Corps aviation establishment and with the postwar development of increasingly complex military command structures.
Education
Pitman received a Bachelor of Science in Business from Troy State University in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1974. Troy State University, founded in Alabama in the nineteenth century and later known as Troy University, developed as a public institution serving teacher education and broader undergraduate and professional study.
His business education complemented a Marine Corps career that included personnel, operational, aviation, and senior headquarters responsibilities. The degree was completed while he was progressing through the higher levels of military service.
Career
Pitman enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in 1952 and advanced through the service's enlisted and commissioned ranks, reaching colonel in 1976. His career unfolded within the Marine Corps, whose aviation arm combines aircraft operations, expeditionary support, training, logistics, and command functions in support of Marine air-ground task forces.
From 1976 to 1978, he served as a program appraiser in the Office of the Secretary of the Navy in Washington, D.C. The office is the civilian headquarters of the Department of the Navy, responsible for policy, administration, and oversight of the Navy and Marine Corps. In 1978–1979, he commanded Marine Aircraft Group 36 in Okinawa, Japan, an aviation formation supporting Marine Corps operations in the western Pacific.
Pitman chaired a staff group of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Washington from 1979 to 1981. The Joint Chiefs provide senior military advice to the president and secretary of defense, while their staff supports strategic planning and interservice coordination. He then commanded the Marine Aviation Training Support Group in Pensacola, Florida, from 1981 to 1982; Pensacola has long been a major center of naval aviation training.
From 1982 to 1984, Pitman served as assistant chief of staff, C-5, with the Republic of Korea–United States Combined Forces Command in Seoul. The command coordinates the defense relationship between the Republic of Korea and the United States. He was assistant wing commander of 3d Marine Aircraft Wing at El Toro, California, from 1984 to 1985, and commanding general of 1st Marine Aircraft Wing in Okinawa from 1985 to 1987.
Beginning in 1987, he served as deputy chief of staff for aviation at Marine Corps headquarters in Washington. In that senior headquarters role, he was associated with the service-wide administration and planning of Marine aviation. He was identified in later institutional records as a lieutenant general and as a retired senior Marine officer.
Achievements
Pitman rose from enlistment in the United States Marine Corps in 1952 to senior general-officer leadership in Marine aviation, including command of 1st Marine Aircraft Wing and service as deputy chief of staff for aviation at Marine Corps headquarters.
Religion
Pitman was a Roman Catholic. Roman Catholicism is the largest tradition within Christianity and is organized around sacramental worship, the teaching authority of the Church, and a worldwide ecclesiastical structure headed by the pope.
His documented religious affiliation belongs to the American Catholic setting in which he grew up and pursued a military career during the second half of the twentieth century.
Politics
Pitman was identified with the Republican Party. The party is one of the two major political parties in the United States and has historically included traditions emphasizing constitutional government, national defense, individual responsibility, private enterprise, and fiscal restraint.
His documented political affiliation accompanied a career in the United States Marine Corps and senior national-security assignments. No specific factional position or individual political preference is established in the available biography.
Membership
Pitman participated in professional, aviation, military, and civic organizations connected with naval service and flying. His documented affiliations included the National Naval Aviation Museum, The Navy and Marine Association, the Naval Helicopter Association, the Marine Corps Aviation Association, the Association Naval Aviation, The Daedalians, the Army and Navy Club, the Army Navy Country Club, and the Warrenton Soaring Center.
These organizations served different parts of the military community: aviation museums preserve naval aviation history, professional associations support service and technical networks, The Daedalians recognizes military pilots, and country and soaring clubs provide social or recreational settings for members with military and aviation interests.
Served on the board of directors.
National Naval Aviation Museum
,
United States
1981 - 1982
Served as a trustee.
The Navy and Marine Association
,
United States
1988 - present
Naval Helicopter Association
,
United States
1987
Marine Corps Aviation Association
,
United States
Association Naval Aviation
,
United States
The Daedalians
,
United States
Army and Navy Club
,
United States
Army Navy Country Club
,
United States
Participated as a tow pilot.
Warrenton Soaring Center
,
United States
1987 - present
Interests
Flying and soaring.
Sport & Clubs
Golf and fishing.
Connections
Pitman married on January 14, 1956; that marriage ended in divorce in April 1980. He married Shaunee Kay Smith on May 30, 1980.
His children are Charles H. Pitman Junior, Mary C. Pitman, Thomas A. Pitman, and Nancy A. Pitman. His parents were Carol Latshaw Pitman and Anita Schnurr Pitman.
