With double the amount of Wing Commanders on this base compared to most Air Force bases, Minot therefore has two times the chance of seeing those “full bird” Colonels move on to the illustrious rank of General. Over the past decade, MAFB has had several previous wing commanders, either on the 5th Bomb Wing or 91st Missile Wing side, promoted after their tour in Minot.

The latest AF Colonels to make General are MAFB’s most recent former Wing Commanders, Col. Michael Walters and Col. Christopher Menuey, who were both at Minot AFB from 2020-2022. According to the U.S Department of Defense and the General Officer Announcements released on Jan 25, 2023, “Col. Menuey is currently serving as the director, Commander’s Action Group, Headquarters U.S. Strategic Command, Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, and Col. Walters is currently serving as the assistant deputy director, Operations, J35, Joint Staff, Pentagon, Washington, D.C.”

According to the Congressional Research Service: Defense Primer: Military Officers, ( https://sgp.fas.org/crs/natsec/IF10685.pdf) the General Officer ranks make up just under 0.4% of the Officer Corps. And as of September 2022, there were only 126 Brigadier Generals in the U.S Air Force, making it a very exclusive bunch.
In the last decade, several other previous MAFB Wing Commanders have gone on to make General including Brigadier General Glenn Harris (91 MW CC 2018-2020), Brigadier General Colin Conner (91 MW CC 2016-2018), Maj. General Michael Lutton (91 MW CC 2014-2016), Lieutenant General James Dawkins Jr. (5 BW CC 2011-2013) and Maj. General Jason R. Armagost (5 BW CC 2014-2016).