Following three years of
service as the Human Resources Officer for the Georgia National Guard,
and more than 30 years of Air Force service, Col. Ed Wexler is retiring.
Col. Wexler is a native of Savannah.
He attended public schools, graduating from Savannah High School. He
graduated from the Citadel in 1968 with a degree in Political Science. He
was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the US Air Force, serving on
active duty as a Munitions Maintenance Officer with assignments to
Colorado and a three-year tour in Taiwan, Republic of China. While in
Taiwan he was officer-in-charge of a major air munitions maintenance,
inspection and storage facility.
Col Wexler left active duty in 1972
and was employed by the Georgia Department of Labor. In 1974 he joined
the 165th Airlift Wing as the Air Intelligence Officer. He has been
employed as a full-time air technician since 1975. In 1978 he was
promoted and reassigned as a Squadron Maintenance Officer and Maintenance
Control Officer in the C130E/H aircraft. In 1987 he was again promoted
and assigned as Commander, 165th Mission Support Squadron.
He served as commander of the 165th
Maintenance Squadron beginning Oct 1992. In Jan 1996, he was reassigned
to the position of Logistics Group Commander. In June 2000 he became the
Wing Vice Commander. He became the Human Resources Officer for Georgia in
Nov 2003.Col Wexler has deployed around the world in support of Air Force
missions to such locations as Korea, Egypt, Rwanda, Panama, Saudi Arabia,
Curacao, Italy, England, Germany and Bosnia. He served for two years as
chair of the ANG C-130 Logistics Council, representing over twenty-two
C-130 wings on the national level. At state level, he commanded Air
National Guard personnel deployed to Southwest Georgia during the
devastating floods of 1994. He was also a venue officer for the sailing
events during the Centennial Olympic Games in Savannah in 1996.
In 1997 he received an Air National
Guard Team Excellence Award as wing team chief in the Chief of Staff of
the Air Force Team Excellence Competition. He is a life member of the
Mighty Eighth Air Force Heritage Museum, and serves as a member of the
Board of Trustees. He currently serves as president of the Georgia
National Guard Family Support Foundation and Vice President of the
National Guard Association of Georgia.
Col Wexler is a graduate of the
Squadron Officer School, Air Command and Staff College, and the Air War
College (by correspondence). His decorations include the Legion of Merit,
Meritorious Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters; Air Force
Commendation Medal with one oak leaf cluster, the Army Commendation
Medal, the Air Force Achievement Medal with one oak leaf cluster, and the
Georgia Distinctive Service Medal. Col Wexler is married to Lt Col Mary
W. Wexler, (ANG Nurse Corps retired). They have three children, Susan,
Sara, and Sharon Ashley and two grandchildren.
