MARINE CORPS AIR STATION MIRAMAR, Calif. -- Maj. Gen. Charles F. Bolden Jr. relinquished command of the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing to Maj. Gen. James F. Amos in a change of command ceremony at 3rd MAW headquarters aboard Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Aug. 9.

Maj. Gen. Bolden chose this time to retire from his well-documented 34 years of service in the Marine Corps, turning down the position of commanding general II Marine Expeditionary Force, at Camp Lejeune, N.C.

"Jackie and I wanted to leave the Marine Corps with this memory," said Maj. Gen. Bolden, explaining why he chose now to retire.

"This has been the best wing in the Marine Corps," said Maj. Gen. Bolden, who held his granddaughter during much of his emotional speech. "We wanted to spend more time with Mikaley.

"I wanted to spend more time with her than I was able to with my own children," said the general, with tears in his eyes.

Maj. Gen. Bolden took time during his emotionally-charged speech to specially recognize the Buffalo Soldiers, Tuskegee Airmen and Monteford Point Marines.

"Charlie has been a great spokesman for the Marine Corps," said Maj. Gen. Amos, who attended the Naval Academy with Maj. Gen. Bolden. "It is a great joy to have served with Gen. Bolden, as well as being friends with the Boldens," said Maj. Gen. Amos.

Maj. Gen. Bolden received numerous letters and certificates including a Certificate of Appreciation from the President of the United States, during the ceremony. In addition, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal during the ceremony for "exceptionally meritorious service to the Government of the united States in a duty of great responsibility ... ."

His citation concludes with "By his superior leadership, outstanding professionalism, and deep devotion to duty, Maj. Gen. Golden reflected great credit upon himself and upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and the United States Naval Service."

Born in Columbia, S.C., Maj. Gen. Bolden received a Bachelor of Science degree from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1968 and later earned a Master of Science degree in systems management from the University of Southern California in 1977.

Accepting a commission as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps following graduation from the Naval Academy, he underwent flight training at Pensacola, Fla., Meridian, Miss., and Kingsville, Texas, before being designated a naval aviator in May 1970. Between June 1972 and June 1973 he flew more than 100 combat missions into North and South Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia in the A-6A Intruder while assigned to VMA (AW)-533 at Nam Phong, Thailand.

Upon returning to the United States, Maj. Gen. Bolden began a two-year tour as a Marine Corps Officer Selection and Recruiting Officer in Los Angeles, followed by three years in various assignments at the Marine Corps Air Station, El Toro. In June 1979, he graduated from the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School at Patuxent River, Md., and was assigned to the Naval Air Test Center's Systems Engineering and Strike Aircraft Test Directorates. While there, he served as an ordnance test pilot and flew numerous test projects in the A-6E, EA-6B and A-7C/E aircraft. Throughout his career Maj. Gen. Bolden has logged more than 6,000 hours of flying time in more than thirty models of fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft.

Selected as an astronaut candidate by NASA in 1980, Maj. Gen. Bolden qualified as a space shuttle pilot astronaut in 1981 and subsequently flew four missions in space. During his first mission on board the Space Shuttle Columbia in 1986, he participated in the successful deployment of the SATCOM KU satellite and conducted experiments in astrophysics and materials processing.

As pilot of the Space Shuttle Discovery in 1990, Maj. Gen. Bolden and crew successfully deployed the Hubble Space Telescope while orbiting the earth from a record setting altitude of 400 miles. Additionally, they also conducted extensive scientific experimentation and employed a variety of cameras, including both the IMAX in-cabin and cargo bay cameras for Earth observations.

On his third mission in 1992, he commanded the Space Shuttle Atlantis on the first Space Laboratory (SPACELAB) mission dedicated to NASA's "Mission to Planet Earth." During this nine-day mission, the crew operated the ATLAS-1 (Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and Science), a system composed of twelve experiments, which succeeded in making a vast amount of detailed measurements of the Earth's atmospheric chemical and physical properties. Immediately following this mission, Maj. Gen. Bolden was appointed Assistant Deputy Administrator for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

He held this Washington post until assigned as commander of STS-60, the 1994 flight of a six-member crew on the Space Shuttle Discovery. This landmark eight-day mission was the first joint U.S./Russian Space Shuttle mission, involving the participation of a Russian Cosmonaut as a mission specialist. The crew conducted a series of joint U.S./Russian science activities and carried the Space Habitation Module-2 and the Wake Shield Facility-01 into space. Upon completion of this fourth mission, Maj. Gen. Bolden left the space program having logged more than 680 hours in space.

In 1995, after successfully completing a one-year tour as the Deputy Commandant of the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., Maj. Gen. Bolden served as the Assistant Wing Commander, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing in Miramar. In July of 1997, he was assigned as the Deputy Commanding General, I MEF, Marine Forces, Pacific. From February to June 1998, he served as Commanding General, I MEF (FWD) in support of Operation Desert Thunder in Kuwait. In July 1998 he was promoted to his current rank and assumed his previous duties as the Deputy Commander, U.S. Forces, Japan.

Maj. Gen. Bolden has been awarded a number of military and NASA decorations and has received Honorary Doctorates from several distinguished universities.

Editor's note: Biographical information in this story was provided by USMC.mil.