Major General William B. Lynch serves as Vice Chair - Air of the National Guard Association of the United States.  He was elected at the 126th Annual Conference in Las Vegas in September 2004.  General Lynch served in the U.S. Air Force on active duty and is a veteran of Vietnam. He then served in the Pennsylvania Air National Guard and was appointed Pennsylvania's Adjutant General by Governors Ridge, Schweiker and Rendell.Lynch retired as Pennsylvania's Adjutant General after 39 year military career achieving the rank of Major General. In his most recent position as Adjutant General of Pennsylvania, Bill was responsible for the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs ((DMVA) which employs over 20,000 people. He was in charge of the largest and most deployed National Guard in the nation. His duties included overseeing six Veterans homes, the Scotland School for Veterans Children and managing resources and programs that address the needs of 1.3 million Pennsylvania Veterans. Bill managed a DMVA annual budget of $550 million, 80% of which is federal funding and 20% state funding. Bill was born in New York City in 1943 shortly before his father was killed in the Pacific during World War II. Bill attended secondary school in Indiana where he was a member of the National Honor Society. He attended Brown University, where he played football and lacrosse, he received an AB in American Literature in 1964. He received his J.D. from Ohio Northern University School of Law in 1976 graduating with High Distinction and was elected to Law Review. Bill enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in 1964 and was commissioned in 1965. He served on active duty in the USAF from 1964 to 1972 and again from 1979 to 1984. He served in the Ohio Air National Guard from 1973 to 1979 and the Pennsylvania Air National Guard from 1984 to 2004. On active duty and in the Air National Guard he served in positions of increasing rank and responsibility. He is a USAF Command Pilot and has more than 5,000 flight hours in various aircraft. Bill received several "Top Gun" awards and is a Military Parachutist, having made 35 military jumps. General Lynch is the recipient of many awards and honors which include; the Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Meritorious Service Medal, Air Medal, Air Force Commendation Medal, Presidential Unit Citation, Combat Readiness Medal, National Defense Service Medal with one Bronze Star, Vietnam Service Medal with two Bronze Stars, Humanitarian Service Medal, General Stewart Award and General White Award. He has received the Catholic Veteran of the Year award, Chapel of the Four Chaplains, The Legions Honor Gold Medallion (2003), The Military Order of the World Wars, Patrick Henry Medallion for Patriotic Achievement (2000), Marine Corps League Distinguished Service Award (2000) and the Vietnam Veterans Leadership Program Presidents Award (2003.) Bill served on the Board/or as a Trustee of, among others, the National Guard Association of the United States, the Pennsylvania National Guard Associations, the United Way of South Western Pennsylvania, the Scotland School Foundation, Pennsylvania National Guard Foundation, Pennsylvania National Guard Museum, the National Guard Insurance Trust,  and the National Guard Education Association. Bill is a member of; the American Legion, National Guard Association, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Red River Valley Fighter Pilots Association, American Veterans (AMVETS), Civil Air Patrol, Army Aviation Association of America, Association of the U.S. Army, Air Force Association, Delta Kappa Epsilon and the Military Officer Association of America (MOAA).