Marvin Champion

BIOGRAPHY

Marvin C. (Marv) Champion, Lieutenant Colonel, USAF (Ret)

Marv was born in Lafayette, Georgia, but moved before the age of 1 to Miami, Florida. In 1956, at the age of eight, he moved to Birmingham, Alabama. Except for an 18-month “remote” to New Orleans during the middle of his high school years, he remained in Birmingham until graduating from Samford University in 1970 with a B.S. in Physics. He then went remote again to obtain a Masters degree in Physics from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge in 1971.

Marv received his Air Force commission through Officer Training School on 21 March 1972 and then prepared for Undergraduate Helicopter Training through the U.S. Army. After 3 months of training at Fort Wolters, Texas, and 5 months at Fort Rucker, Alabama, he received his wings on 23 January 1973. Then he received 3 months of Air Force qualification in the TH-1F at Hill AFB, Utah.

His first assignment was flying the UH-1F and HH-1H in support of Titan II missiles at Little Rock AFB, Arkansas. The unit had a secondary mission of peacetime search and rescue. Marv progressed through instructor pilot, flight examiner, and Chief of Stan/Eval before departing the unit in 1978. After 3 months of qualification training at Kirtland AFB, New Mexico, Marv emerged as a combat rescue H-3 pilot and was sent to Keflavik Naval Air Station, Iceland for 11 months.

In Iceland he upgraded to H-3 instructor pilot and at the end of his tour was selected to become the Wing H-3 Stan/Eval Pilot for the 39th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Wing, Eglin AFB, Florida.

In 1982 Marv was assigned to Headquarters Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Service, Scott AFB, Illinois, where he was responsible for planning the participation of all rescue units worldwide in Red Flag and JCS-directed exercises. In early 1984, his office transferred from Hq ARRS to the newly created 23 Air Force.

Following completion of Air Command and Staff College in 1985, Marv assumed command of a Combat Rescue Mobility detachment at Mountain Home AFB, Idaho, flying the UH-1N helicopter. He received a humanitarian assignment to Robins AFB, Georgia, in early 1987 as Chief of Safety for the Air Logistics Center and base.

In 1989, he transferred to the newly organized Special Operations Forces (SOF) Branch in the Directorate of Materiel Management at WR-ALC and worked in a variety of Helicopter Program Management positions as this organization grew to division, directorate, and eventually system program office (SPO) status. He supervised the execution of over $1 billion dollars worth of high priority modification programs to upgrade the capability of SOF and Rescue helicopters.

Marv retired on 1 December 1994 as a Command Pilot with over 2,750 flying hours. He worked full time for a defense contractor for about two and one-half years and then taught math and science courses part time at two local community colleges for about seven years. He is currently enjoying retirement in Warner Robins with Pam, his wife of 40 years.

Champion Biography page 1 of 2