Ronald B. Stewart retired in February from the position of assistant adjutant general of Delaware and commander of the Delaware Army National Guard.
Brig. Gen. Stewart dedicated his 40-year military career to advancing Army aviation. He started as an Infantry private in 1965. Commissioned in 1967, he completed advanced rotary-wing flight training at Hunter Army Airfield, Ga., in 1968.
Assigned to Vietnam, he led an assault helicopter platoon and was highly decorated for his year of wartime action. Returning to the States, he became an instructor at the Army Helicopter Center at Fort Wolters, Tex.
Stewart brought his vast experience to the Delaware Guard in 1971. He served as a flight instructor and commander of an assault helicopter company. A dual-rated master Army aviator, he qualified in numerous rotary-wing and fixed-wing aircraft and chalked up more than 6,300 pilot hours.
In 1984 he was named State Army Aviation Support Facility Commander and State Army Aviation Officer, posts he held for 12 years. He was selected as chief of staff in 1996 and Assistant Adjutant General-Army in 1999. He is the first aviator in the Delaware Army National Guard to be promoted to the rank of General.
Gen. Stewart holds a bachelor of science degree from Wilmington College. He also attended the Army Command and General Staff College and is a graduate of the U.S. Army War College resident class of 1990.
He and his wife Nancy live in Wilmington. They have two children: Scott Stewart who lives in Pennsylvania, and Susan (Stewart) Lower of Las Vegas.
