General Larry O. Spencer

Military officer General Larry O. Spencer was born on September 9, 1953 in Washington, D.C. to Alfonza Spencer and Selma Gaines. He received his B.S. degree in industrial engineering technology in 1979 from Southern Illinois University Carbondale, his M.S. degree in business management in 1987 from Webster College, and his M.S. degree in resource strategy in 1994 from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces.

Spencer enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in 1971 and served as an airman before being commissioned and assigned to the financial management field in 1980. He went on to serve as a squadron commander in 1990 and then as assistant chief of staff for the White House military office from 1994 to 1996. That year, he was assigned as group commander, then was promoted to wing commander in 1998. In 1999, Spencer was named command comptroller at the Headquarters Air Combat Command, followed by roles as director of mission support for the Air Force Materiel Command Headquarters in 2003, and as vice director of the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center in 2005. In 2006, he was assigned to the office of the assistant secretary of the Air Force for financial management and comptroller. From 2010, Spencer served as director of force structure for resources and assessments for the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Spencer was promoted to four-star general in 2012 and appointed by President Barack Obama as vice chief of staff of the Air Force. He presided over the Air Staff, served as a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Requirements Oversight Council and Deputy Management Advisory Group, and assisted with organizing, training, and equipping 690,000 active-duty, Guard, Reserve, and civilian forces serving domestically and overseas. He retired from the Air Force in 2015 and was named president of the Air Force Association. Spencer then served as president of the Armed Forces Benefit Association and 5Star Life.

Spencer has served on the boards of Whirlpool, Triumph Group, and Haynes International and is a distinguished senior fellow of the University of Pennsylvania’s Fels Institute of Government and a member of the Defense Business Board.

Spencer received the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, Distinguished Service Medal, Defense Superior Service Medal, and Legion of Merit with two oak leaf clusters as well as the Eugene M. Zuckert Award, Best Major Command Comptroller in the Department of Defense Award, and Air Force Comptroller of the Year Award. The Air Force General Larry Spencer Innovation Award and the Air Force General Larry Spencer Special Acts and Services Award are named in his honor.

Spencer is the author of two books, The Green Eyeshades of War: An Examination of Financial Management during War (2016) and Dark Horse: General Larry O. Spencer and His Journey from the Horseshoe to the Pentagon (2021).

Spencer and his wife, Ora Mae Spencer, live in Northern Virginia. They have three children, Larry O. Spencer II, Derrick L. Spencer, and Shannon C. Spencer-Watson.

General Larry O. Spencer was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on October 5, 2022.