General Lloyd W. Newton

United States Air Force (USAF) General Lloyd W. “Fig” Newton was born on December 24, 1942, in Ridgeland, South Carolina, to Annie and John Newton. He graduated from Jasper High School in 1961 and received his B.S. degree in aviation education in 1966 from Tennessee State University and his M.A. degree in public administration in 1985 from George Washington University. He also attended the Armed Forces Staff College, the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, and Harvard University.

After serving in the ROTC at Tennessee State, Newton started pilot training at Williams Air Force Base (AFB) in Arizona in 1966. In 1968, he served as a fighter pilot in the Vietnam War. In 1974, Newton was selected as a member of the USAF Thunderbirds. In 1978, he was assigned as an Air Force congressional liaison officer with the U.S. House of Representatives. Starting in 1985, Newton served in several capacities at the USAF headquarters in the Pentagon. He was promoted to brigadier general in 1991. In 1993, Newton served as director of operations at the United States Special Operations Command. He was promoted to major general in 1993 and lieutenant general in 1995. In 1997, he was promoted to general and served as commander of the Air Education and Training Command until his retirement from the USAF in 2000. Throughout his career, Newton served in various positions at Air Force bases across the U.S. and around the world. From 2000 to 2006, Newton served as an executive vice president at Pratt & Whitney. In 2018, Newton became a founding member of Polaris Technical Charter School in Ridgeland, South Carolina. Newton published his autobiography, Living the Dream: The Story of Lloyd W. Fig Newton, with B. J. Harvey Hill in 2021.

Newton has served on the boards of the National Museum of the USAF, the National Air and Space Museum, Torchmark Corporation, Goodrich Aerospace Corporation, Sonoco Products Company, the National Business Aviation Association, L3 Technologies, L3 Harris Technologies, National Defense University, Polaris Technical Charter School, and the Air Force Association. He also served on the 2005 Defense Base Realignment and Closure Commission and on the President’s Commission on White House Fellowships under the Obama administration.

Newton has been the recipient of numerous military awards as well as honorary doctorates from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Benedict College, and the University of South Carolina Beaufort - Bluffton Campus. He also is a member of the South Carolina Aviation Hall of Fame, the International Air & Space Hall of Fame, and Tuskegee Airmen Inc., a recipient of the Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy, and was selected as an Eagle by Air Command and Staff College’s Gathering of Eagles.

Newton and his wife, Elouise (Morning) Newton, live in Bluffton, South Carolina. They have five children, Lloyd Newton, Jr., Edward Morning, Cheryl Colbert, James Morning, and Lori Newton.

General Lloyd W. “Fig” Newton was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on November 15, 2021.