David A. Robinson  David A. Robinson (born 1954) is a retired major general in the United States Air Force who served as mobilization assistant to the Chief of the Air Force Reserve, Headquarters United States Air Force, Washington, D.C.  Robinson was born in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, and raised in Fairfield, Connecticut. He is a 1976 honor graduate of the United States Air Force Academy. A career fighter and instructor pilot, he flew combat support missions in the KC-135R during Operation Deny Flight. Robinson has served as a squadron operations officer, squadron commander and wing vice commander. He has held key staff assignments at the Joint Staff and Secretary of the Air Force levels. He has also served a tour as the Director of the Combined Air Operations Center, Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia. In his civilian occupation, Robinson is employed as a captain with a major airline. Robinson is married to Lori Robinson, a retired four-star general in the United States Air Force, and the first female commander of a Unified Combatant Command when she was named as commander of the United States Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command in May 2016. Robinson's daughter, United States Air Force Reserve Second Lieutenant Taryn Ashley Robinson (b. February 1, 1983) was critically injured and her civilian flight instructor was killed when their plane impacted terrain on September 21, 2005. Taryn later succumbed to her injuries and died on January 10, 2006. Lieutenant Robinson was enrolled in a government undergraduate pilot training introductory flight program, and this was her second flight. Taryn's flight instructor, James L. Weaver, age 64, was flying the Diamond Aircraft Industries DA20-C1, single-engine airplane, N63PA, when it clipped two high-tension power cables while simulating engine failure near Pleasanton, Texas. Lieutenant Robinson was an Air Force Academy graduate (Class 2005), as was Weaver (Class of 1963).