martin was born in fort myer, virginia in 1948, and graduated from the landon school, bethesda, maryland, in 1966. after graduating from the united states air force academy in 1970, where he was a 1969 national collegiate parachuting champion, he went on to fly 161 combat missions in south east asia, and then went on to train other pilots. in 1977, he received master's degree in business management from central michigan university. with this experience, he was tapped to command the 67th tactical fighter squadron, then the 479th tactical fighter training wing, then the 33rd and 1st fighter wings. while earning several awards and decorations, among them the distinguished service medal, he went on to serve as vice director of the joint staff's force structure and resources directorate, director of operational requirements for the u.s. air force, and principal deputy to the assistant secretary of the air force for acquisition. before finally commanding air materiel command, martin served as the commander of u.s. air forces in europe and allied air forces northern europe.