Art Forster served more than 48 years as an Air Force, industry and civil service public affairs professional. He retired in 2015 as Director of Public and Congressional Affairs for the U.S. Army Contracting Command at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, AL.

The son of a career Air Force NCO, Art graduated from high school at Bitburg Air Base, Germany in 1963 and is a 1967 Air Force ROTC distinguished military graduate of Florida State University. He later earned a master’s degree from the University of Denver under the auspices of the Air Force Institute of Technology.

During his 29 years of Air Force service, Art served at all levels in the Public Affairs career field: wing, numbered Air Force, major command, Headquarters USAF and a Defense agency. He also served two tours of duty in the Republic of Vietnam and was President of his Air War College Class of 1988.

While serving as the 306th Bomb Wing Chief of Public Affairs at McCoy AFB, FL, he received the 1973 Aviation/Space Writers’ Public Affairs Officer of the Year Award for his public affairs actions following the crash of a B-52 bomber in Orlando. He later was named an honorary citizen of Orlando and received the key to the city from the mayor.

In 1986, as Director of Public Affairs for the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), Air Force Space Command and the U.S. Space Command in Colorado Springs, he served as spokesman for Defense Department recovery efforts following the loss of the space shuttle, Challenger, successfully balancing media demands with astronaut family privacy.

During the first Gulf War in 1991, Art served as Air Force spokesman and media relations chief in the Pentagon. He concluded his career in uniform as the Eastern Region Director of Public Affairs in New York City, retiring in 1996.

Art transitioned quickly to a civilian career, joining Hill & Knowlton Public Relations in Manhattan as Senior Vice President of their Corporate and Financial Group. He led a team providing integrated marketing, media and communications services to major corporations in the financial, aviation, food service, healthcare, insurance, energy and technology industries. He advised and counseled corporate CEOs and C-suite executives on a broad variety of communications issues.

He returned to government service in 2003 as the first Director of Congressional and Public Affairs for the Defense Contract Management Agency in Alexandria, VA. He led a diverse staff in providing DCMA with counsel and support including Congressional and media relations, employee communications, crisis and issues management, community relations, and marketing. Four years later, he moved to the Federal Election Commission in Washington DC as Deputy Staff Director and the agency’s first Chief Communications Officer. His team provided strategic counsel and support to the Staff Director and six FEC commissioners on critical Congressional and media relations issues, education and outreach, and public disclosure programs. He also served as the agency’s spokesperson and liaison to Congress.

In 2010, Art became Director of Public and Congressional Affairs for the U.S. Army’s Contracting Command at Fort Belvoir, VA. Once again, he was the first to hold this job, melding Congressional and Public Affairs, leading an office of professionals who provided strategic communications across the command. Under his leadership, his team received first place in the Army’s prestigious Major General Keith L. Ware Award for Excellence in Public Affairs and earned 30 awards in the Army Material Command’s competition including 19 first place awards. Three of his staff members received AMC Civilian Journalist of the Year Awards prior to his retirement in 2015.

When Art left the Army Contracting Command and retired for good in 2015 (well, sort of retired!) the Redstone Rocket featured an informative profile of his very multifaceted career, highlighting some of his many achievements — and the lessons he learned along the way.

In addition to his distinguished career, Art has been a consistent, steadfast champion for and inspiration to the Air Force Public Affairs Association. A lifetime member, he held a variety of positions including Chairman, President, and chairman of several committees. He was instrumental in establishing the Air Force Public Affairs Hall of Fame, led the effort to rename the Air Force Public Affairs conference room in the Pentagon after Brig. Gen. Jerry Dalton, and helped establish AFPAA’s Dalton Scholarship program. He also prompted the naming of the annual Air Force Best of the Best Award in honor of Brig Gen James W. Hart, a lifetime founding member of AFPAA. Art received the association’s Mike McRaney Distinguished Service Award in 2023.

You can learn more about his life of service to the military and his country by reading Art's oral history, his official Air Force biography, and his post-Air Force biography.

In retirement, Art serves on the Board of Directors of Veterans in Crisis, a local, volunteer, non-profit organization that provides community-based support and financial assistance to needy military veterans and their families across Northwest Michigan.

Art and his wife, Janet, have two sons and five granddaughters. Army Colonel (Dr.) Chris Forster serves as Chief of Rheumatology at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, MD. Rob, a former Army officer, is an IT executive in Dallas, TX. Janet’s father and Art’s brother were also Air Force officers.