Charles Paul Wilson II (born November 22, 1953) is a retired United States Air Force colonel who is notable for his work in political-military affairs, national security policy, defense acquisition, and business development.

Wilson is active in veterans' affairs and has made significant contributions including serving in leadership roles of increasing responsibility.

He grew up in Indianapolis where his father was a World War II combat veteran and an engineer for General Motors Corporation and his mother was a homemaker.

[6] Instead, Wilson was commissioned a second lieutenant, and in 1977, received orders to Port Austin Air Force Station in Michigan where he was posted as the chief of administration and personnel.

[9][10] Wilson advanced to flight instructor in the U-2 and in 1993 commanded the 4402nd Reconnaissance Squadron (Provisional), known as the Desert Dragons, at Taif Air Base, Saudi Arabia.

[12] The 4402nd was formed to continue reconnaissance operations over Iraq after the end of the 1991 Gulf War in order to ensure compliance with United Nations (UN) resolutions.

[13]: 312  U-2s from the 4402nd flew Olive Branch missions to provide imagery for the United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM) that searched for evidence of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction.

During his tour with the 4402nd, Wilson performed operational testing of the prototype S1034 pressure suit manufactured by the David Clark Company to evaluate its suitability in the U-2.

On short notice and at the direction of the chief of staff, AFC2TIG trained every active duty Air Force general officer on the Theater Battle Management Core System.

Assigned as the deputy director of the Office of Contingency Planning and Peacekeeping within the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, he was the senior Air Force advisor at the State Department.

[24]: 24 [26] In 2002, Wilson led the US delegation in the annual United States/United Kingdom Political-Military talks to discuss access to the British-owned island of Diego Garcia.

[27] Wilson and British Indian Ocean Territory commissioner, Alan Huckle, reached agreement to add shelters for the B-2 Spirit bomber as well as upgrade existing infrastructure.

[31] These efforts were helpful and appreciated as demonstrated when USCENTCOM commander, General Franks, visited to personally meet and thank members of the ISO coalition team.

[32] After retirement, Wilson worked in the aerospace industry at Raytheon as the senior corporate business development lead for air intelligence programs.

[33] He also worked for L-3 Communications’ Wescam/Sonoma Electro Optic (EO) imaging systems as a director of business development for airborne intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) sensors.

He is a docent and military aviation lecturer at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum's (NASM) Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center annex at Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia.

In 2015, Wilson commanded the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Hawkins-Reeve Post 7916[43] where he was awarded "All State" and "All American" honors recognizing exceptional leadership and accomplishment in membership growth and participation in key programs.