George Edward Mueller Jr.

George 'Ned' Edward Mueller, Jr. passed away on November 10, 2024, at the age of 70 in Houston, Texas. Ned was born in Honolulu, (then Territory of) Hawaii on August 11, 1954, and he completed his secondary education at Bishop Ireton High School in Alexandria, VA. He attended the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD, where he further developed the leadership qualities that he would carry into his military career and civilian life. He graduated with a BS degree in Marine Engineering and was commissioned as an officer in the United States Marine Corps in June 1976.

After completion of The Basic School at Quantico, Virginia, Ned reported to NAS Pensacola, Florida for pilot training and was designated a Naval Aviator, flying the F-4. Ned (call sign “Nasty”) joined his first operational squadron VMFA-451, at MCAS in Beaufort, South Carolina in June 1979, including a tour in Iwakuni, Japan. In the summer of 1982, he was one of the officers initially selected to transition to the F/A-18. He served as an F/A-18 Instructor Pilot at VFA-125 in Lamoore, California and subsequently reported to VMFA-115 in Beaufort, South Carolina in June 1985. Ned then attended the Navy Fighter Weapons School in the winter of 1986, and after graduation from ‘Topgun’, he joined VMFA-115 and deployed with the squadron to Denmark for Northern Wedding/Bold Guard and Sicily and Turkey for Display Determination.

Ned graduated from United States Naval Test Pilot School with distinction in December 1989 and reported to Strike Aircraft Test Directorate located at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland. He assumed duties as head of the F/A-18 Office at Patuxent River and was responsible for coordination of F/A-18 assets and technical issues for the Naval Air Warfare Center-Aircraft Division. During this tour, he was temporarily assigned to MAG-11 during Desert Shield in January 1990 and flew combat missions in Operation Desert Storm. In May 1994, he assumed command of VMFA-312 and served as Commanding Officer (CO) during the squadron’s deployment aboard the U.S.S. Theodore Roosevelt. While deployed, the squadron flew combat missions in the Bosnian War, and a major source of pride for Ned was that he returned all of his Marines home safely to their families.

Lieutenant Colonel Mueller dedicated 21 years of his life to serving in the United States Marine Corps, a commitment that reflected his deep sense of duty and patriotism. His personal decorations include the Meritorious Service Medal, the Air Strike Medal and the Navy Commendation Medal.

Upon his retirement from the Marine Corps in 1997, Ned transitioned to the space industry and moved with his family to Houston, Texas where he worked for Lockheed Martin contracting for NASA as the X-38 Project Manager and Advanced Vehicle Program Manager. He served as NASA Johnson Space Center's technical, institutional, and programmatic representative to NASA's Columbia Task Force and was the Management Panel Representative for NASA's Independent Space Shuttle Return to Flight Task Group. He subsequently joined ARINC Engineering Services, as a manager, where he identified and provided wide array of integrated technology to customers in various applications, including aviation, transportation, unmanned systems, Emergency Medical Technicians, telecommunications, security and surveillance, and interoperability. In 2006, he joined GB Tech and served in executive roles in strategic development and federal operations, ultimately as the Vice President and General Manager, Operations.

In 2009, Ned transitioned to the oil and gas industry as an independent consultant, and he later joined The Carnrite Group as Senior Management Consultant, where he focused on change management for a number of large O&G E&P Companies. He continued working as an independent consultant and in 2017 founded his own consulting company, Mueller Consultants LLC, where he provided operational risk management and senior leadership insight and guidance to business owners and C-level management.

Since 2017, Ned served as a Silver Fox Advisor and was a member on the Membership Committee. In his role as a Silver Fox Advisor, he advised, consulted, and mentored businesses of all sizes located in the greater Houston, Texas area. Through the Silver Foxes, Ned became an integral part of the Houston Community College (HCC) team in his role as Entrepreneur In Residence, HCC Center for Entrepreneurship Southeast. Ned also taught classes in HCC's drone program, as well as in aviation history. This teaching and mentoring opportunity had incredible meaning for Ned, and his students’ learning and development became his passion these past years.

Those who knew Ned throughout the many paths he traversed in his life have expressed profound love and respect for the impact he has left behind. He was a multi-faceted man of many talents, a ‘Renaissance’ man. He loved to read, travel, and learn about the world and history, and he curated an incredible depth of knowledge that captivated those he engaged in conversation. He had a fighter pilot’s sense of humor and the profane, and his laughter still resonates in the memories of those who witnessed his fun (and 'Nasty') side. He had an innate talent for cooking, and he delighted his family and friends with his gourmet concoctions that he developed over the years. Above all, he exuded a humble self-assuredness and loving acceptance of others that left an impact on those who knew him, whether in fleeting encounters or in the hearts of those who knew him for years or a lifetime.

Ned is survived by his loving wife, Barbara Anne Swago Mueller, his daughters, Melissa Elizabeth Taldykin and Lindsay Anne Mueller, his son-in-law, Nikita S. Taldykin, his granddaughters, Nadia Elizabeth Taldykin and Vera Anne Taldykin, his mother, Elizabeth Hamilton Mueller, and his brothers, Paul H. Mueller and Stephen T. Mueller. His family remembers him as a dedicated husband, father, father-in-law, grandfather, and Marine, whose legacy of integrity, service, and love will live on in the hearts of those who knew him.