JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Dr. Christopher Knapp, of Freeburg, has been promoted to the rank of brigadier general in the Missouri Air National Guard at Ike Skelton Training Site.

Knapp, the medical director of the occupational health clinic at Gateway Regional Medical Center, of Granite City, is a physician whose military career stretches back to 1981.

Knapp's promotion, which took place in January, will enhance his effectiveness as the Air National Guard's assistant to the Air Combat command surgeon, he said.

"It gets you a seat at the table and makes it easier to give advice," Knapp said in a written statement from the Missouri Air National Guard.

Knapp was commissioned in the U.S. Air Force in 1981, and graduated from medical school at the Uniformed Services University in Bethesda Maryland in 1985. He is board certified in family medicine, aerospace medicine and occupational medicine, according to the national guard statement.

Knapp served for two years as commander of the 99th Aerospace Medicine Squadron at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada, and served six years as medical group commander of the 126th Medical Group of the Illinois Air National Guard.

Knapp left the active duty Air Force in 1999 after 14 years of service, but joined the Air National Guard in 2002 following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

One of his most interesting assignments was a support mission to Antarctica for the National Science Foundation, Knapp said.

"It was a great opportunity," Knapp said. "The people down there were wonderful -- you had people with doctorates who were working in the food galley just for the chance to get down to Antarctica."