Ronald Keys

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Ronald Keys

General Ronald E. Keys
Allegiance	USAF
Years of service	1967 to present
Rank	General
Battles/wars	Vietnam War
Awards	Defense Distinguished Service Medal Defense Superior Service Medal Legion of Merit Distinguished Flying Cross

General Ronald E. Keys is Commander, Air Combat Command, with headquarters at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia, and Air Component Commander for U.S. Joint Forces Command and U.S. Northern Command.

General Keys is responsible for organizing, training, equipping and maintaining combat-ready forces for rapid deployment and employment while ensuring strategic air defense forces are ready to meet the challenges of peacetime air sovereignty and wartime defense. ACC operates more than 1,100 aircraft, 25 wings, 15 bases and more than 200 operating locations worldwide with 105,000 active-duty and civilian personnel. When mobilized, the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve contribute more than 800 aircraft and 57,000 people to Air Combat Command.

As the Combat Air Forces lead agent, ACC develops strategy, doctrine, concepts, tactics and procedures for air and space power employment. The command provides conventional, nuclear and information warfare forces to all unified commands to ensure air, space and information superiority for warfighters and national decision-makers. ACC can also be called upon to assist national agencies with intelligence, surveillance and crisis response capabilities.

General Keys, a distinguished graduate of Kansas State University's ROTC program, was commissioned in 1967 and is an outstanding graduate of undergraduate pilot training. He has commanded a fighter squadron, the U.S. Air Force Fighter Weapons School, an F-15 wing, an A/OA-10 and F-16 wing, the Combat Air Forces Operational Test and Evaluation Wing, a numbered air force, and Allied Air Forces Southern Europe.

Additionally, General Keys was the first commander of the Air Force Doctrine Center, and he has served as an executive assistant to the Air Force Chief of Staff and to an Assistant Secretary of Defense. Prior to his current assignment, he was Deputy Chief of Staff for Air and Space Operations, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C.

General Keys is a command pilot with more than 4,000 flying hours, including more than 300 hours of combat time in Southeast Asia.

1 Education
2 Assignments
3 Flight information
4 Major awards and decorations
5 Effective dates of promotion
6 See also
7 References

[edit] Education

1967 Bachelor's degree in entomology, Kansas State University, Manhattan
1971 Squadron Officer School
1974 Air Command and Staff College
1978 Master's degree in business administration, Golden Gate University, San Francisco, California
1988 Air War College, Maxwell AFB, Alabama

[edit] Assignments

1. June 1967 - July 1968, student, undergraduate pilot training, Reese AFB, Texas

2. July 1968 - March 1969, student, F-4 training, Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona

3. April 1969 - May 1970, F-4 aircraft commander, 366th Tactical Fighter Wing, Da Nang Air Base, South Vietnam

4. May 1970 - May 1971, F-4 aircraft commander, 475th Tactical Fighter Wing, Misawa AB, Japan

5. May 1971 - April 1974, F-4 aircraft commander, flight examiner, later, chief, Wing Weapons and Tactics Division, 18th Tactical Fighter Wing, Kadena AB, Japan

6. May 1974 - July 1979, F-4 instructor pilot and flight commander, U.S. Air Force Fighter Weapons School, Nellis AFB, Nevada

7. July 1979 - July 1981, air operations officer, Operational Test and Evaluation Division, Directorate of Operations Readiness, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C.

8. July 1981 - December 1982, assistant executive officer to the Air Force Chief of Staff, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C.

9. December 1982 - March 1984, Chief, Operations Training Division, 1st Tactical Fighter Wing, Langley AFB, Virginia

10. March 1984 - November 1985, Commander, 71st Tactical Fighter Squadron, Langley AFB, Virginia

11. November 1985 - June 1986, special assistant to the Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence, Headquarters Tactical Air Command, Langley AFB, Virginia

12. June 1986 - August 1987, Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations, Headquarters Air Force Reserve, Robins AFB, Georgia

13. August 1987 - May 1988, student, Air War College, Maxwell AFB, Alabama

14. June 1988 - July 1990, Commandant, U.S. Air Force Fighter Weapons School, Nellis AFB, Nevada

15. July 1990 - August 1992, Vice Commander, later, Commander, 36th Fighter Wing, Bitburg AB, Germany

16. August 1992 - February 1994, senior military assistant to the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear Security and Counterproliferation, Office of the Secretary of Defense, Washington, D.C.

17. February 1994 - September 1995, Commander, 354th Fighter Wing, Eielson AFB, Alaska

18. October 1995 - February 1997, Commander, 53rd Wing, Eglin AFB, Florida

19. February 1997 - September 1998, Commander, Air Force Doctrine Center, Maxwell AFB, Alabama

20. September 1998 - May 2000, Director of Operations, Headquarters U.S. European Command, Stuttgart, Germany

21. May 2000 - November 2002, Commander, Allied Air Forces Southern Europe, Stabilization Forces Air Component and Kosovo Forces Air Component, Naples, Italy; and Commander, 16th Air Force and 16th Air and Space Expeditionary Task Force, Aviano AB, Italy

22. November 2002 - May 2005, Deputy Chief of Staff for Air and Space Operations, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C.

23. May 2005 - present, Commander, Air Combat Command, Langley AFB, Virginia, Air Component Commander for U.S. Joint Forces Command and for U.S. Northern Command