Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force

Chief of Staff of the Air Force CSAF or CC/AF
Seal of the Chief of Staff
Flag of the Chief of Staff
Incumbent General Mark A. Welsh III since August 10, 2012
Department of the Air Force The Air Staff
Member of	Joint Chiefs of Staff
Reports to	Secretary of Defense Secretary of the Air Force
Appointer	The President with Senate advice and consent
Term length	4 years Renewable
Constituting instrument	10 U.S.C. § 8033
Precursor	Commanding General, United States Army Air Forces
Formation	September 18, 1947
First holder	Carl A. Spaatz
Deputy	Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force
Website	Official Website

The Chief of Staff of the Air Force (acronym: CSAF, or AF/CC) is a statutory office (10 U.S.C. § 8033) held by a four-star general in the United States Air Force, and is the most senior uniformed officer assigned to serve in the Department of the Air Force, and as such is the principal military advisor and a deputy to the Secretary of the Air Force; and is in a separate capacity a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and thereby a military adviser to the National Security Council, the Secretary of Defense, and the President. The Chief of Staff is typically the highest-ranking officer on active-duty in the U.S. Air Force unless the Chairman and/or the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff are Air Force officers.

The Chief of Staff of the Air Force is an administrative position based in the Pentagon, and while the Chief of Staff does not have operational command authority over Air Force forces (that is within the purview of the Combatant Commanders who report to the Secretary of Defense), the Chief of Staff does exercise supervision of Air Force units and organizations as the designee of the Secretary of the Air Force.

The current Chief of Staff of the Air Force is General Mark A. Welsh III.

Responsibilities

Department of the Air Force

Under the authority, direction and control of the Secretary of the Air Force, the Chief of Staff presides over the Air Staff, acts as the Secretary's executive agent in carrying out approved plans, and exercises supervision, consistent with authority assigned to Commanders of the Combatant Commands, over organizations and members of the Air Force as determined by the Secretary. The Chief of Staff may also perform other duties as assigned by either the President, the Secretary of Defense or the Secretary of the Air Force.

The Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force, also a four-star general, is the Chief of Staff's principal deputy.

Member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

The Chief of Staff of the Air Force is a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff as prescribed by 10 U.S.C. § 151. When performing his JCS duties the Chief of Staff is responsible directly to the Secretary of Defense. Like the other members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the CSAF is an administrative position, with no operational command authority over the United States Air Force.

Appointment and rank

The CSAF is nominated for appointment by the President and must be confirmed via majority vote by the Senate. By statute, the CSAF is appointed as a four-star general.

Special uniform cap

The Chief of Staff is also authorized to wear a special service cap with clouds and lightning bolts around the band of the hat. This cap is different from those worn by other general officers of the Air Force and it is for use by the Chief of Staff and Air Force officers serving as Chairman or Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

List of Chiefs of Staff, U.S. Air Force (1947–present)

Prior to the creation of this position, General Henry H. Arnold was designated first Chief of the Army Air Forces and Commanding General of the Army Air Forces during World War II.

No.	Image	Name	Term of Office			Primary Background	Secretaries served under:
			Began	Ended	Days of Service		Air Force	Defense
1		Carl A. Spaatz	September 26, 1947	April 29, 1948		Fighters	Stuart Symington	James Forrestal
2		Hoyt S. Vandenberg	April 30, 1948	June 29, 1953		Attack and Fighters	Stuart Symington Thomas K. Finletter Harold E. Talbott	James Forrestal Louis A. Johnson George C. Marshall Robert A. Lovett Charles E. Wilson
3		Nathan F. Twining*	June 30, 1953	June 30, 1957		Fighters and Bombers	Harold E. Talbott Donald A. Quarles James H. Douglas, Jr.	Charles E. Wilson
4		Thomas D. White	July 1, 1957	June 30, 1961		Observation aircraft and Staff	James H. Douglas, Jr. Dudley C. Sharp Eugene M. Zuckert	Charles E. Wilson Neil H. McElroy Thomas S. Gates Robert S. McNamara
5		Curtis E. LeMay	June 30, 1961	January 31, 1965		Bombers	Eugene M. Zuckert	Robert S. McNamara
6		John P. McConnell	February 1, 1965	July 31, 1969		Fighters	Eugene M. Zuckert Harold Brown Robert C. Seamans, Jr.	Robert S. McNamara Clark M. Clifford Melvin R. Laird
7		John D. Ryan	August 1, 1969	July 31, 1973		Bombers	Robert C. Seamans, Jr. John L. McLucas	Melvin R. Laird Elliot Richardson James R. Schlesinger
8		George S. Brown*	August 1, 1973	June 30, 1974		Bombers	John L. McLucas	James R. Schlesinger
9		David C. Jones*	July 1, 1974	June 20, 1978		Bombers	John L. McLucas Thomas C. Reed John C. Stetson	James R. Schlesinger Donald H. Rumsfeld Harold Brown
10		Lew Allen Jr.	July 1, 1978	June 30, 1982		Bombers	John C. Stetson Hans Mark Verne Orr	Harold Brown Caspar Weinberger
11		Charles A. Gabriel	July 1, 1982	June 30, 1986		Fighters	Verne Orr Russell A. Rourke Edward C. Aldridge Jr.	Caspar Weinberger
12		Larry D. Welch	July 1, 1986	June 30, 1990		Fighters	Edward C. Aldridge Jr. Donald B. Rice	Caspar Weinberger Frank Carlucci Dick Cheney
13		Michael J. Dugan	July 1, 1990	September 17, 1990		Fighters	Donald B. Rice	Dick Cheney
(Acting)		John M. Loh	September 18, 1990	October 29, 1990		Fighters
14		Merrill A. McPeak	October 30, 1990	October 25, 1994		Fighters	Donald B. Rice Sheila E. Widnall	Dick Cheney Les Aspin William J. Perry
15		Ronald R. Fogleman	October 26, 1994	September 1, 1997		Fighters	Sheila E. Widnall	William J. Perry William S. Cohen
(Acting)		Ralph E. Eberhart	September 2, 1997	October 5, 1997		Fighters		William S. Cohen
16		Michael E. Ryan	October 6, 1997	September 5, 2001		Fighters	Sheila E. Widnall F. Whitten Peters James G. Roche	William S. Cohen Donald H. Rumsfeld
17		John P. Jumper	September 6, 2001	September 2, 2005		Fighters	James G. Roche	Donald H. Rumsfeld
18		T. Michael Moseley	September 2, 2005	July 12, 2008		Fighters	Michael Wynne	Donald H. Rumsfeld Robert M. Gates
(Acting)		Duncan J. McNabb	July 12, 2008	August 12, 2008		Airlift	Michael B. Donley	Robert M. Gates
19		Norton A. Schwartz	August 12, 2008	August 10, 2012		Airlift and Special Operations aircraft	Michael B. Donley	Robert M. Gates Leon Panetta
20		Mark A. Welsh III	August 10, 2012	Incumbent		Attack and Fighters	Michael B. Donley Deborah Lee James	Leon Panetta Chuck Hagel Ashton Carter

*Three former chiefs of staff would later serve as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff:

• Twining served as the Chairman from August 1957 to September 1960.
• Brown served as the Chairman from July 1974 to June 1978.
• Jones served as the Chairman from June 1978 to June 1982.
• The fourth air force officer to have served as the Chairman, General Richard B. Myers, did not serve as Chief of Staff of the Air Force.

McPeak is the only Chief of Staff of the Air Force to date who has served as Acting Secretary of the Air Force (from July 14, 1993 to August 5, 1993 before Sheila Widnall took office as Secretary), thus being the only uniformed Air Force officer to have truly been the "head of the Air Force".

See also

• Vice Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force
• Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force

External links

• Air Force History Support Office: Air Force Chiefs of Staff