General Kelley served in the Air Force for 30 years, most recently as Vice Commander of the Tactical Air Command. Before that assignment, he was superintendent of the United States Air Force Academy. Robert E. Kelley is an independent consultant. He retired from the Air Force in 1986, after 30 years of service. He was President, CEO and a founder of SDS International, a defense consulting firm. Following the Gulf War, he served as the Senior Military Advisor of the Gulf War Air Power Survey, which documented the lessons of the war for the Secretary of the Air Force. General Kelley was a command pilot with more than 4000 flying hours in tactical fighter aircraft, including the F-86, F-100, F-104, F-4, A-7, A-10, F-5, F-15, F-16, and F-111. In Vietnam, he flew 119 combat missions in F-4E's. As a Tactical Air Command action officer in the early 1970's, he developed the Air-to-Air Weapons Systems Evaluation Program and the Air Combat Maneuver Instrumentation (ACMI) program; and wrote the concept of ops. for the Continental Operations Range, and the first MCM 3-1 tactics manual. He was the Air Staff force planner who formulated the fighter force strategy for the 1980's. As Vice Commander, Tactical Air Warfare Center (TAWC), General Kelley directed the Blue Flag command and control exercise and the Tactical Air Readiness Group. He was Commander, Tactical Training Davis-Monthan during the conversion from the A-7 to the A-10. As Commander of the Tactical Fighter Weapons Center, he chaired the Executive Committee of the Multinational Test and Evaluation of the F-16, reorganized the Weapons Center, professionalized the Aggressors and Exercise Red Flag, and restructured the Fighter Weapons School. He was the ninth Superintendent of the United States Air Force Academy, and Vice Commander, Tactical Air Command, until his retirement in 1986. General Kelley is a Distinguished Military Graduate from Rutgers University, and he earned his Masters Degree from George Washington University. He is a graduate of the National War College and the Fighter Weapons School. He received an Honorary Doctor of Science Degree from the University of Nevada in 1983. |