Merrill McPeak

Merrill Anthony McPeak (born January 9, 1936) is a retired 4-star general in the United States Air Force whose final assignment before retirement was as the 14th Chief of Staff of the Air Force from 1990 to 1994.

After graduating from Grants Pass High School in Grants Pass, Oregon, he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from San Diego State College in 1957 and became a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity.

He was commissioned through Air Force ROTC, and entered active duty in November of that year.

From December 1966 to December 1968, McPeak was assigned as an opposing solo and then lead solo pilot with the Thunderbirds, the Air Force's aerobatic flying team.

While with the Thunderbirds, he performed in nearly 200 air shows in the United States and overseas.

On February 1, 1969, he was assigned to Project Commando Sabre (Detachment 1, 416th Tactical Fighter Squadron), known as the Misty FACs, a specialized group of high speed forward air controllers trying to stop vehicular resupply traffic down the Ho Chi Minh Trail.

He became the tenth commander of Commando Sabre on April 22, 1969, and moved it to the 31st Tactical Fighter Wing at Tuy Hoa Air Base on May 1, when the 37th TFW transitioned to the twin-seat F-4 Phantom II.

Rotating out of his command on May 31, 1969 after 98 missions, he served as chief of standardization and evaluation for 31st TFW.

McPeak completed a total of 269 combat missions while in Vietnam, was awarded the Silver Star, and remained in-country until 1970, after which he attended the Armed Forces Staff College in Norfolk, Virginia.

From 1970 to 1973, McPeak was an air operations staff officer for the Mideast Division at Headquarters USAF in Washington, D.C. After graduating from the National War College in 1974, he was named assistant deputy commander for operations for the 1st Tactical Fighter Wing at MacDill AFB, Florida flying the F-4 Phantom II.

He later earned a Master of Arts degree in international relations from George Washington University in 1974.

After completing preflight and pilot training, McPeak flew single-seat fighter aircraft, the F-100 Super Sabre and the F-104 Starfighter, in operational squadrons in the United States and the United Kingdom.

He later returned to the United States as an instructor pilot and weapons officer at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona.

From 1975 to 1976, he was a military fellow with the Council on Foreign Relations in New York City.

In 1976, McPeak contributed an article to Foreign Affairs Journal expressing his views on the Israeli occupation of territories during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War.

In July 1976, he became commander of the 513th Combat Support Group based at RAF Mildenhall in the United Kingdom; a year later he moved to Zaragoza Air Base, Spain as vice commander of the 406th Tactical Fighter Training Wing.

From 1978 to 1980, he was assistant chief of staff for current operations, Allied Air Forces Central Europe (in Boerfink, West Germany).

1980 and 1981 saw him flying the twin-seat F-111E fighter bomber and commanding the 20th Tactical Fighter Wing based at RAF Upper Heyford, United Kingdom.

McPeak was chief of staff at USAFE headquarters from 1981 to 1982, and deputy chief of staff for plans at Tactical Air Command (TAC) headquarters, Langley AFB, Virginia from 1982 to 1985.

He returned to Headquarters USAF in 1985–87 as deputy chief of staff for programs and resources.

In June 1987, McPeak moved to Bergstrom AFB, Texas in the dual roles of Commander, 12th Air Force and Commander of Air Forces for United States Southern Command.

A year later, he was named commander-in-chief of Pacific Air Forces (PACAF).

McPeak was appointed Air Force Chief of Staff by President George H. W. Bush in October 1990, replacing the retiring General Michael Dugan following the latter's removal from the CSAF post by SECDEF Dick Cheney for ill-timed and inappropriate comments to the news media regarding Iraq during Operation Desert Shield.

McPeak took over as chief of staff during Operation Desert Shield, and assisted in overall strategic planning for Operation Desert Storm.

McPeak's later tenure as chief of staff following the Gulf War also saw a major reduction in force in terms of aircraft, units, officers and enlisted airmen across the entire Air Force as a result of the end of the Cold War.

During his time as chief of staff, he oversaw the disestablishment of Strategic Air Command (SAC), Tactical Air Command (TAC), Military Airlift Command (MAC), Air Force Systems Command (AFSC), Air Force Logistics Command (AFLC), and Air Force Communications Command (AFCC), with assets transferred primarily to the newly established Air Combat Command (ACC), Air Mobility Command (AMC), Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC) and the then-Air Force Communications Agency.

His tenure also oversaw the merging of Air Training Command (ATC) and Air University (AU) into the Air Education and Training Command (AETC).

McPeak pushed through major organizational changes in the Air Force aimed at streamlining and emphasizing operations and combat readiness.

Much of his tenure focused on elevating the status of flight operations, especially single-seat fighter pilots, some say at the expense of multi-seat fighter, bomber and reconnaissance aircraft and personnel, cargo and air refueling aircraft and personnel, and non-flying career fields.

He also created the Air Force Expeditionary Wing concept, a fusion of combat forces and support into a single organization.

He also transferred several flying wing and space wing command billets to brigadier generals, even though previously these had been commanded by colonels.

However, McPeak is best remembered by many current and since-retired Air Force personnel for the sweeping changes he made to the Air Force's service dress uniform, especially for commissioned officers.

Worn by personnel during most garrison duties, the new version was a radical departure from the earlier version, which was essentially the same design as the then-U.S. Army service uniform (the U.S. Air Force was originally the U.S. Army Air Corps and then the U.S. Army Air Forces), but with fewer insignia and in blue.

In addition to a new three-button design with fewer and non-buttoning pockets, it changed the rank insignia for officers to use naval-style sleeve stripes, as opposed to metal pins on shoulder straps.

Because of the new uniform's resemblance to both commissioned officer's uniforms of the U.S. Navy and those of commercial airline pilots, the McPeak uniform was said to be unpopular with Air Force service members.

Some uniform changes were subsequently reversed by his successor.

The basic redesign continues to be worn to this day, but the navalized sleeve braid rank insignia was eliminated and shoulder straps with pin-on rank for officers reinstated.

In 1993, McPeak served as Acting Secretary of the Air Force, before Sheila E.. Widnall was appointed by President Bill Clinton, and is the only Chief of Staff of the Air Force and uniformed Air Force officer on active duty to have ever served as Acting Secretary.

McPeak was born in Santa Rosa, California.

Upon completion of his tour with the Thunderbirds, he was assigned as an F-100 pilot with the 37th Tactical Fighter Wing at Phù Cát Air Base in South Vietnam.