Keys Hanging Up Spurs:

June 22, 2007

After 40 years on the job, Gen. Ronald Keys, head of Air Combat Command since May 2005, has decided to call it a day. The Vietnam-era combat pilot has announced that he will retire in the fall. Keys is known for his straight—and often colorful—talk and has been, for instance, a vocal critic of the Pentagon’s overemphasis on today’s irregular warfare. Keys said last year that as ACC boss his job was to think beyond today’s war. “I had better be able to fight tonight, and I’ve got to be able to fight 30 years from now, too.” He also hasn’t shied from declaring that the Air Force’s investment accounts have eroded to such an extent that the service is “going to have a one-[major regional contingency] force for a while,” which he said “could be 10 years.”

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