Michael E. Ryan

Receiving Distinguished Flying Cross from his father, Air Force Chief of Staff General John D. Ryan (left), 1969.

Born in San Antonio, Texas in 1941,[1] Ryan entered the U.S. Air Force after graduating from the United States Air Force Academy in 1965; he was a graduate of Omaha Creighton Prep High School. He has commanded at the squadron, wing, numbered air force and major command levels. He flew combat in Southeast Asia, including 100 missions over North Vietnam. He also served in staff assignments at the major command level, Headquarters U.S. Air Force and the Joint Staff.

Before assuming the Chief of Staff position, Ryan was Commander of U.S. Air Forces in Europe and Commander, Allied Air Forces Central Europe, with headquarters at Ramstein Air Base, Germany. As Commander of Sixteenth Air Force and Allied Air Forces Southern Europe in Italy, he directed the NATO air combat operations in Bosnia-Herzegovina, including the bombing missions of Operation Deliberate Force, which created the context for the U.S. to broker the Dayton Peace Accords between the parties in conflict. Ryan personally approved every NATO target during the two-week Operation Deliberate Force campaign.[2]

General Michael E. Ryan during his tenure as Air Force Chief of Staff.

Ryan's father, General John Dale Ryan, was the 7th Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force, from 1969 to 1973.

Ryan retired from the U.S. Air Force on October 1, 2001.

• Ryan appeared as himself in the Stargate SG-1 episode "Prodigy".[3] Richard Dean Anderson later recalled asking the General during filming if he had subordinates as irreverent as Anderson's character Jack O'Neill. Ryan replied, "Son, yes, we've got Colonels like you and worse."[4]

Air Force Chief of Staff General Michael E. Ryan with Secretary of the Air Force F. Whitten Peters at The Pentagon in 2001.

• List of commanders of USAFE

• Official USAF Biography