Ron Yates

From USAFA Folklore

Gen. (Ret.) Ron Yates, Class of 1960, logged more than 5,000 flying hours in more than 50 types of aircraft, including 100 combat missions in Southeast Asia where he earned the Distinguished Flying Cross. While serving in an F-102 fighter squadron in the Philippines and Vietnam, he personally developed the F-102 capability to deliver munitions against hostile encampments at night in South Vietnam.

Yates attended the Aerospace Research Pilot School in 1966. While a test pilot, he flew a variety of fighter aircraft modified for testing purposes. He was also the project pilot on the rocked-boosted NF-104 and flew that aircraft numerous times to altitudes above 100,000 feet. Yates' career in Air Force Research and Development continued from the 60s through the 90s. He was testing director for the A-10 and was program director for both the F-15 and F-16 programs. He also served as a test wing commander. He was responsible for all tactical programs and tactical requirements in the Pentagon, and he was deputy assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition. Yates played an instrumental role in the development and enhancement of the A-10, F-16, F-15, F-22 and Joint Strike Fighter.

Yates became commander of Air Force Systems Command. He was the second Academy graduate to be promoted to the rank of four-star general, and he led the consolidation of Systems Command and Logistics Command into the new Air Force Materiel Command.

In recognition of his leadership abilities, the enlisted force presented Yates with the Order of the Sword. Yates also earned the Department of Defense Distinguished Service Medal, Air Force Distinguished Service Medal with oak leaf cluster, the Army Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit with oak leaf cluster, Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal with three oak leaf clusters, the Meritorious Service medal with two oak leaf clusters, and the Commendation Medal with two oak leaf clusters.

He retired after 35 year in the Air Force July 1, 1995. He is a member of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots, the Board of Visitors of the National Defense University, and he served on the AOG Board of Directors for eight years. Yates also has served on the Board of Visitors for Carnegie Mellon University's Software Engineer Institute, as a commissioner for the National Research Council Commission on Engineering and Technical Systems, and he was a member of the Ballistic Missile Defense Office Advisory Group.