THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, June 24, 1995 TAG: 9506240340
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: STAFF REPORT
DATELINE: HAMPTON LENGTH: Short : 37 lines
Gen. John Michael Loh, the architect who designed the Air Combat Command as the Air Force's largest combat force, retired Friday beneath an overflight of the most powerful aircraft ever built.
``These 35 years have flown by like an F-16 in afterburner,'' the four-star general said before a sun-drenched crowd of 500 at Langley Air Force Base.
Loh, 57, is a 1960 graduate of the Air Force Academy. He became the ACC's first commander three years ago when it absorbed the fighting forces of the Tactical Air Command and the bomber forces of the Strategic Air Command.
He came to Langley initially as TAC commander, then oversaw TAC's demise and the birth of the ACC.
Today the ACC is a 243,200-member force with units on 24 installations and comprises the largest segment of the military's air arm.
Gen. Joseph W. Ralston, deputy chief of staff for plans and operations at the Pentagon, will take over the command.
He commanded TAC at Langley in 1991 and 1992, and also served there from 1987 to 1990, first as assistant deputy chief of staff for operations, then deputy chief of staff for requirements. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by CHRISTOPHER REDDICK, Staff
Gen. John Michael Loh, right, sits at his retirement ceremony with
Gen. Ronald R. Fogleman, chief of staff, U.S. Air Force.
by CNB