THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, April 8, 1995 TAG: 9504080264
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: NEWPORT NEWS DAILY PRESS
DATELINE: HAMPTON LENGTH: Short : 34 lines
President Clinton has tapped Air Force Lt. Gen. Joseph W. Ralston for his fourth star and the top job at Langley Air Force Base's Air Combat Command, the Pentagon announced Thursday.
Ralston, 51, would take charge of all Air Force combat aircraft and crews when Gen. John M. ``Mike'' Loh retires this summer. Both moves require congressional approval. Loh, 57, has commanded ACC since June 1, 1992, when ACC replaced the former Tactical Air Command in a force-wide reorganization. He had led TAC since mid-1991.
Ralston currently works as the Air Force's deputy chief of staff for plans and operations at the Pentagon. In addition to having held a wide variety of command and staff positions, he is a command pilot with more than 2,500 flight hours. During the Vietnam War, Ralston flew 147 combat missions in the F-105 Wild Weasel over Laos and North Vietnam while based on Okinawa from 1967-69. He's been awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross four times.
Taking the job will be a coming home of sorts for Ralston, a Kentucky native who has spent more than one-third of his nearly three decades of service in various jobs at Langley. He was stationed at Langley from March 1987 to June 1990, when he worked as assistant deputy chief of staff for operations and then deputy chief of staff of requirements for Tactical Air by CNB