Gen Hal M. Hornburg, USAF (ret.)

Gen. Hal M. Hornburg was the Commander, Air Combat Command, with headquarters at Langley Air Force Base, Va., and Air Component Commander for U.S. Joint Forces Command and U.S. Northern Command. General Hornburg is responsible for organizing, training, equipping and maintaining combat-ready forces for rapid deployment and employment while ensuring strategic air defense forces are ready to meet the challenges of peacetime air sovereignty and wartime defense. ACC operates more than 1,200 aircraft, 25 wings, 16 bases and more than 200 operating locations worldwide with 110,000 active-duty and civilian personnel. When mobilized, the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve contribute more than 800 aircraft and 65,000 people to Air Combat Command. As the Combat Air Forces lead agent, ACC develops strategy, doctrine, concepts, tactics and procedures for air and space power employment. The command provides conventional, nuclear and information warfare forces to all unified commands to ensure air, space and information superiority for warfighters and national decision-makers. ACC can also be called upon to assist national agencies with intelligence, surveillance and crisis response capabilities.

General Hornburg entered the Air Force in 1968 as a graduate of Texas A&M University’s ROTC program. He has commanded at all levels — flight, squadron, wing, numbered air force and major command. He also commanded a composite fighter wing during Operation Desert Storm and the first Air Force composite wing during the services reorganization in 1991-1992. General Hornburg directed air operations over Bosnia, commanded the Joint Warfighting Center, served on the Joint Staff, and directed operations at Headquarters U.S. Air Force. He also has served as Tactical Air Command’s F-15 demonstration pilot for the East Coast, as Air Force Liaison Officer to the U.S. Senate, and as Chief of the Air Force Colonels’ Group. Prior to assuming his current position, General Hornburg commanded Air Education and Training Command. The general is a command pilot with more than 4,400 flight hours.