Gen. Kenneth S. Wilsbach is the Commander, Air Combat Command, Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia. As the commander, he is responsible for organizing, training, equipping and maintaining combat-ready air, cyberspace, and electromagnetic spectrum 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. The command operates more than 1,000 aircraft, 35 wings, 12 bases, and 1,336 units at more than 263 operating locations worldwide with 154,219 total force military and civilian personnel. As the lead major command for Combat Air Forces, ACC develops strategy, doctrine, concepts, tactics and procedures for air, space and cyber-power employment. The command provides conventional and information warfare forces to all unified commands to ensure air, space, cyber and information superiority for warfighters and national decision-makers. The command also stands ready to assist national agencies with intelligence, surveillance and crisis response capabilities.
Gen. Wilsbach was commissioned in 1985 as a distinguished graduate of the University of Florida’s ROTC program and earned his pilot wings in 1986 as a distinguished graduate from Laughlin Air Force Base, Texas. He has commanded a fighter squadron, operations group, two wings, two Numbered Air Forces and held various staff assignments including Director of Operations, Combined Air Operations Center and Director of Operations, U.S. Central Command.
Prior to his current assignment, Gen. Wilsbach was Commander, Pacific Air Forces; Air Component Commander, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command; and Executive Director, Pacific Air Combat Operations Staff, Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii. PACAF is responsible for Air Force activities spread over half the globe in a command that supports more than 46,000 Airmen serving principally in Japan, South Korea, Hawaii, Alaska and Guam.
Gen. Wilsbach is a command pilot with more than 6,000 hours in multiple aircraft, primarily in the F-15C, F-16C, MC-12 and F-22A, and has flown 71 combat missions in operations Northern Watch, Southern Watch and Enduring Freedom.
EDUCATION
1985 Bachelor of Science, Broadcast Communication, University of Florida, Gainesville
1990 Squadron Officer School, Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala.
1992 U.S. Air Force Fighter Weapons Instructor Course, Nellis AFB, Nev.
1997 Master of Aerospace Science, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach, Fla.
1998 Master of Science, National Securities and Strategic Studies, Naval Command and Staff College, Newport, R.I.
2003 Master of Arts, National Security Strategy, Industrial College of the Armed Forces, Fort Lesley J. McNair, Washington, D.C.
2006 Leadership Development Program, Center for Creative Leadership, Greensboro, N.C.
2007 Enterprise Leadership Seminar, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
2008 Program for Senior Executive Fellows, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.
2010 Joint Forces Air Component Commander Course, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
2011 CAPSTONE Executive Development Course, Fort Lesley J. McNair, Washington, D.C.
2013 Coalition Forces Land Component Commander Course, Carlisle Barracks, Pa.
ASSIGNMENTS
1. November 1985–October 1986, Student, Undergraduate Pilot Training, Laughlin Air Force Base, Texas
2. July 1987–February 1991, F-15 Instructor Pilot, 94th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Langley AFB, Va.
3. February 1991–July 1993, F-15 Instructor Pilot and APG-63/70 Test Team Manager, 84th Test Squadron, Tyndall AFB, Fla.
4. July 1993–May 1996, Instructor Pilot and Chief, Weapons and Tactics, 44th Fighter Squadron, Kadena Air Base, Japan
5. May 1996–July 1997, Aide-De-Camp to Commander in Chief, Pacific Command, Camp H.M. Smith, Hawaii
6. August 1997–June 1998, Student, Naval Command and Staff College, Newport, R.I.
7. September 1998–June 2000, Assistant Operations Officer, later, Operations Officer, 19th Fighter Squadron, Elmendorf AFB, Alaska
8. June 2000–May 2002, Commander, 19th Fighter Squadron, Elmendorf AFB, Alaska
9. July 2002–June 2003, Student, Industrial College of the Armed Forces, Fort Lesley J. McNair, Washington, D.C.
10. July 2003–July 2004, Director of Operations, Combined Air Operations Center, and Director of Operations, Central Command Air Forces Forward, Southwest Asia
11. September 2004–May 2006, Commander, 33rd Operations Group, Eglin AFB, Fla.
12. May 2006–April 2008, Commander, 53rd Wing, Eglin AFB, Fla.
13. April 2008–June 2009, Assistant Director of Operations, Plans, Requirements and Programs, Headquarters Pacific Air Forces, Hickam AFB, Hawaii
14. July 2009–June 2011, Commander, 18th Wing, Kadena Air Base, Japan
15. June 2011–April 2013, Deputy Director for Operations, Pacific Command, Camp H.M. Smith, Hawaii
16. April 2013–April 2014, Commander, 9th Air and Space Expeditionary Task Force, and Deputy Commander-Air, U.S. Forces-Afghanistan
17. May 2014–August 2016, Director of Operations, U.S. Central Command, MacDill AFB, Fla.
18. August 2016–August 2018, Commander, Alaskan Region, North American Aerospace Defense Command, Commander, Alaskan Command, U.S. Northern Command and Commander, Eleventh Air Force, Pacific Air Forces, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska
19. August 2018–July 2020, Deputy Commander, United States Forces Korea; Commander, Air Component Command, United Nations Command; Commander, Air Component Command, Combined Forces Command; and Commander, Seventh Air Force, PACAF, Osan AB, South Korea
20. July 2020–February 2024, Commander, Pacific Air Forces; Air Component Commander for U.S. Indo-Pacific Command; and Executive Director, Pacific Air Combat Operations Staff, JB Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii
21. February 2024–present, Commander, Air Combat Command, Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Va.
SUMMARY OF JOINT ASSIGNMENTS
1. May 1996–July 1997, Aide-De-Camp to Commander in Chief, Pacific Command, Camp H.M. Smith, Hawaii, as a major
2. July 2003–July 2004, Director of Operations, Combined Air Operations Center, and Director of Operations, Central Command Air Forces Forward, Southwest Asia, as a colonel
3. June 2011–April 2013, Deputy Director for Operations, Pacific Command, Camp H.M. Smith, Hawaii, as a brigadier general
4. April 2013–April 2014, Deputy Chief of Staff-Air, International Security Assistance Force Joint Command, as a major general
5. May 2014–August 2016, Director of Operations, U.S. Central Command, MacDill AFB, Fla., as a major general
6. August 2016–August 2018, Commander, Alaskan Region, North American Aerospace Defense Command, Commander, Alaskan Command, U.S. Northern Command and Commander, Eleventh Air Force, Pacific Air Forces, Joint Base Elmendorf- Richardson, Alaska, as a lieutenant general
7. August 2018–July 2020, Deputy Commander, United States Forces Korea; Commander, Air Component Command, United Nations Command; Commander, Air Component Command, Combined Forces Command; and Commander, Seventh Air Force, Pacific Air Forces, Osan Air Base, South Korea, as a lieutenant general
FLIGHT INFORMATION
Rating: command pilot
Flight hours: more than 6,000
Aircraft flown: F-16C, F-22A, MC-12W, F-15A-D, T-38 and T-37
MAJOR AWARDS AND DECORATIONS
Defense Distinguished Service Medal with oak leaf cluster
Distinguished Service Medal
Defense Superior Service Medal with oak leaf cluster
Legion of Merit with two oak leaf clusters
Bronze Star Medal
Defense Meritorious Service Medal
Meritorious Service Medal with oak leaf cluster
Air Medal with oak leaf cluster
Aerial Achievement Medal with oak leaf cluster
Air and Space Commendation Medal with two oak leaf clusters
Air and Space Achievement Medal
(Current as of July 2024)