AETC commander to retire

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RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas (AFNS) --  Air Force officials announced May 10 that the commander of Air Education and Training Command will retire after 37 years of service.

Gen. Stephen R. Lorenz spent the last two years providing combat-focused training to every Airman entering the Air Force while leading the "First Command." With an emphasis on innovation, he watched the command morph into a force capable of training more than 340,000 students per year using the most advanced training technologies and platforms.

Responsibility for Air Force recruitment, training, education and innovation will go to Lt. Gen. Edward A. Rice, Jr., currently serving as U.S. Forces Japan and 5th Air Force commander at Yokota Air Base, Japan. He was nominated by President Barack Obama March 17 to be the Air Force's next four-star general.

Generral Rice is a 1978 Air Force Academy graduate and a command pilot with more than 3,800 flying hours. As commander of the 28th Air Expeditionary Wing, he commanded bomber operations during the first four months of Operation Enduring Freedom.

General Rice returns to AETC after commanding Air Force Recruiting Service from May 2002 to January 2004. Prior to his current assignment, he was vice commander of Pacific Air Forces.