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    HomeAbout UsBiographiesDisplay      SAF/IG - Inspector General
            060328-F-JZ507-836.JPGEngage On
        
        SAF/IG - Inspector General
        
        060328-F-JZ507-836.JPGLIEUTENANT GENERAL RONALD F. SAMSLt. Gen. Ronald F. Sams is the Inspector General of the Air Force, Office of the Secretary of the Air Force, Washington, D.C. He oversees Air Force inspection policy, criminal investigations, counterintelligence operations, intelligence oversight, complaints, and fraud, waste and abuse programs. He is also responsible for two field operating agencies: the Air Force Inspection Agency and Air Force Office of Special Investigations. 
General Sams was commissioned a second lieutenant in 1972 through the ROTC program at Michigan State University and earned his wings at Vance Air Force Base, Okla. He has served as an aircraft commander, instructor pilot and flight examiner, and has flown many models of 135-series aircraft. His staff assignments include duty at Headquarters Strategic Air Command, where he served as the Chief of Tanker Aircrew Training and was responsible for all 135-model aircraft, the KC-10 tanker and E-4B. He was assigned to the Tanker Airlift Control Center at Scott AFB, Ill., as the Director of Operations Management. The general has also served as a faculty instructor at Air Command and Staff College and in staff assignments for the Office of the Secretary of Defense at the Pentagon. 
The general has commanded the 55th Wing, the 4409th Operations Group (Provisional), and the 70th Air Refueling Squadron. The general has also served as the Inspector General at Headquarters Air Combat Command, and as the Assistant Chief of Staff, Intelligence, Headquarters U.S. Air Force. He is a veteran of operations Just Cause, Desert Shield, Desert Storm and Enduring Freedom.**EDUCATION** 
1972 Bachelor of Arts degree, Michigan State University, East Lansing 
1977 Squadron Officer School, Maxwell AFB, Ala. 
1978 Master of Arts degree in educational systems management, Chapman University 
1984 Air Command and Staff College, Maxwell AFB, Ala. 
1993 Air War College, Maxwell AFB, Ala. 
1995 Joint Professional Military Education Phase II, Armed Forces Staff College, Norfolk, Va. 
2002 National Security Studies, Syracuse University, N.Y. 
2003 Program for Senior Executives in National and International Security, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. **ASSIGNMENTS** 
1. January 1973 - December 1973, student, undergraduate pilot training, Vance AFB, Okla. 
2. January 1974 - April 1974, student, KC-135 Combat Crew Training School, Castle AFB, Calif. 
3. April 1974 - November 1979, KC-135Q squadron copilot, aircraft commander, instructor pilot, flight examiner and Chief, Training Flight, 9th Air Refueling Squadron, Beale AFB, Calif. 
4. November 1979 - June 1983, KC-135A instructor pilot, 93rd Air Refueling Squadron, later, faculty instructor pilot, Strategic Air Command Central Flight Instructor Course, Castle AFB, Calif. 
5. August 1983 - June 1984, student, Air Command and Staff College, Maxwell AFB, Ala. 
6. June 1984 - October 1986, faculty instructor, Air Command and Staff College, Maxwell AFB, Ala. 
7. October 1986 - June 1989, Chief, Tanker Aircrew Training Branch, Directorate of Training, Headquarters Strategic Air Command, Offutt AFB, Neb. 
8. June 1989 - December 1990, Commander, 70th Air Refueling Squadron, Grissom AFB, Ind. 
9. December 1990 - September 1991, Assistant Deputy Commander for Operations, 305th Air Refueling Wing, Grissom AFB, Ind., and Chief, Air Refueling Operations, 1703rd Wing (Provisional), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia 
10. September 1991 - August 1992, Deputy Commander, 305th Operations Group, Grissom AFB, Ind. 
11. August 1992 - July 1993, student, Air War College, Maxwell AFB, Ala. 
12. August 1993 - September 1994, Director, Operations Management, Tanker Airlift Control Center, Scott AFB, Ill. 
13. September 1994 - September 1995, Commander, 4409th Operations Group (Provisional), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia 
14. September 1995 - October 1998, military assistant to the Director of the Defense Technology Security Administration, Defense Threat Reduction Agency, the Pentagon, Washington, D.C. 
15. November 1998 - February 2000, Commander, 55th Wing, Offutt AFB, Neb. 
16. February 2000 - July 2002, Inspector General, Headquarters Air Combat Command, Langley AFB, Va. 
17. July 2002 - March 2006, Director of Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance, Deputy Chief of Staff for Air and Space Operations; Assistant Chief of Staff, Intelligence, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C. 
18. March 2006 - present, Inspector General of the Air Force, Office of the Secretary of the Air Force, Washington, D.C. **FLIGHT INFORMATION** 
Rating: Command pilot 
Flight hours: Approximately 4,700 
Aircraft flown: T-37, T-38, KC-135A/D/E/Q/R/RT, EC-135A/G/L, RC-135S/U/W/V, OC/TC/WC-135, KC-10 and E-4B; For indoctrination: KC-10, E-4B, E-3B, E-8, B-52H, HC-130, HH-60, C-17, T-6, F-15 and F-16 **MAJOR AWARDS AND DECORATIONS** 
Distinguished Service Medal
Defense Superior Service Medal with oak leaf cluster 
Legion of Merit with oak leaf cluster 
Bronze Star Medal 
Meritorious Service Medal with silver and bronze oak leaf clusters 
Air Medal 
Aerial Achievement Medal with two oak leaf clusters 
Joint Meritorious Unit Award 
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with "V" device and two oak leaf clusters 
Air Force Organizational Excellence Award with two oak leaf clusters 
Combat Readiness Medal with oak leaf cluster 
National Defense Service Medal with two bronze stars 
Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal with bronze star 
Southwest Asia Service Medal with two bronze stars 
Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal 
Global War on Terrorism Service Medal 
Air Force Overseas Ribbon - Short with oak leaf cluster 
Air Force Longevity Service Award Ribbon with silver and two bronze oak leaf clusters 
Small Arms Expert Marksmanship Ribbon 
Air Force Training Ribbon 
Kuwait Liberation Medal (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) 
Kuwait Liberation Medal (Government of Kuwait) **EFFECTIVE DATES OF PROMOTION**Second Lieutenant June 23, 1972 
First Lieutenant Dec. 7, 1974 
Captain Dec. 7, 1976 
Major Nov. 1, 1982 
Lieutenant Colonel May 1, 1987 
Colonel Sept. 1, 1992 
Brigadier General Nov. 1, 1998 
Major General Sept. 1, 2002 
Lieutenant General March 1, 2006 
(Current as of July 2009)
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