Robert D. Bishop Jr.

Lieutenant General Robert D. "Rod" Bishop Jr. is a retired United States Air Force officer who last served as the Commanding General of Third Air Force at Ramstein Air Base, Germany from December 2006 to August 2008.
Bishop earned a Bachelor of Science degree in management engineering from the U.S. Air Force Academy and a master's degree in systems management from the University of Southern California. His military staff experience includes a variety of assignments at Headquarters Military Airlift Command, U.S. Transportation Command and Headquarters U.S. Air Force. He has commanded an operations support squadron, a C-141 Starlifter flying squadron, and a C-141 and C-17 Globemaster operations group and airlift wing. In addition, he was Deputy Commander, Headquarters U.S. Southern Command, and the Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff for Air and Space Operations at Headquarters U.S. Air Force. Prior to his final assignment as Commander of Third Air Force, he served as Vice Commander, U.S. Air Forces in Europe. 
As a director of operations and, later, commander of a strategic airlift squadron, he led his crews through numerous deployments during operations Operation Desert Storm, Operation Provide Comfort and Operation Restore Hope, the 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo relief efforts, and numerous humanitarian operations. As a C-17 operations group commander he led his group in support of several contingencies, most notably during a deployment of the United States Air Force's entire fleet of C-17 aircraft for Operation Joint Endeavor in Bosnia. He deployed five times to the European area of operations as Director of Mobility Forces for operations Operation Desert Fox, Operation Allied Force and Operation Shining Hope. Finally, as Director of Plans and Deputy Commander, U.S. Southern Command, Bishop played a role expanding U.S. support to Colombia as well as organizing the United States's response to the 2004 Haitian coup d'état.
Bishop is a command pilot with over 5,400 flight hours, primarily in the C-141 Starlifter, T-41 Mescalero, C-17 Globemaster, and Learjet C-21.
*1974 Bachelor of Science degree in management engineering, U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colo.
*1978 Distinguished graduate, Squadron Officer School, Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala.
*1984 Master of Science degree in systems management, University of Southern California
*1987 Distinguished graduate, Master of Arts degree in national security policy, Naval Command and Staff College, Newport, R.I.
*1994 Master of Arts degree in national security policy, National War College, Fort Lesley J. McNair, Washington, D.C.
*2001 Seminar XXI - Foreign Politics, International Relations and the National Interest, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Mass.
1. August 1974 - August 1975, student, undergraduate pilot training, Columbus AFB, Miss.
2. September 1975 - December 1975, C-141 Starlifter training, Altus AFB, Okla.
3. January 1976 - January 1981, C-141 standardization and evaluation pilot; Prime Nuclear Airlift Force examiner; flight engineer simulator instructor; and current operator, 14th Airlift Squadron, Norton AFB, Calif.
4. January 1981 - January 1985, Assistant Director of Admissions and Recruiting, U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colo.
5. January 1985 - June 1986, C-141 flight examiner and chief executive officer, 18th Military Airlift Squadron, McGuire AFB, N.J.
6. August 1986 - August 1987, graduate student, Naval Command and Staff College, Newport, R.I.
7. August 1987 - December 1990, policy and doctrine staff officer; Chief, Planning, Programming and Budgeting Systems Branch; and Chief, Operational Programming Division, Directorate of Planning and Programming, Headquarters Military Airlift Command, Scott AFB, Ill.
8. January 1991 - October 1991, operations officer, 86th Military Airlift Squadron, Travis AFB, Calif.
9. November 1991 - June 1993, Commander, 60th Operations Support Squadron, later, Commander, 7th Airlift Squadron, Travis AFB, Calif.
10. June 1993 - June 1994, graduate student, National War College, Fort Lesley J. McNair, Washington, D.C.
11. July 1994 - June 1996, Deputy Commander, later, Commander, 437th Operations Group, Charleston AFB, S.C.
12. July 1996 - June 1998, Deputy Director for Operations, U.S. Transportation Command, Scott AFB, Ill.
13. June 1998 - March 2000, Commander, 437th Airlift Wing, Charleston AFB, S.C.
14. March 2000 - July 2001, Deputy Director of Operations and Training, Deputy Chief of Staff for Air and Space Operations, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C.
15. July 2001 - September 2002, Director of Strategy, Policy and Plans, Headquarters U.S. Southern Command, Miami, Fla.
16. September 2002 - July 2004, Deputy Commander, Headquarters U.S. Southern Command, Miami, Fla.
17. July 2004 - June 2005, Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff for Air and Space Operations, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C. 
18. July 2005 - December 2006, Vice Commander, U.S. Air Forces in Europe, Ramstein Air Base, Germany
19. December 2006 - August 2008, Commander, 3rd Air Force, U.S. Air Forces in Europe, Ramstein AB, Germany 
Insignia	Rank 	Date of rank
 	Second lieutenant#United States 	June 5, 1974
 	First Lieutenant (United States) 	June 5, 1976
 	Captain (U.S. Army) 	June 5, 1978
 	Major (United States) 	October 1, 1985
 	Lieutenant Colonel (United States)	April 1, 1990
 	Colonel (United States) 	January 1, 1995
 	Brigadier General (United States) 	October 1, 1999
 	Major General (United States) 	May 1, 2003
 	Lieutenant General (United States)	July 6, 2005
Category:1952 births
Category:United States Air Force officers
Category:United States Army generals
Category:United States Air Force Academy alumni