United States Air Force general

Lieutenant General Leon Scott Rice (born 27 May 1958) is the former director of the Air National Guard. He previously served as The Adjutant General (TAG) and Commander of the M*achusetts National Guard and as an *istant to Gen Mark A. Welsh III, former commander of the United States Air Forces in Europe. Rice has also served as commander of USAF Forces deployed for United States Central Command in the Middle East Area of Operations. He is a Boeing 777 first officer flying for United Airlines (though currently on a military leave of absence) in Washington Dulles International Airport. On 3 April 2012 he was appointed by Governor Deval Patrick as The Adjutant General (TAG) of the M*achusetts National Guard and reappointed as The Adjutant General by Governor Charles Baker on 12 May 2015. Rice retired from the U.S. Air Force on 1 August 2020 after over 40 years of service.

Contents

• 1 Early life
• 2 Career
• 3 Education
• 4 *ignments
• 5 Awards and decorations
  • 5.1 Other achievements
• 6 Effective dates of promotion
• 7 References

Early life

Rice was born 27 May 1958 to Leon Harold Rice (1919–2002) and Margery Ann (Miller) Rice (1918–2005) in Bedford, New Hampshire; a military family with his mother serving as a captain during WWII in the Army Nurse Corps, and eventually becoming in 1990 a Commander of the Department of New Hampshire Veterans of Foreign Wars. Rice is a direct descendant of Edmund Rice, an early immigrant to M*achusetts Bay Colony. Rice attended local public schools and earned the rank of Eagle Scout in 1972.

Career

Rice was the director of the Air National Guard, The Pentagon, Washington, D.C. He is responsible for formulating, developing and coordinating all policies, plans and programs affecting more than 105,500 Guard members and civilians in more than 90 wings and 175 geographically separated units across 213 locations throughout the 50 States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam and the Virgin Islands.

Rice was commissioned in 1980 through the Reserve Officer Training Corps at Rensselaer Polytechnic Ins*ute, Troy, New York and graduated from undergraduate pilot training at Reese Air Force Base, Texas in 1982. He is a command pilot with more than 4,300 hours in the F-111 and A-10. Before *uming his current position, General Rice served as The Adjutant General of the M*achusetts National Guard, responsible for commanding units of the Air and Army National Guard.

He has served in various operational and staff *ignments, including commander of US Air Force Forces deployed to Middle East locations under the United States Central Command; where, from 1995 to 2006, he was mobilized and deployed to Bosnia, Kosovo, Kuwait, Iraq, Jordan, Oman, and Pakistan. He has commanded a squadron, operations group, and fighter wing. He previously served as the *istant adjutant general for air, and commander of M*achusetts Air National Guard, chairman of the Air Guard Force Structure and Modernization committee of the Adjutants General *ociation of the United States (AGAUS), as the *ociation's secretary, as a member of the Reserve Forces Policy Board for the Department of Defense, and has served on several General Officer Steering Committees for the National Guard.

Rice was nominated for promotion to lieutenant general and *ignment as director of the Air National Guard by Barack Obama on 4 April 2016. This nomination was confirmed by the United States Senate on 28 April 2016. He *umed the position of Director of the Air National Guard on 10 May 2016. In August 2020, Colorado National Guard Adjutant General Michael A. Loh succeeded Rice as director.

Education

1980 Bachelor of Science in industrial engineering, Reserve Officers' Training Corps, Rensselaer Polytechnic Ins*ute, Troy, New York1981 Master of Science in Industrial Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Ins*ute, Troy, New York2000 Air War College, by correspondence2009 Harvard University, National and International Security Studies, Cambridge, M*achusetts2009 George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany2010 George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany2010 Capstone Military Leadership Program, Fort Lesley J. McNair, Washington, District of Columbia2011 Senior Reserve Component Officer Course, Army War College, Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania2011 Combined Force Air Component Commanders Course, Maxwell Air Force Base, Montgomery, Alabama2011 Harvard University, National Preparedness Leadership Initiative, 2012 Syracuse University, National Security Studies, 2015 Harvard University, National Preparedness Leadership Initiative,

*ignments

1. May 1981 – May 1982, student, Undergraduate Pilot Training, Reese Air Force Base, Lubbock, Texas
2. May 1982 – July 1982, student, AT-38B Lead-In Training Course, Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico
3. July 1982 – January 1983, student, F-111 United States Air Force Operation Training Course, Cannon Air Force Base, New Mexico
4. January 1983 – November 1984, aircraft commander, F-111, 493rd Tactical Fighter Wing, Royal Air Force Lakenheath, England
5. November 1984 – October 1985, instructor aircraft commander, F-111, 493rd Tactical Fighter Wing, Royal Air Force Lakenheath, England
6. October 1985 – December 1985, student, Squadron Officer School, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama
7. December 1985 – May 1986, student, F-111 Fighter Weapons Instructor Course, Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho
8. May 1986 – April 1987, chief of weapons and tactics/instructor pilot, F-111, 493rd Tactical Fighter Wing, Royal Air Force Lakenheath, England
9. April 1987 – April 1988, instructor pilot, F-111, 391st Tactical Fighter Squadron, Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho
10. April 1988 – November 1989, chief of Wing Weapons Section, 366th Tactical Fighter Wing, Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho
11. November 1989 – January 1992, pilot, A-10, 131st Tactical Fighter Squadron, Barnes Air National Guard Base, Westfield, M*achusetts
12. February 1992 – December 1994, pilot, A-10, 131st Fighter Squadron, Barnes Air National Guard Base, Westfield, M*achusetts
13. December 1994 – December 1995, *istant flight commander of 131st Fighter Squadron, Barnes Air National Guard Base, Westfield, M*achusetts
14. December 1995 – June 1997, instructor pilot, A-10, 131st Fighter Squadron, Barnes Air National Guard Base, Westfield, M*achusetts
15. June 1997 – June 1998, commander of Operations Support Flight, 131st Fighter Squadron, Barnes Air National Guard Base, Westfield, M*achusetts
16. June 1998 – September 1999, commander of Operations Support Flight, 104th Operations Support Flight, Barnes Air National Guard Base, Westfield, M*achusetts
17. June 2002 – April 2004, commander of 104th Operations Group, Barnes Air National Guard Base, Westfield, M*achusetts
18. May 2004 – July 2007, director of operations, J2, M*achusetts Joint Force Headquarters, M*achusetts National Guard, *ord, M*achusetts
19. July 2007 – September 2010, *istant adjutant general-air, M*achusetts National Guard, *ord, M*achusetts
20. September 2010 – present, chief of staff, M*achusetts Air National Guard, *ord, M*achusetts; dual hatted, February 2010 – February 2011, (A-6), *istant to the director, Air National Guard; dual-hatted, March 2011 – present, *istant to the commander of United States Air Forces Europe
21. April 2012 – May 2016, The Adjutant General, M*achusetts National Guard, Hanscom Air Force Base, M*achusetts
22. May 2016 – August 2020, director of the Air National Guard, the Pentagon, Washington, D.C.

Awards and decorations

Other achievements

1972 Eagle Scout2005 George W. Bush Award for Leadership in the Guard/Reserve

Effective dates of promotion

References

Notes

Citations