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McKinley to retire; Donley staying as secretary

ORLANDO, Fla. — Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz created some buzz here at the Air Force Association’s annual symposium with announcements about two service leaders; one staying and one leaving.

He revealed in a speech to the Air Force officials and industry leaders gathered here Feb. 26 that Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force Rodney McKinley will retire this summer and that Air Force Secretary Michael Donley agreed to President Barack Obama’s request that he continue to serve in that role.

Schwartz called McKinley, the enlisted chief for nearly three years, “An incomparable leader and an exemplary airman.”

“He has devoted his entire adult life to our Air Force and to taking care of airmen and their families,” Schwartz said. “Chief McKinley has accomplished so much throughout his career, but as chief master sergeant of the Air Force he has made monumental contributions.”

The audience rose and gave McKinley a standing ovation.

Schwartz praised McKinley for his work improving physical training, enlisted performance reports and care for wounded warriors, and promised to continue work on those issues after McKinley’s retirement.

McKinley began his stint as the 15th chief master sergeant of the Air Force on July 1, 2006. No reason was given for McKinley’s retirement, but when he steps down he will have completed an Air Force career started in 1974 and three years as top enlisted leader, the typical assignment.

“I will always be an airman,” McKinley said in a press release. “This time as chief master sergeant of the Air Force has been especially humbling for me. Everywhere I travel around the globe I see airmen and their families sacrificing, striving and fighting for our Air Force, our great nation and its ideals.”

A formal retirement ceremony for McKinley and appointment of the 16th chief master sergeant of the Air Force is planned for June 30. Schwartz will choose McKinley’s successor.

Schwartz also told the audience about Donley’s agreement to continue to serve as Air Force secretary.

Donley has served as the secretary since June 21, after Defense Secretary Robert Gates fired former Secretary Michael Wynne over the service’s embarrassing gaffes in handling nuclear weapons. The Senate confirmed Donley as the 22nd Air Force secretary last October.

This is not Donley’s first time serving as Air Force secretary. He spent seven months in the role in 1993, but President Bill Clinton did not ask him to stay. Before that, he served as the assistant secretary of the Air Force from 1989 to 1993.

In 2005, then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld appointed him as the director of administration and management, a position often referred to as the Pentagon mayor. He was serving in that post when Gates asked him to take over the Air Force.