Chief of Staff Gen. Welsh’s retirement ceremony

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Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark. A Welsh III gives his remarks before presenting the Lance P. Sijan Leadership award to the 2014 and 2015 recipients during a ceremony in the Pentagon, Washington. D.C., April 7, 2016. The Sijan award, first presented in 1981, was named in honor of the first Air Force Academy graduate to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor. Each year it is given to a senior and junior officer, and a senior and junior enlisted member who demonstrated outstanding leadership abilities though out the year. Then Lt. Sijan was shot down over Vietnam on Nov. 9, 1967. Despite severe injuries he evaded capture for 45 days. He was promoted to Capt. while in captivity. He later died while being held at the infamous Hanoi Hilton, and was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroism. The 2014 winners are: Lt. Col. Stephen Matthews, Capt. John Sullivan, Master Sgt. Janell McGivern and Senior Airman Tristen Windel. The winners for 2015 are: Maj. Patrick Kolesiak, Capt. David Plachno, Senior Master Sgt. Justin Deisch and Tech. Sgt. Kevin Henderson. (U.S. Air Force photo/Jim Varhegyi)

This article was originally published at 10:13 a.m. EST on June 24, 2016. See the full story here.

The retirement ceremony for Gen. Mark Welsh, the Air Force’s 20th chief of staff, is being held at 10:30 a.m. EST on Friday at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland.

Welsh is retiring after 40 years of service in the Air Force, and four years as the Air Force’s top uniformed leader. He graduated from the Air Force Academy in June 1976 and is a command pilot with more than 3,300 flight hours in the F-16, A-10, T-37 and TG-7A aircraft.

After retiring, Welsh will become dean of the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University. His first day there will be Aug. 15.

About 

Stephen Losey is the air warfare reporter for Defense News. He previously covered leadership and personnel issues at Air Force Times, and the Pentagon, special operations and air warfare at Military.com. He has traveled to the Middle East to cover U.S. Air Force operations.