WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio -- Lt. Gen. Duke Z. Richardson will take command of the Air Force Materiel Command, June 13, 2022, at 9 a.m. EDT during a ceremony at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force, here.
Richardson will take over for Gen. Arnold W. Bunch, Jr., who is slated to retire later this summer. The change of command will immediately be followed by Bunch’s retirement ceremony.
Air Force Chief of Staff, Gen. Charles Q. Brown, Jr., will preside over the ceremony, which will be livestreamed on the AFMC YouTube page at https://www.youtube.com/c/AFMC. Internal AFMC audiences will also have the opportunity to view the event on ZoomGov via the link sent through internal channels.
Richardson currently serves at the Pentagon as Military Deputy, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics. He will pin on his fourth star during a private ceremony prior to assuming command.
He will take over the enterprise responsible for installation and mission support, discovery and development, test and evaluation, life cycle management services and sustainment of virtually every major Air Force weapon system. The command includes more than 87,000 uniformed and civilian Airmen at bases around the world.
Richardson’s ascension to lead one of the Air Force’s largest major commands started in 1983 with his enlistment as an avionics technician. He earned an electrical engineering degree under the Airmen’s Education and Commissioning Program and attended Air Force Officer Training School where he earned his commission as a second lieutenant in September 1989.
Over the years, Richardson has served in a number of leadership roles in the Aeronautical Systems Center and Air Force Life Cycle Management Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, including as AFLCMC Vice Commander. Richardson was previously the Air Force Program Executive Officer (PEO) for Fighters and Bombers, for PEO Tankers, and for PEO Presidential and Executive Airlift. He has also served as the Director of Logistics and Sustainment at Headquarters, AFMC.