West, W. Thomas

“Major General W. Thomas West was commander of the 19th Air Force, Air Education and Training Command, headquartered at Randolph Air Force Base, TX. He was responsible for the training continuum for more than 2,000 U.S. and allied students each day, from entry into the flight screening program through graduation from combat crew training as fully qualified aircrews for the warfighting commands. He assessed graduate readiness to support world-wide contingencies and mobilization plans for Air Education and Training Command units. The 19th Air Force is composed of more than 25,000 assigned personnel and 1,600 aircraft in 18 units throughout the United States.

A native of Headland, Ala., he entered the Air Force in July 1966 as a distinguished graduate of the Florida State University Reserve Officer Training Corps program. His flight experience includes tours as an F-100 pilot; A-7 pilot and fighter weapons instructor; F-4 flight commander and squadron operations officer; and F-16 squadron and wing commander. A command pilot with more than 3,500 flying hours, the general logged 343 combat hours over Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War. He has commanded three fighter wings and has served tours on the Air Staff and at the unified command . Major General West retired from the USAF in May of 1997.”

(source https://web.archive.org/web/20040210220322/http://www.af.mil/bios/bio.asp?bioID=7556)