Lt. Gen. Richard M. Clark, United States Air Force

Richard M. Clark (b.1964) is a Lieutenant General and pilot in the United States Air Force. He is also the first black person to serve as the Superintendent of the United States Air Force Academy at Colorado Springs, Colorado, which he was appointed to in September 2020.

Lt. Gen Clark was born in Richmond, Virginia in 1964, graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Management, and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in 1986. He holds a Master of Arts in Human Resource Development from Webster University, a Master of Strategic Studies from the Naval Command and Staff College, a Master of Airpower Studies from the School of Advanced Air and Space Studies, and a Master of National Security Studies, National War College.

He served as the commanding officer of the 34th Bomb Squadron, 12th Flying Training Wing, Eighth Air Force, and Joint Functional Component Commander for Global Strike. He has also served as a White House Fellow in Washington, D.C.; the Commandant of Cadets, U.S. Air Force Academy; Senior Defense Official/Defense Attaché, Cairo, Egypt, and as the Commander, Third Air Force, Ramstein Air Base, Germany.

Lt. Gen. Clark served as the Deputy Chief of Staff for Strategic Deterrence and Nuclear Integration, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, the Pentagon, before becoming Superintendent of the U.S. Air Force Academy.

by Anthony E. Thomas