Merrill Anthony "Tony" McPeak (born January 9, 1936) is a retired 4-star general in the United States Air Force whose final assignment before retirement was as the 14th Chief of Staff of the Air Force from 1990 to 1994. In 1993, McPeak served as Acting Secretary of the Air Force, before Sheila E. Widnall was appointed by President Bill Clinton, and is the only Chief of Staff of the Air Force and uniformed Air Force officer on active duty to have ever served as Acting Secretary. Early life and education McPeak was born in Santa Rosa, California. After graduating from Grants Pass High School in Grants Pass, Oregon, he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from San Diego State College in 1957 and became a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity. He was commissioned through Air Force ROTC, and entered active duty in November of that year. He later earned a Master of Arts degree in international relations from George Washington University in 1974. Career After completing preflight and pilot training, McPeak flew single-seat fighter aircraft, the F-100 Super Sabre and the F-104 Starfighter, in operational squadrons in the United States and the United Kingdom. He later returned to the United States as an instructor pilot and weapons officer at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona. From December 1966 to December 1968, McPeak was assigned as an opposing solo and then lead solo pilot with the Thunderbirds, the Air Force's aerobatic flying team. While with the Thunderbirds, he performed in nearly 200 air shows in the United States and overseas. Upon completion of his tour with the Thunderbirds, he was assigned as an F-100 pilot with the 37th Tactical Fighter Wing at Phù Cát Air Base in South Vietnam. On February 1, 1969, he was assigned to Project Commando Sabre (Detachment 1, 416th Tactical Fighter Squadron), known as the Misty FACs, a specialized group of high speed forward air controllers trying to stop vehicular resupply traffic down the Ho Chi Minh Trail. He became the tenth commander of Commando Sabre on April 22, 1969, and moved it to the 31st Tactical Fighter Wing at Tuy Hoa Air Base on May 1, when the 37th TFW transitioned to the twin-seat F-4 Phantom II. Rotating out of his command on May 31, 1969 after 98 missions, he served as chief of standardization and evaluation for 31st TFW. McPeak completed a total