Rice delivered Welch retirement remarks. Secretary Rice praises Welch effort in modernizing the United States Air Force in-order to adjust within the incoming future advance technology. Decorations Welch is a command pilot with more than 6,500 flying hours. His military decorations and awards include the Defense Distinguished Service Medal with oak leaf cluster, Air Force Distinguished Service Medal with oak leaf cluster, Legion of Merit with oak leaf cluster, Distinguished Flying Cross, Meritorious Service Medal, Air Medal with six oak leaf clusters, Air Force Commendation Medal with two oak leaf clusters, Joint Meritorious Unit Award and Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with "V" device and two oak leaf clusters. U.S. Air Force Command Pilot Badge Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Identification Badge Master Missileman Badge Defense Distinguished Service Medal with oak leaf cluster Air Force Distinguished Service Medal with oak leaf cluster Legion of Merit with oak leaf cluster Distinguished Flying Cross Meritorious Service Medal Air Medal with six oak leaf clusters Air Force Commendation Medal with two oak leaf clusters Joint Meritorious Unit Award Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with V device and two oak leaf clusters Retirement and further work Welch was promoted to general on August 1, 1984, with same date of rank and retired on July 1, 1990. In 1998 he spent several months on the Rumsfeld Commission, which reported to Congress on the ballistic missile threat to the United States. In 2009, Welch retired as the president of the Institute for Defense Analyses in Alexandria, Virginia. He continues to serve as a Senior Fellow at the Institute for Defense Analyses. He also serves on the Defense Policy Board, the USSTRATCOM Strategic Advisory Group, the Sandia Corporation Board of Directors, and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Director's Review Committee. In October 2007, Welch was asked by Robert Gates to lead the Defense Science Board task force that would study the 2007 United States Air Force nuclear weapons incident as part of a larger review of US Department of Defense procedures and policies for handling nuclear weapons. Welch briefed the results of the review before the U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services on February 12, 2008. In 2014, Secretary of Defense Hagel asked Welch and retired Admiral John Harvey to lead an Independent Review of the Department of Defense Nuclear Enterprise. The report was delivered to the Secretary of Defense in June 2014. In February