for plans and deputy chief of staff for operations. In June 1981, he became commander of the Ninth Air Force and Air Force component commander for the Rapid Deployment Joint Task Force. In November 1982, he was assigned as deputy chief of staff for programs and resources at Air Force headquarters and became Vice Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force in July 1984. Commander of Strategic Air Command On August 1, 1985, General Welch was appointed as the new Commander-in-Chief of the Strategic Air Command, succeeding the retiring General Bennie L. Davis. From August 1985 to June 1986, Welch served as commander in chief, Strategic Air Command, and director, Joint Strategic Target Planning Staff, Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska. In this capacity, Welch oversaw all of the United States Nuclear Triad operations, which included fleet of Strategic Bombers Aircraft and fleet of Ballistic Missile such as the Intercontinental-Ballistic missiles. During Welch tenure as Commanders of the Strategic Air Command, Welch oversaw the transition of a new Air Force Strategic Bombers Aircraft, the B-1B Lancer which began its service within the United States Air Force on 1986. Welch himself also tested the B-1B aircraft by flying the aircraft himself for the test-flight. Welch also emphasize about the need to modernized United States Air Force fleet of Strategic Bombers Aircraft, such as the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress which has become the backbone of the United States Air Force Strategic Bombers Aircraft need to be modified with the new equipment so it would be able to serve within the United States Air Force for the next fifty years and also the need of a new advance stealth bombers aircraft. As a result, the Air Force began the new B-2 bomber project aircraft which gave birth to the new advance stealth Bomber Aircraft, the Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit. President Reagan praised Welch for his achievement as Commander of The Strategic Air Command in shaping and modernizing the Strategic Air Command. Air Force Chief of Staff In 1986 Welch was appointed by President Ronald Reagan to become the new Air Force Chief of Staff, succeeding the retiring General Charles A. Gabriel. Welch assumed the position of Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force on July 1, 1986. Welch is one of only a handful of modern service chiefs to have risen from enlisted rank to his service's highest position (the others