Thomas Martin Ryan Jr. (born December 10, 1928) is a retired United States Air Force general who served as the commander of Air Training Command (COMATC) from 1981 to 1983 and as Commander in Chief of the Military Airlift Command (CINCMAC) from 1983 to 1985. Early life and education Ryan was born on December 10, 1928, in Detroit, Michigan, and graduated from Ridgewood High School in Ridgewood, New Jersey, in 1946. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in military science from the University of Omaha in 1965, and a Master of Science degree in international affairs from The George Washington University, Washington, D.C., in 1968. He graduated from the Armed Forces Staff College at Norfolk, Virginia, in 1965 and from the Air War College at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama, in 1968. Career Ryan became an aviation cadet in September 1949, and after completing pilot training at Reese Air Force Base, Texas, he was commissioned a second lieutenant in October 1950. He then served in various flying assignments with the Strategic Air Command at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana; Ramey Air Force Base, Puerto Rico; and Hunter Air Force Base, Georgia, until July 1953 when he entered observer training school at Ellington and James Connally Air Force bases, Texas. From May 1954 to June 1962, he was assigned to Forbes Air Force Base, Kansas, as a B-47 pilot, select crew aircraft commander, instructor pilot and squadron operations officer. In 1958 he became a standardization evaluator in the 90th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing. Ryan transferred to SAC headquarters at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, in June 1962 as a staff officer in the Plans and Organizational Section of the Weapons Management Branch, Weapons Maintenance Division. In February 1965 he entered the Armed Forces Staff College and following graduation in July 1965 he joined the SR-71 equipped 4200th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing at Beale Air Force Base, California, where he served as chief of the Quality Control Division and later as chief of the Maintenance Control Division. In July 1968 he graduated from the Air War College and then attended RF-4C combat crew training at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina. In March 1969 he was assigned to the 432nd Tactical Reconnaissance Wing at Udorn Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand, as a maintenance control officer and later as chief of maintenance. During this tour of duty he flew 114 combat missions in