Richard M. Clark

From Richmond, Virginia, Richard Milo Clark{{cite book|url=https://s3.amazonaws.com/usafayearbooks/1986.pdf |title=Polaris |date=1986 |publisher=United States Air Force Academy |location=Colorado Springs, Colorado |volume=XXVII |page=84 |accessdate=21 February 2019}} graduated from Jefferson-Huguenot-Wythe High School, where he was an All-Metro offensive lineman in football and also stood out in track and field. Originally committed to play at William & Mary in Williamsburg, he took an interest in the United States Air Force Academy during his senior year,{{cite news |url=https://richmond.com/news/local/rps-graduate-lt-gen-richard-m-clark-assumes-command-at-u-s-air-force-academy/article_a188a067-7c70-5d9d-924d-eff230492282.html |work=Richmond Times-Dispatch |location=(Virginia) |last=O'Connor |first=John |title=RPS graduate Lt. Gen. Richard M. Clark assumes command at U.S. Air Force Academy |date=September 23, 2020 |accessdate=October 5, 2020}} was accepted, and graduated in 1986 with a Bachelor of Science in Management. As a cadet, he was a four-year letterman on the football team at linebacker.{{cite news |url=https://goairforcefalcons.com/documents/2019/7/19/2019_Air_Force_Football_Media_Guide.pdf |publisher=U.S. Air Force Academy Athletics |title=Football media guide: All-time letterman |date=2019 |page=126}}{{cite news |url=https://gazette.com/military/clarks-ascent-to-air-force-academys-top-job-makes-history/article_cccdb80a-fdcc-11ea-9200-db8681c60413.html |work=The Gazette |location=(Colorado Springs) |last=Roeder |first=Tom |title=Clark's ascent to Air Force Academy's top job makes history |date=September 23, 2020 |accessdate=October 5, 2020}}{{cite news |url=https://coloradosun.com/2020/09/24/richard-clark-usafa-colorado-springs/ |work=The Colorado Sun |location=(Denver) |agency=Associated Press |title=General becomes 1st Black head of U.S. Air Force Academy |date=September 24, 2020 |accessdate=October 5, 2020}} During his senior season in 1985, the Falcons went 12–1 and were eighth in the final AP poll.{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=yVspAAAAIBAJ&sjid=k6UEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4969%2C67928|work=Tuscaloosa News |location=(Alabama) |agency=Associated Press |title=Air Force turns Texas coach into a prophet |date=January 1, 1986 |page=14}}{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ylspAAAAIBAJ&sjid=k6UEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6829%2C598633 |work=Tuscaloosa News |location=(Alabama) |agency=Associated Press |title=AP's final Top 20 |date=January 3, 1986 |page=11}}

In 1991, Clark was named a distinguished graduate from Squadron Officer School at Maxwell Air Force Base and, in 1994, he received a Master of Arts in human resource development at Webster University. In 1996, he attended the USAF Weapons School, then at Ellsworth AFB, and in 1998 he was again a distinguished graduate at the Naval War College and married his wife, Amy, shortly after. The University of Maryland awarded him an honorary doctorate.

Clark is a command pilot, with more than 4,200 combined hours in the B-1 Lancer, EC-135 Looking Glass, KC-135 Stratotanker, T-1 Jayhawk, T-38 Talon, T-6 Texan II, and Learjet C-21. Four hundred of his flight hours have been in combat, and he received the Distinguished Flying Cross for extraordinary achievement and courage in the Global War on Terror. His initial flying assignment after pilot training was the Looking Glass in 1988 at Offutt AFB, then moved to the B-1 in 1991 at McConnell AFB.

From 2010 to 2012, Clark served as the Commandant of Cadets at the United States Air Force Academy.{{cite web |last1=Bitton |first1=David |title=Air Force Academy's first Black superintendent looks to pay it forward at his alma mater |url=https://gazette.com/military/air-force-academys-first-black-superintendent-looks-to-pay-it-forward-at-his-alma-mater/article_a34aa56e-a3e0-11eb-83d9-1b1940b559e0.html#tncms-source=infinity-scroll-summary-siderail-next |website=The Gazette (Colorado Springs) |access-date=16 May 2021 |date=April 25, 2021 }} In 2016, Clark took command of the Third Air Force at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, and in 2018, he was named Deputy Air Force Chief of Staff for Strategic Deterrence and Nuclear Integration.

In July 2020, U.S. president Donald Trump nominated Clark to become the next Superintendent of the United States Air Force Academy, succeeding Jay Silveria.{{Cite web|title=Lt. Gen. Richard Clark nominated to be next Academy superintendent|url=https://www.usafa.af.mil/News/News-Display/Article/2246578/lt-gen-richard-clark-nominated-to-be-next-academy-superintendent/|access-date=2020-07-03|website=United States Air Force Academy|date=2 July 2020 |language=en-US}} He began his duties on September 23, becoming the first black Superintendent to lead the institution. Clark retired from the Air Force in June 2024, with Major General Thomas P. Sherman succeeding him as acting Superintendent.

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{{s-military}}

{{s-bef|before=Samuel D. Cox}}

{{s-ttl|title=Commandant of Cadets of the United States Air Force Academy|years=2010–2012}}

{{s-aft|after=Gregory J. Lengyel}}

{{s-bef|before=Joseph L. Lengyel}}

{{s-ttl|title=Chief of the Office of Military Cooperation and Senior Defense Official and Defense Attaché to Cairo|years=2012–2014}}

{{s-aft|after=Charles W. Hooper}}

{{s-bef|before=Robert D. Rego}}

{{s-ttl|title=Vice Commander of the Air Force Global Strike Command|years=2014–2015}}

{{s-aft|after=Michael E. Fortney}}

{{s-bef|before=Scott Vander Hamm}}

{{s-ttl|title=Commander of the Eighth Air Force|years=2015–2016}}

{{s-aft|after=Thomas A. Bussiere}}

{{s-bef|before=Timothy Ray}}

{{s-ttl|title=Commander of the Third Air Force|years=2016–2018}}

{{s-aft|after=John M. Wood}}

{{s-bef|before=Jack Weinstein}}

{{s-ttl|title=Deputy Chief of Staff for Strategic Deterrence and Nuclear Integration of the United States Air Force|years=2018–2020}}

{{s-aft|after=James C. Dawkins Jr.}}

{{s-bef|before=Jay B. Silveria}}

{{s-ttl|order=21st|title=Superintendent of the United States Air Force Academy|years=2020–2024}}

{{s-aft|after=Thomas P. Sherman
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{{United States Air Force Academy superintendents}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Richard M.}}

Category:1964 births

Category:Living people

Category:Air Force Falcons football players

Category:Bomber pilots

Category:Military personnel from Richmond, Virginia

Category:Recipients of the Air Force Distinguished Service Medal

Category:Recipients of the Defense Superior Service Medal

Category:Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States)

Category:Recipients of the Legion of Merit

Category:United States Air Force generals

Category:Superintendents of the United States Air Force Academy

Category:United States Air Force Academy faculty

Category:United States Air Force Academy people

Category:United States Air Force personnel of the Gulf War

Category:United States Air Force personnel of the Iraq War

Category:United States Air Force personnel of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)