Major General Craig Wills
Commander, 19th Air Force
Craig D. Wills was commissioned upon completion of the Reserve Officer Training Corps program at the University of Arizona where he earned a BA in political science. He also graduated from or received certificates for completion of numerous courses offered by the military. He is a command pilot with more than 2,500 flying hours, including 252 combat hours.
Prior to his current position, Wills served as the Department Chief, Office of Security Cooperation-Iraq, in Baghdad. He has held command positions at squadron, group and wing levels. He also served in the Pacific Air Force, Seventh Air Force, and U.S. Forces Korea staffs. He previously commanded the 39th Air Base Wing at Incirlik Air Base, Turkey, the 47th Operations Group at Laughlin AFB, Texas, and the 93rd Fighter Squadron at RAF Lakeheath, UK. He has been a Fellow at the Warhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard University.
Wills is presently the Commander, 19th Air Force, Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas.
In the News…
The United States Air Force is looking for source solutions to boost its annual pilot output and improve its training curriculum.
During a two-day industry event held by Air Education and Training Command’s 19th Air Force, the service outlined its priorities under five requests-for-information, or RFI, solicitations. If all five are enacted, they would collectively produce 200 additional pilots each year over a five-year period.
Among the RFIs is a program which would partially outsource the services of the undergraduate pilot training program to a company capable of providing multi-engine commercial aircraft along with other outsourcing.
“The idea is to reach out to industry and see how you all might be able to support, provide ideas, and provide information that will help us as we formulate our plans moving forward,” said Major General Craig Wills, 19th Air Force Commander.
In a press release, Major General Wills said the Air Force is looking at fresh options on how it can fix its chronic pilot shortage, which has become a “worldwide phenomenon.”
