Lt. Gen. Ronald E. Keys has been nominated for appointment to the four-star rank of general to command the Air Combat Command at Langley Air Force Base. Maj. Gen. William M. Fraser III has been nominated for the three-star rank of lieutenant general to become vice commander.

Keys, currently deputy chief of staff for Air and Space Operations at the Pentagon, will replace Gen. Hal M. Hornburg , who is planning to retire effective Jan. 1 after 2? years as commander.

Fraser, director of o perations at Headquarters Air Education and Training Command at Randolph Air Force Base in San Antonio, will replace Lt. Gen. Bruce A. Wright , who is being reassigned as commander of United States Forces Japan and c ommander of the Fifth Air Force at Yokota, Japan.

The Air Combat Command leader also serves as the a ir c omponent c ommander for U.S. Joint Forces Command, headquartered in Norfolk, and for U.S. Northern Command, at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Keys, commissioned in 1967 , is no stranger to Langley. He served with the 1st Tactical Fighter Wing from 1982 to 1984, with the 71st Fighter Squadron through 1985 and as special assistant to the deputy chief of staff of what was then the Tactical Air Command, now Air Combat Command, through June 1986.

He has since commanded a fighter squadron; the fighter weapons school; an F-15,

A/OA-10 and F-16 wing; and Allied Forces Southern Europe.

The Air Combat Command organizes , trains , equips and maintains combat forces for deployment anywhere in the world. It operates more than 1,200 aircraft, 25 air wings and 16 bases at more than 200 locations worldwide, using 110,000 active-duty and civilian personnel. When mobilized, the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve contribute an additional 800 aircraft and 65,000 people.

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