Major General Jon Kelk
Maj. Gen. Jon Kelk is Air National Guard Assistant to the Commander, United States Air Forces in Europe/Air Forces Africa. He is responsible for providing full-spectrum war fighting air and space operations capability to the combatant commanders throughout the area of responsibility, which includes parts of three continents and 92 countries throughout Europe, Africa and parts of Asia. He also leads the command's engagements with the National Guard's State Partnership Program.
General Kelk was commissioned in 1981 through Officer Training School, Lackland Air Force Base, Texas. He graduated as a distinguished graduate from Undergraduate Pilot Training at Vance Air Force Base, Oklahoma in 1982 and from the United States Air Force Fighter Weapons Instructor Course at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada in 1987. General Kelk served as an F-15 weapons officer for two of his three operational assignments. He flew in Operation DESERT STORM in 1991 and was credited with the first aerial victory of that conflict, an Iraqi Mig 29, for which he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. General Kelk joined the Missouri ANG in 1992 and has served as a flight commander, operations officer, squadron commander, operations group commander, director of operations and Chief of Staff; during that time, he participated in four no-fly-zone enforcements in Iraq during Operations PROVIDE COMFORT, NORTHERN WATCH and SOUTHERN WATCH. In 2012 he transferred to the California ANG as Chief of Staff prior to assuming his current position. A command pilot, he has logged more than 4,200 flying hours, including 296 combat hours. In August 2006, General Kelk became the first United States pilot to log 4,000 hours in the F-15 A-D air superiority version of the F-15.
EDUCATION
1980 Bachelor of Business Administration, Accounting and Business
1984 Squadron Officer School, by correspondence
1987 Air Force Weapons School Instructor Course, Nellis AFB, NV, in residence
1996 Air Command and Staff College, by correspondence
1999 Air War College, by correspondence
2011 Senior Leader Orientation Course (SLOC), Joint Base Andrews, Md.
2013 General and Flag Officer Homeland Security Executive Seminar, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.
ASSIGNMENTS
1. May 1981 - May 1982, Student, Undergraduate Pilot Training, Vance AFB, Okla.
2. August 1982 - December 1982, Student, F-15 Replacement Training Unit, Luke AFB, Ariz.
3. December 1982 - November 1983, Pilot, F-15, 49th Tactical Fighter Wing, Holloman AFB, N.M.
4. November 1983 - May 1984, Student, Squadron Officer School, Holloman, AFB, N.M.
5. May 1984 - May 1985, Aircraft Commander, 525th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Bitburg AB, Germany
6. May 1985 - October 1985, Aircraft Commander/Instructor Pilot, F-15, 525th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Bitburg AB, Germany
7. October 1985 - October 1986, Flight Examiner, F-15, 525th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Bitburg AB, Germany
8. October 1986 - May 1987, Student, F-15 Fighter Weapons Instructor Course, Nellis AFB, Nev.
9. May 1987 - May 1988, Squadron Weapons Officer, 525th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Bitburg AB, Germany
10. May 1988 - December 1989, Chief of Weapons, 58th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Eglin AFB, Fla.
11. January 1990 - December 1990, Assistant Chief, Standardization/Evaluation, 33rd Tactical Fighter Wing, Eglin AFB, Fla.
12. January 1991 - June 1991, Weapons and Tactics Officer, 33rd Tactical Fighter Wing, Eglin AFB, Fla.
13. July 1991 - April 1994, Pilot, F-15, 110th Fighter Squadron, Missouri ANG, Saint Louis, Mo.
14. April 1994 - April 1995, Flight Commander, F-15, 110th Fighter Squadron, Missouri ANG, Saint Louis, Mo.
15. April 1995 - April 1999, Operations Officer, 110th Fighter Squadron, Missouri ANG, Saint Louis, Mo.
16. April 1999 - April 2001, Commander, 110th Fighter Squadron, Missouri ANG, Saint Louis, Mo.
17. April 2001 - September 2005, Commander, 131st Operations Group, Missouri ANG, Saint Louis, Mo.
18. September 2005 - July 2010, Director of Operations, A-3, Headquarters, Missouri ANG, Jefferson City, Mo.
19. July 2010 - July 2012, Chief of Staff, Headquarters, Missouri ANG, Jefferson City, Mo.
20. July 2012 - November 2012, Assistant Adjutant General, California ANG, Sacramento, Calif.
21. November 2012 - May 2016, Chief of Staff, Sacramento, Calif.
22. May 2016 - Present, Air National Guard Assistant to the Commander, United States Air Force Europe - Air Forces Africa (USAFE/AFAFRICA), Ramstein AB, Germany
FLIGHT INFORMATION
Rating: Command Pilot
Flight hours: More than 4,200
Aircraft flown: F-15, T-37, T-38
AWARDS AND DECORATIONS
Legion of Merit with oak leaf cluster
Distinguished Flying Cross
Distinguished Service Medal
Meritorious Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters
Air Medal with four oak leaf clusters
Aerial Achievement Medal
Air Force Commendation Medal with two oak leaf clusters
PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS & AFFLIATIONS
National Guard Association - Life time member
Missouri National Guard Association - Life time member
EFFECTIVE DATES OF PROMOTION
Second Lieutenant May 6, 1981
First Lieutenant May 6, 1983
Captain May 6, 1985
Major June 12, 1993
Lieutenant Colonel Oct. 15, 1997
Colonel March 21, 2002
Brigadier General June 9, 2010
Major General Feb. 12, 2014
(Current as of January 2019)
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