General Robin Rand, Commander of the United States Air Force Air Education and Training Command (AETC), will serve as the Randolph-Macon Academy commencement speaker on Saturday, May 24th at 10:00 a.m. in Melton Memorial Gymnasium. He will celebrate with the class, their families, and their friends the success of Randolph-Macon Academy’s 74 seniors and five postgraduate Falcon Scholars, who have already topped $5 million in college scholarships and boast a 100% college acceptance rate.
General Rand is responsible for the recruiting, training and education of all Air Force personnel. Under his command are, the Air Force Recruiting Service, a numbered air force and Air University. AETC trains more than 293,000 students per year and consists of 12 bases, more than 62,400 active-duty, Reserve, Guard, civilians and contractors, and 1,369 trainer, fighter and mobility aircraft.
General Rand was commissioned in 1979 after graduating from the U.S. Air Force Academy. He has had multiple flying tours; served as an air liaison officer with the U.S. Army; and has had staff tours on the Joint Staff, Office of the Secretary of Defense, and Air Staff. General Rand’s previous commands include the 36th Fighter Squadron, USAF Weapons School, 8th Fighter Wing, 56th Fighter Wing, 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing at Balad Air Base, Iraq, and prior to this assignment he was commander, 12th Air Force (Air Forces Southern) at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, AZ. He is a command pilot with more than 5,000 flying hours, including more than 470 combat hours.
Randolph-Macon Academy (R-MA), founded in 1892, is a college-preparatory, coeducational day and boarding school for students in grades 6 through 12. Students in grades 9-12 participate in R-MA’s 91st Air Force Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) and may also participate in an optional in-house flight program. R-MA is affiliated with the United Methodist Church and is located in Front Royal, VA.