56th Fighter Wing Honoring Our Nation's Veterans

Col. Keagan L. McLeese is Vice Commander of the 56th Fighter Wing at Luke Air Force Base, whose mission is to train the world’s greatest fighter pilots and combat-ready Airmen.  The 56th is the largest fighter wing in the U.S. Air Force, is home to 26 Squadrons of F-16 Fighting Falcon and F-35A Lightning II aircraft, and graduates over 100 F-35A pilots, 180 F-16 pilots, and 230 air control professionals annually. The 56th Fighter Wing also oversees the Gila Bend Air Force Auxiliary Field and the Barry Goldwater Range, a military training space that spans over 1 million acres of the Sonoran Desert.

Col. McLeese graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy and has over 20 years of active service.  He has deployed five times as an F-15C and F-22 pilot in support of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command theater security packages.  He also led U.S. Joint air and space strategy development for the Middle East, including the war against (ISIS) in Operations INHERENT RESOLVE, and RESOLUTE SUPPORT as the Strategy Plans Division Chief, Qatar.

Col. McLeese is a command pilot with over 2,000 flight hours in the T-6, F-15C, F-22, T-38, and F-35A aircraft. He has commanded at the flight and squadron levels, most recently as the commander of the 435th Fighter Training Squadron, Randolph AFB, Texas.  Prior to his current Luke Air Force Base role, the colonel was the Senior Air Force Advisor for Force Development in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy at the Pentagon.