Rice retires in Randolph ceremony

Gen. Edward A. Rice, Jr. (center) relinquishes the command flag to Gen. Mark A. Welsh, Chief of Staff of the U.S. Air Force, as Gen. Robin Rand awaits to accept the flag during the Air Education and Training Command change of command ceremony and Rice's retirement ceremony at Randolph Air Force Base on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2013. less Gen. Edward A. Rice, Jr. (center) relinquishes the command flag to Gen. Mark A. Welsh, Chief of Staff of the U.S. Air Force, as Gen. Robin Rand awaits to accept the flag during the Air Education and Training ... more Photo: Kin Man Hui, San Antonio Express-News Photo: Kin Man Hui, San Antonio Express-News Image 1 of / 11 Caption Close Rice retires in Randolph ceremony 1 / 11 Back to Gallery

SAN ANTONIO — Air Force Gen. Edward Rice Jr., who oversaw a makeover of basic training at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland in the wake of a sex scandal there that triggered congressional hearings, retired Thursday.

Standing before a large crowd of more than 400 airmen and civilian dignitaries on the flight line at JBSA-Randolph, he handed the command's guidon to the Air Force's top commander, Gen. Mark Welsh III.

A moment later, Gen. Robin Rand was given the flag, closing a circle that began when Rice chose him for a leadership position when both were in the Air Foree Academy.

“Sir, I relinquish command,” Rice said, handing Welsh the flag.

Rice came to the command in November 2010 with a number of issues on his plate, one of them rolling out a training program for pilots learning to fly the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, the Air Force's newest jet.

But late in the following year, he was confronted with a new challenge after the Air Force revealed that a Lackland training instructor, Staff Sgt. Luis Walker, had been charged with sexually assaulting recruits under his command. He was convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison.

The scandal mushroomed into a series of trials, some marked by sensational allegations of gross instructor misconduct at the base, home of Air Force basic training. In time, it became the worst sex scandal in the service's history.

Rice ordered an investigation that was led by Maj. Gen. Margaret Woodward, who issued a set of sweeping recommendations for changes in training late last year. Most of those recommendations are now in place.

A 1978 Air Force Academy graduate, Rice, 57, rose to head one of just 10 major commands in the service. He quickly became a B-52G pilot and aircraft commander, flying more than 4,000 hours in that jet and a number of other planes, including the B-2.

Read more details about Rice and his tenure on ExpressNews.com, our subscribers-only website.

sigc@express-news.net