Duncan J. McNabb (born August 8, 1952) is a retired United States Air Force general who last served as the ninth commander, United States Transportation Command from September 5, 2008, to October 17, 2011. He previously served as the 33rd Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force.

Military career

McNabb graduated from the United States Air Force Academy in 1974. A command pilot, he has amassed more than 5,400 flying hours in transport and rotary wing aircraft. He has held command and staff positions at squadron, group, wing, major command and Department of Defense levels. During Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm, McNabb commanded the 41st Military Airlift Squadron, which earned Military Airlift Command's Airlift Squadron of the Year in 1990. He commanded the 89th Operations Group, overseeing the air transportation of the United States' leaders, including the president, vice president, secretary of state and secretary of defense. He then served as commander of the 62nd Airlift Wing. The wing's performance in 1996 earned the Riverside Trophy as the 15th Air Force's outstanding wing. He also commanded the Tanker Airlift Control Center where he planned, scheduled and directed a fleet of more than 1,400 aircraft in support of combat delivery and strategic airlift, air refueling and aeromedical operations around the world. McNabb was then commander of Air Mobility Command, where he led 134,000 total force Airmen in providing rapid global mobility, aerial refueling, special airlift and aeromedical evacuation for America's armed forces. McNabb's staff assignments have been a variety of planning, programming and logistical duties. These include serving as the deputy chief of staff for plans and programs on the Air Staff and chairman of the Air Force Board having oversight of all Air Force programs. He also served as the director for Logistics on the Joint Staff where he was responsible for operational logistics and strategic mobility support to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Secretary of Defense. General McNabb retired from the Air Force on November 30, 2011, after over 37 years of service.

Later career

After retiring from the Air Force, McNabb and William Fraser III attempted to enter into consulting contracts with Azerbaijani cargo carrier Silk Way Airlines in 2014, with both standing to make $5,000 a day. However, their business ventures in Azerbaijan were flagged and ultimately blocked by the United States Department of Defense and State Department, considering their requests to be a threat to national security and a potential embarrassment if the information was ever made public. Documents of the dispute were eventually reported by The Washington Post in 2022.

Education

1974 Bachelor of Science, United States Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colorado 1977 Distinguished graduate, Squadron Officer School, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama 1983 Air Command and Staff College, by correspondence 1984 Master of Science degree in international relations, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 1993 Industrial College of the Armed Forces, Fort Lesley J. McNair, Washington, D.C. 1994 Air War College, by correspondence 1995 Program for Senior Officials in National Security, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 1998 Executive Program for General Officers of the Russian Federation and the United States, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 2000 National Security Decision-Making Seminar, Center for Strategic Education, Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University, Washington, D.C.

Assignments

Flight information

Rating: Command Pilot, Navigator Flight hours: More than 5,400 Aircraft flown: T-37, T-38, C-141, C-17, C-21, C-20 and UH-1N

Awards and decorations

Other achievements

Commander's Trophy, Undergraduate Pilot Training, Air Training Command Orville Wright Award for outstanding UPT graduate, Order of Daedalians Order of the Sword, Air Mobility Command

Effective dates of promotion