General Duke Z. Richardson is Commander, Air Force Materiel Command, headquartered at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. He is responsible for installation and mission support, discovery and development, test and evaluation, life cycle management services, and sustainment of virtually every major Air Force weapon system. The command employs 89,000 people and manages $72 billion of budget authority annually.

General Richardson graduated from Marana High School in 1982. While a student at MHS, he participated in track, cross-country, baseball, Key Club, and student government. He was also a delegate to Boys State, a program that teaches students about government functions and fosters engaged citizens, and was inducted into the National Honor Society. General Richardson married his high school sweetheart Mrs. Dede (Cathey) Richardson who graduated from Marana High School in 1982. They were married in July 1983 in Biloxi, Mississippi immediately after Gen. Richardson completed basic training.

General Richardson enlisted in the Air Force in 1983 as an avionics technician, and later received his commission via Officer Training School. In addition to four Program Executive Officer leadership tours, General Richardson has held a breadth of materiel-related assignments within Program Offices, the Air Force Research Laboratory, Headquarters Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Headquarters Air Force Materiel Command, Headquarters Air Force, U.S. Special Operations Command, and the Office of the Secretary of Defense. Prior to his current assignment, he was the Military Deputy to the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics, at the Pentagon, Arlington, Virginia.