The President today announced his intention to nominate Gen. Charles A. Gabriel to be Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force. He would succeed Gen. Lew Allen, Jr., whose term expires June 30, 1982.
General Gabriel has been serving as Commander in Chief of the United States Air Forces in Europe and concurrently as Commander in Chief for .Allied Air Forces Central Europe since July 1980. He was Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations, Plans and Readiness, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, from April 1979 to July 1980. He was Deputy Commander, U.S. Forces Korea, and Deputy Commander in Chief, United Nations Command, in Seoul, South Korea, in 1977-1979. In 1975-1977 he was Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations, Tactical Air Command, Langley Air Force Base, Va. General Gabriel served as Deputy Director for Operational Forces and Deputy Director of Operations, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff, Plans and Operations, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, in 1972-1975. He is a combat veteran of both Korea and Vietnam.
He graduated from the U.S. Military Academy, West Point, N.Y., in 1950. He is married and has two children. He was born January 21, 1928, in Lincolnton, N.C.
Ronald Reagan, Nomination of Gen. Charles A. Gabriel To Be Chief of Staff of the Air Force Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/245782