John William Rosa Jr. (born September 28, 1951)[1] is a retired United States Air Force Lieutenant General who served as President of his alma mater The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina from 2006 to 2018.

[2] While on active duty, Rosa also served as the sixteenth Superintendent of the United States Air Force Academy.

[3][4] Born in Springfield, Illinois and son of a career United States Navy Chief Petty Officer he attended high school in Jacksonville, Florida and was awarded a football scholarship to The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina where he won the starting quarterback job his sophomore year until sidelined with a knee injury; he is an initiate of the Theta Commission of the Kappa Alpha Order.

He flew the LTV A-7 Corsair II and Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II with the 354th Tactical Fighter Wing at Myrtle Beach Air Force Base, South Carolina then the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon with the 56th Tactical Fighter Wing at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida; from 1980 to 1983, he served an exchange tour with the Royal Air Force as a pilot in Hunter and Jaguar aircraft at RAF Lossiemouth, Scotland.

Rosa is a Command Pilot with more than 3,600 flying hours in the A-7, A-10, the Hunter and Jaguar aircraft, F-16, F-117A, HH-60G and HC-130; he also attended the Instructor Course of the USAF Weapons School.