General Ronald Wilburn Yates (born October 3, 1938)[1] served as Commander, Air Force Materiel Command, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.

As AFMC Commander, Yates was responsible for research, development, test, acquisition and logistics support for the Air Force from 18 specialized centers and 116,000 military and civilian employees around the world.

Yates graduated from the United States Air Force Academy in 1960.

He has served as a test pilot, flying a variety of modified fighter aircraft, as program manager for a variety of weapon systems, and as commander of a test wing.

He is a command test pilot with more than 4,400 flying hours, and flew 100 combat missions in Southeast Asia.