During his 38 years in the U.S. Air Force, General Welch served in operational and staff assignments in training organizations and tactical fighter units worldwide. He served as Air Force Vice Chief of Staff; Commander-in-Chief, Strategic Air Command; and Air Force Chief of Staff and member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff before retiring from the Air Force in July 1990.

Since his retirement from the Air Force, General Welch has continued to make numerous contributions to the nation's defense through various advisory assignments for the Department of Defense. His efforts have brought increased attention to the growing ballistic missile threat, refinements to the testing program for the Ballistic Missile Defense System, and improvements to the business rules for managing missile defense capabilities.

General Welch is serving, for the second time, as President and CEO of the Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA). He joined IDA in February 1991. General Welch is a Director of the Aerospace Education Foundation, the Air Force Academy Foundation, the Henry L. Stimson Center, and the Sandia National Laboratory. He is chairman of the Permanent Task Force on Nuclear Weapons Surety, the AF Space Command Independent Strategic Advisory Board, the Missile Defense White Team, and the Strategic Command Strategic Advisory Group. In addition, he is a member of the Defense Science Board, the U.S. Joint Forces Command Transformation Advisory Group, the Missile Defense Agency Advisory Committee, the Council on Foreign Relations, the Atlantic Council, the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Director's Review Committee, and the Los Alamos National Laboratory Mission Committee.

He holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Maryland, a MS in International Relations from George Washington University and is a graduate of the Armed Forces Staff College, and National War College. He is also a graduate of the Harvard National Security Seminar.