EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif -- Brigadier General Philip Conley established the position of Air Force Flight Test Center, Chief of Staff. The new position supervised and coordinated the activities of the Center’s staff elements, particularly the comptroller and procurement functions, and reduced the administrative burden on the commander and vice commander. Four divisions were removed from the 6510th Air Base Group and placed directly under the Air Force Flight Test Center command section.
From 1956 to 1961, General Conley served at the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. During this time he participated in flight test evaluations f F-100 Super Sabre, F-105 Thunderchief, B-52 Stratofortress and other jet aircraft.
In July 1971, General Conley returned to the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards Air Force Base as vice commander and then as the Inspector General. He reported to Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland, in January 1974 as executive officer to General Samuel C. Phillips, commander of Air Force Systems Command. In September 1974, he became the command's deputy chief of staff for operations and in September 1975, he was named chief of staff. General Conley returned to Edwards Air Force Base as commander of the Air Force Flight Test Center in March 1978. He assumed his present duties in October 1982.