Chandler, a former F-15 and F-16 fighter pilot, was the deputy chief of staff for operations, plans and requirements for the Air Force in Washington, D.C.

Gen. T. Michael Moseley, chief of staff of the Air Force, will preside over the 4 p.m. change of command at Atterbury Circle Park at Hickam.

Hester will retire during a private ceremony earlier on the same day, culminating more than 37 years of service in the Air Force.

In April, Chandler was nominated to replace Hester and for promotion to the rank of four-star general.

Chandler has lived in Hawai'i before, serving at the U.S. Pacific Command and Pacific Air Forces in the 1980s and 1990s.

He also has served as a fighter squadron commander at Kadena Air Force Base in Japan and as a U.S. Air Force adviser to the Royal Saudi Air Force. He also was the Alaskan Command commander.

Hester announced his retirement in conjunction with the naming of Chandler to the position. Hester assumed command of Pacific Air Forces in July 2004.

Chandler will oversee the basing of the Air Force's most advanced weapon system, the F-22A Raptor, at Hickam. Twenty of the stealth fighters will be based in Hawai'i beginning in late 2010.

Two other squadrons are being based in Alaska. The basing is part of what Hester called the "strategic triangle" of Hawai'i, Alaska and Guam — bases from which the Air Force can rapidly deploy forces throughout Asia and the Pacific.