Col. Susan Desjardins, currently commander of the 437th Airlift Wing, Charleston AFB, S.C., will replace Brig. Gen. Johnny Weida as the commandant of cadets at the US Air Force Academy. Weida, who has been at the academy only a year and was cleared, just a month ago, of a charge that he had attempted to proselytize cadets, has been reassigned as the director of capability integration and transformation at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. Air Force leaders have recommended Weida for promotion to major general. Desjardins, who is being nominated for promotion to brigadier general, graduated from the academy in 1980—the first class to include women.
Dozens of fighter jets gathered at Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida last week to kick off one of the service’s biggest air combat exercises despite the government shutdown. More than 50 aircraft and 500 personnel are participating in Checkered Flag 26-1.
