The Air Force has hired former USA Today reporter Dave Moniz as part of a revamping of its internal and external communications function. Moniz is serving as a senior public affairs adviser, according to the Wall Street Journal. The Air Force subsumed public affairs, readers may recall, under a new communications department, being led by Brig. Gen. Erwin F. Lessel III, a command pilot who was last heading plans and programs for Air Force Materiel Command, but who also served on the PR front lines as multi-national force spokesman in Iraq.
The U.S. military conducted strikes on Iranian targets around the Strait of Hormuz on May 7, as the conflict with Iran flared up again—though officials say the ceasefire remains in effect.