Pacific Air Forces has installed newly promoted Lt. Gen. Loyd Utterback as commander of 13th Air Force, now formally operating at its new home at Hickam AFB, Hawaii. Formerly assigned to Andersen AFB, Guam, as a management headquarters, 13th AF now is one of USAF’s 10 operational warfighting headquarters. Utterback took over from Maj. Gen. Edward Rice, who moved the command from Andersen to Hickam. Rice now serves as PACAF vice commander.
The U.S. began extensive air and artillery strikes against Islamic State group targets in Syria on Dec. 19 in retaliation for the killing of three Americans on Dec. 13 by a gunman affiliated with ISIS, U.S. officials said.
