The Air Force has assigned Brig. Gen. (select) Susan Helms to take command of the 45th Space Wing at Patrick AFB, Fla. The former astronaut and one-time vice commander of the 45th SW is slated to replace Brig. Gen. Mark H. Owen, who will go to the Air Staff as deputy director of strategic security. Helms, who will be the first female wing commander at the Florida base, has been serving as deputy director of operations for technical training at Air Education and Training Command. The 1980 Air Force Academy graduate became an astronaut in 1990 and made five space shuttle flights, logging more than 5,000 hours over the course of 211 days in space. She returned to the Air Force in 2002. (Read her NASA biography here.)
The U.S. military is maintaining a beefed-up presence in the Middle East, including fighters and air defense assets, following the U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities June 22 and subsequent retaliation by the Iranians against Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.
