Spears to Take No. 2 Spot at SOUTHCOM: Air Force Maj. Gen. Glenn F. Spears has been named to become deputy commander of US Southern Command, headquartered in Miami. Spears, who is the Air Staff’s director of force management policy, graduated from the Air Force Academy in 1978 and is a command pilot with more than 3,400 flying hours in various aircraft, including B-1B, B-52, KC-135, and MC-130H. He will replace Air Force Maj. Gen. Richard A. Mentemeyer, who plans to retire July 1.
The Pentagon is significantly bolstering airpower near Venezuela, dispatching the USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group to Latin America, it said in an Oct. 24 statement. The announcement came just hours after U.S. Air Force B-1 bombers and other U.S. assets flew near the Venezuelan coast on Oct. 23.

