Lt. Gen. Larry James took command of 14th Air Force (Strategic Air Forces-Space) during a Dec. 9 ceremony at Vandenberg AFB, Calif., where he also will serve as Joint Functional Component Commander for Space. • The Senate on Dec. 8 confirmed Maj. Gen. Loren Reno for a third star; he now will serve as the Air Force’s Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics, Installations, and Mission Support. • Maj. Gen. John Koziol received Senate confirmation on Dec. 8 for a third star, as did Maj. Gen. Mark Welsh III; Koziol will serve as Deputy Undersecretary of Defense (Intelligence) for Joint and Coalition Warfighter Support and Welsh as Associate Director of CIA for Military Support.
Bell Textron has won DARPA's contest for a no-runway, high-speed drone that will prove out technologies useful for special operations forces and possibly the Air Force's Agile Combat Employment concept. Bell's design converts a tiltrotor to a jet-powered aircraft able to fly at up to 450 knots.