Lt. Gen. Raymond Johns, deputy chief of staff for strategic plans and programs on the Air Staff since October 2006, has been nominated for promotion to the rank of general for a yet-to-be-announced position. While there has been no public Air Force or Defense Department release on the nomination, Johns’ name appears on the Senate’s June 4 nominee list for appointment to four-star level. The rumor mill has it that Johns would take over Air Mobility Command from Gen. Arthur Lichte, who has led that organization since September 2007.
No matter what happens with the Nunn-McCurdy review of the Sentinel ICBM program, the nation must have a land-based element of its nuclear triad, Pentagon acquisition and sustainment chief William LaPlante told the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee.