President Obama nominated Maj. Gen. William Bender for promotion to the rank of lieutenant general for assignment as the Air Force’s chief of information dominance and chief information officer, announced the Pentagon on June 10. Bender has been deputy chief of the Office of Security Cooperation-Iraq in Baghdad since July 2013. If the Senate approves Bender’s nomination, he would replace Lt. Gen. Michael Basla, who has held these positions on the Air Force Secretariat since June 2012.
The Stratolaunch Talon-A2 hypersonic vehicle flew a second time in March, after a first flight in December, making it the first re-usable hypersonic test craft since the X-15, the Pentagon announced May 5. The craft is expected to increase the pace of hypersonic testing and experimentation.