President Obama nominated Lt. Gen. David Goldfein for a fourth star and reassignment as Air Force vice chief of staff, announced service officials on Tuesday. Goldfein, the Joint Staff’s director since August 2013, would succeed Gen. Larry Spencer, who has been vice chief since July 2012 and is retiring from the Air Force after more than 35 years in uniform, according to the officials. Goldfein is a command pilot with more than 4,200 flying hours in airplanes including the F-16, F-117, and MC-12. As vice chief, he would assist the Chief of Staff with organizing, training, and equipping airmen and Air Force civilian employees. He would also preside over the Air Staff and represent the Air Force on the Pentagon’s Joint Requirements Oversight Council and Deputy Advisory Working Group.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. still “believes” in his mantra of “Accelerate Change or Lose”—and indicated the doctrinal changes it produced when he was Air Force Chief of Staff played a role in the service’s recent response to Iran’s aerial assault on Israel, he…