Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein announced Wednesday that CMSgt. Kaleth Wright will serve as the 18th Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force, taking over from CMSAF James Cody in February. Wright joined the Air Force in 1989 and has most recently served as the Command Chief Master Sergeant of US Air Forces in Europe-Air Forces Africa at Ramstein AB, Germany. In 2014, he deployed to Afghanistan as Command Chief Master Sergeant of the 9th Air and Space Expeditionary Task Force-Afghanistan in Kabul. Wright is the second African-American CMSAF and the first since Thomas Barnes served in the position from 1973-1977. Goldfein announced Cody’s retirement in September at AFA’s Air, Space & Cyber conference.
The Air Force budget would grow to $234 billion while Space Force spending would shrink to $26 billion under the White House's yearly ask.