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.
F-35 Deliveries Soared to New Record in 2025
Jan. 8, 2026
Lockheed Martin says it delivered 191 F-35 fighters in 2025—just ahead of the goal it set for itself at the beginning of the year as it works to clear a backlog of jets in storage.

