The Air Force announced Wednesday that Maj. Gen. William Chambers has been tapped to be assistant chief of staff for strategic deterrence and nuclear integration on the Air Staff (A10). Chambers will replace Maj. Gen. Donald Alston, who has led the A10 office since November 2008 and has been selected to assume command of 20th Air Force, which oversees the nation’s Minuteman III ICBM force. Chambers has been serving since June 2009 as vice commander of US Air Forces in Europe. He is a master navigator with 2,500 flight hours in the cockpits of KC-135, FB-111, and trainer aircraft. Initially Brig. Gen. Jonathan George was announced as Alston’s successor, but George has subsequently decided to retire, according to an Air Force spokeswoman.
In the wake of a major Chinese military shakeup, the head of U.S. Space Command warned of China’s “breathtakingly fast” advances in space during visits to Japan and South Korea. Gen. Stephen N. Whiting’s trip to the Indo-Pacific is his first overseas visit since taking command of SPACECOM in January.