Brig. Gen. Mark Kyle has taken command of 4th Air Force at March ARB, Calif., a component of Air Force Reserve Command that oversees mostly long-range airlift and tankers stationed at bases across the continental United States. Kyle received the command guidon from Air Force Reserve Chief Lt. Gen. Charles Stenner during a ceremony at March last week. Kyle succeeds Maj. Gen Eric Crabtree, who led the numbered air force since January 2009. Crabtree moves to his new assignment as deputy director of US Strategic Command’s Center for Combating Weapons of Mass Destruction at Ft. Belvoir, Va. Kyle previously served as Air Forces Central’s director of mobility forces in Southwest Asia. (March report by 2nd Lt. Zach Anderson)
U.S. Southern Command recently announced its first lethal strike on a suspected narco-trafficking vessel in two months, and the first under a newly formed permanent counter-cartel task force. The U.S. is also reportedly planning to transfer MQ-9 drones to Colombia to bolster its counter-cartel efforts.