Lt. Gen. Samuel Cox took command of 18th Air Force in an Oct. 19 ceremony at Scott AFB, Ill., filling the vacancy left by Gen. Carlton Everhart, who left to take charge of Air Mobility Command in August, officials annou?nced. President Obama nominated Cox, who previously served as deputy chief of staff for manpower, personnel, and services, at the Pentagon, back in July. The Numbered Air Force oversees some 37,000 Active Duty, Air National Guard, and Air Force Reserve Command airmen and 1,100 aircraft conducting operational air mobility, aerial refueling, aeromedical evacuation, and contingency response missions. The NAF coordinates global mobility missions through its 618th Air Operations Center at Scott. Cox is a 1984 graduate of the US Air Force Academy and has logged some 4,600 flying hours in trainers and mobility aircraft, including the C-5, C-17, and C-141.
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.