Maj. Gen. Mark Ramsay will be the next commander of 18th Air Force at Scott AFB, Ill., the Defense Department announced last week. To accompany his move, President Obama has nominated Ramsay for promotion to the rank of lieutenant general. Since October 2009, Ramsay has been deputy chief of staff for operations and intelligence in NATO’s Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe in Casteau, Belgium. He will take the reins from Lt. Gen. Robert Allardice, who’s shifting to his new assignment as Air Mobility Command’s vice commander, also at Scott. Allardice has led 18th AF since August 2009. It is AMC’s sole warfighting numbered air force. (DOD release)
In a nighttime ceremony contrived to continue concealment of many of its features, the new B-21 bomber rolled out of Northrop Grumman's Palmdale, Calif. plant Dec. 2. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the aircraft's advanced technology represents "deterrence, the American way."