Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Harrigian took command of US Air Forces Central Command, and control of the air wars against ISIS and in Afghanistan, during a Friday ceremony at Shaw AFB, S.C. Harrigian took command fromLt. Gen. Charles Brown, who is moving on to become the No. 2 commander of US Central Command. Harrigian, who previously served as director of the F-35 Integration Office, had served as both the deputy director of operations and the assistant deputy commander of AFCENT, and has flown combat missions in operations Just Cause and Desert Storm. “There is nothing more motivating than leading in combat,” Harrigian said at the ceremony, according to an AFCENT release. “I’m humbled and honored to be provided the chance to lead our airmen in today’s fight—not a fight in the future, but a fight we are in today to defend America.”
Army Gen. Christopher G. Cavoli, head of U.S. European Command and Supreme Allied Commander Europe, warned that Russia would remain an enduring threat to NATO and global security, regardless of the outcome of the war in Ukraine.