Gen. John Hyten became the 16th commander of Air Force Space Command, succeeding Gen. William Shelton in a ceremony at Peterson AFB, Colo. Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh presided over the Aug. 15 ceremony, according to a command release. Hyten, who had been AFSPC’s vice commander since May 2012, received his fourth star prior to taking charge. He now oversees the Air Force’s space and cyber forces, some 42,000 airmen and civilians worldwide. Hyten attended Harvard University on an Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps scholarship. He graduated in 1981 with a bachelor’s degree in engineering and applied sciences and was commissioned as a second lieutenant. Shelton is retiring from the Air Force after more than three and a half years as AFSPC”s leader and a career of 38 years in uniform.
An important U.S. Air Force E-3 Sentry AWACS command and control plane was among the aircraft damaged in a March 27 Iranian missile and drone attack on Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia, people familiar with the matter told Air & Space Forces Magazine.