The Air Force announced the creation of a new numbered air force as part of a series of organizational reforms rolled out on Monday. The Air Force Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Agency will be realigned under the new 25th Air Force, which will fall under Air Combat Command, in an effort to “better support combatant commanders and realign some field operating agencies [FOA] to operational (major commands), merge FOAs with similar missions, and deactivate others,” according to the announcement. The reorganization will enable ACC to meet tactical, theater, and national ISR requirements “more effectively,” said ACC boss Gen. Michael Hostage in a July 14 release. It also provides a one-command structure for ISR airmen, which will be important as the Air Force normalizes the ISR mission into the combat air forces, he added. The agency’s current commander, Maj. Gen. Jack Shanahan, will be reassigned as commander of 25th AF, and most of the organizations aligned under AFISRA will become part of the new numbered air force. The National Air and Space Intelligence Center at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, however, will remain directly aligned with the Air Staff under the A-2 directorate, states the release. The new organization is slated to stand up this fall and will be headquartered at JBSA-Lackland, Texas, according to ACC.
US Space Command Should Always Be Led by a Guardian
Sept. 12, 2026
General Stephen Whiting took command of U.S. Space Command in January 2024, and if customary three-year tenures hold, his tour would end in January 2027. The question now before the President and Senate is who should follow him? Whoever they choose, it has to be a Guardian—and so should every successor…
