President Obama has nominated Maj. Gen. Darrell Jones for promotion to the rank of lieutenant general for his new assignment overseeing manpower and personnel issues on the Air Staff, the Defense Department announced Thursday. Jones will replace Lt. Gen Richard Newton, who’s been tapped to be the next assistant vice chief of staff. Jones has led the Air Force District of Washington at Andrews AFB, Md., since November 2009. Prior to that, for nearly two years, he was director of force management policy within the deputy chief of staff office for manpower and personnel that he is now selected to head. The Senate must approve Jones’ promotion to lieutenant general.
The B-21 Raider stealth bomber was recently flown, for the first time, by an operational pilot as part of its flight test process, the Air Force said June 11. And a top Pentagon official said the move to bring operational testing into the B-21 process earlier than normal shows the…