Gen. Hawk Carlisle assumed command of Air Combat Command from Gen. Mike Hostage during a change of command ceremony at JB Langley-Eustis, Va., on Tuesday, according to a Nov. 4 release. USAF Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Larry Spencer presided over the ceremony, which was attended by Secretary Deborah Lee James as well as former Air Force Secretaries Whit Peters and Mike Wynne as well as other military dignitaries. “The Air Force is able to project combat air power around the globe 365 days a year,” Spencer said. “It is the most feared Air Force on the planet and that’s because of you.” James said Hostage, who will retire after nearly four decades in uniform, “has been a tireless leader” who is “dedicated and committed to excellence and has indeed ushered that into ACC through a very tough and challenging budget time in our Air Force history.” She also praised Carlisle, saying he “really knows what it takes to be successful in the combat business and has all the tools in his toolbox to be able to take this command to an even higher level.” Carlisle, who previously led Pacific Air Forces, was last stationed at ACC from June 1998 to March 2000 during which time he commanded the 1st Operations Group at Langley. (See also Hostage’s Warning from the October 2014 issue of Air Force Magazine.)
In the wake of a major Chinese military shakeup, the head of U.S. Space Command warned of China’s “breathtakingly fast” advances in space during visits to Japan and South Korea. Gen. Stephen N. Whiting’s trip to the Indo-Pacific is his first overseas visit since taking command of SPACECOM in January.