President Obama has tapped Lt. Gen. John Thompson to lead the Space and Missile Systems at Los Angeles AFB, Calif., and Maj. Gen. Robert McMurry for his third star and assignment as commander of the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, according to a Sept. 23 release. If confirmed, McMurry, who currently commands the Air Force Research Laboratory, would replace Thompson, who has led AFLCMC since October 2014. Thompson would replace Lt. Gen. Samuel Greaves, who has led SMC since October 2014. The Air Force has not yet announced a new assignment for Greaves.
A dozen and a half Air Force Reservists formally transferred to the Space Force on July 15, becoming the new service’s first 18 part-time Guardians. The move is the culmination of more than two and a half years of work to create a system unlike any other military branch.