President Obama has nominated Maj. Gen. Robin Rand for promotion to the rank of lieutenant general for his new assignment as commander of 12th Air Force (Air Forces Southern) at Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz. Rand has been special assistant to the Air Force vice chief of staff since October 2010. He would fill the leadership post made vacant with the retirement of Lt. Gen. Glenn Spears, who led 12th AF since August 2009. (DOD release)
When Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Air Force Gen. Dan Caine described the 150 aircraft used in Operation Absolute Resolve, the mission to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, he referenced many by name, including the F-35 and F-22 fighters and B-1 bomber. Not specified, however, were “remotely piloted drones,” among them a secretive aircraft spotted and photographed returning to Puerto…

