President Obama has nominated Maj. Gen. Douglas Robb for appointment to the rank of lieutenant general for his new assignment as director of the Defense Health Agency in the Pentagon, announced the Defense Department on April 25. Robb, a 1979 Air Force Academy graduate, has been serving since September 2010 as the Joint Staff’s surgeon.
The Air Force has embraced new technical approaches like open mission systems and rapid software updates for cutting-edge aircraft like the B-21 and Collaborative Combat Aircraft. Increasingly, though, the service is also working to apply these to its older, “legacy” aircraft, officials said this week.