Lt. Gen. Darryl Roberson assumed command of Air Education and Training Command during a July 21 ceremony at JBSA-Randolph, Texas, taking over from Gen. Robin Rand, who is heading to Barksdale AFB, La., where he will lead Air Force Global Strike Command. Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh, who officiated the ceremony, highlighted some of the milestones during Rand’s tenure at AETC, including the stand-up of the Profession of Arms Center of Excellence and changes to the Basic Military Training curriculum. Rand thanked attendees at the event, and told airmen to keep up the hard work of producing, educating, and training the “future leaders of our Air Force.” After receiving the command flag, Roberson said he was honored, humbled, and excited to begin work at AETC. “The mission of our command is vital to the success of our Air Force and the American way of war,” he said. “Airpower starts right here.” Roberson was tapped to take over AETC earlier this year, as the command transitioned from a four-star major command to a three-star billet in order to elevate the commander of AFGSC to a four-star position. (AETC release.)
The Space Force is playing midwife to a new ecosystem of commercial satellite constellations providing alternatives to the service’s own Global Positioning Service from much closer to the Earth, making their signals more accurate and harder to jam.