The Senate Armed Services Committee voted Tuesday to approve the nomination of Gen. David Goldfein to be the next Air Force Chief of Staff, according to a SASC spokesman. If approved by the full Senate, Goldfein will replace Gen. Mark Welsh, who has left the Pentagon, but officially retires July 1. If Goldfein is not confirmed by then, he will still perform the duties of the Chief, based on his current position as the vice chief of staff, until a successor is appointed. The panel also voted to approve more than 1,600 other pending military nominations, including the nominations of Air Force Lt. Gen. Joseph Lengyel to be the next chief of the National Guard Bureau, and Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Thomas Waldhauser to lead US Africa Command. If confirmed, Lengyel, the current vice chief of the National Guard Bureau, would receive a fourth star and replace Army Gen. Frank Grass, who became chief in September 2012. There is no specific timeline for when the full Senate will vote on the nominations, but it could happen as early as this week.
Army Building Up New Space Operations Branch
Oct. 15, 2026
The Army has long been dependent on space capabilities to navigate terrain, communicate in hard-to-reach areas, and identify and strike targets. Now, the service wants to deepen its space operations expertise and is making plans to expand its own cadre of operators in the coming years.