The Senate confirms the promotion of Lt. Gen. Craig R. McKinley, director of the Air National Guard, to four-star rank and to head the National Guard Bureau, making him the first officer to hold that post as a four-star general. McKinley is the first Air Force officer to lead the National Guard since 2002.
The U.S. began extensive air and artillery strikes against Islamic State group targets in Syria on Dec. 19 in retaliation for the killing of three Americans on Dec. 13 by a gunman affiliated with ISIS, U.S. officials said.
