VanHerck Nominated to Lead NORTHCOM

Lt. Gen. Glen D. VanHerck, currently the director of the Joint Staff, was nominated July 1 to take over as the next commander of U.S. Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command, the Pentagon announced July 6.

If confirmed, VanHerck will receive his fourth star and take over for Gen. Terrence J. O’Shaughnessy, who has led NORTHCOM since May 2018. The Pentagon has not announced O’Shaughnessy’s next move.

Before the Joint Staff, VanHerck served as the commander of the U.S. Air Force Warfare Center and operations director for Air Force Global Strike Command, and commanded both the 509th Bomb Wing at Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo., and the 7th Bomb Wing at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas. He is a command pilot with more than 3,200 hours in aircraft including the B-1, B-2, and F-35.

President Donald J. Trump also nominated Maj. Gen. Tony D. Bauernfeind to rise to lieutenant general as the vice commander of U.S. Special Operations Command. Bauernfeind is currently SOCOM’s chief of staff.

Maj. Gen. Jeffrey A. Kruse, another nominee, is next in line to become the Director of National Intelligence’s adviser for military affairs. He is also up for promotion to lieutenant general. Kruse is now the Pentagon’s director for defense intelligence for warfighter support, working on ways to better collect and analyze intel using tools like artificial intelligence algorithms.

Air Force Magazine previously reported Lt. Gen. Richard M. Clark is also nominated to become the next superintendent of the U.S. Air Force Academy, and the first Black officer to hold that post.