Lt. Gen. Brad Webb has taken command of Air Force Special Operations Command from Lt. Gen. Brad Heithold during a July 19 ceremony at Hurlburt Field, Fla. In selecting an officer to command AFSOC, “Webb was the obvious choice,” Goldfein said during the ceremony. Webb previously commanded NATO Special Operations Headquarters in Belgium. Heithold noted that Webb “is a Distinguished Flying Cross recipient. This is a man who understands battle. This is a man who has been there. This is a man, an airman, who has led multi-ship formations deep into Iraq,” has commanded at all levels, and is “exactly the right person to take command.” Heithold will become principal deputy director of cost assessment and program evaluation for the Secretary of Defense. Goldfein noted that it was air commandos who rescued him after his F-16 was shot down over Serbia in 1999, “and I want to say thank you.” Webb said AFSOC will “tirelessly seek to strike a balance” among the “myriad of challenges” facing the command. “And, we will always have our most important asset, …our people, our airman and families, in mind,” he said.
The Air Force kicked off one of its biggest exercises this week with the latest edition of Bamboo Eagle, featuring combined virtual and live training scenarios focused on test the command-and-control “nervous system” leaders need to operate on a complex joint battlefield spread over vast distances.
