Lt. Gen. Kenneth Wilsbach has been nominated to take command of Pacific Air Forces, replacing Gen. C.Q. Brown Jr. who is the presumptive next Air Force Chief of Staff.
President Donald Trump nominated Wilsbach, currently the commander of 7th Air Force and deputy commander of U.S. Forces-Korea, to lead the 46,000 Airmen in PACAF, according to a release. Before his current job, Wilsbach was the commander of North American Aerospace Defense Command’s Alaskan region, commander Alaskan Command for U.S. Northern Command, and commander of 11th Air Force.
Before serving in the Pacific, Wilsbach also served as the commander of 9th Air and Space Expeditionary Task Force-Afghanistan and as the director of operations for U.S. Central Command. He is a command pilot with more than 5,000 hours in several aircraft, including F-15s, F-16s, and F-22s, having flown 71 combat missions in operations Northern Watch, Southern Watch, and Enduring Freedom.
If confirmed, Brown, who has led Pacific Air Forces since July 2018, will replace current Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein.