Lt. Gen. Donald Wurster relinquished 
command of Air Force Special Operations Command to Lt. Gen. Eric Fiel last week during a ceremony at Hurlburt Field, Fla. Gen. Norton Schwartz, Air Force Chief of Staff, presided over the ceremony; Adm. Eric Olson, US Special Operations Command boss, also participated. “Each of you makes a difference, every job matters,” Wurster told AFSOC’s airmen. “Despite the relatively small number of personnel in AFSOC, we fight above our weight and produce lasting and strategic effects in our wake.” Wurster is retiring after 38 years of service, effective Aug. 1. He led the command since November 2007; it has roughly 16,000 active duty, Air National Guard, Air Force Reserve, and civilian personnel. Fiel comes to AFSOC from US Special Operations Command, where he was vice commander. “AFSOC will continue to change,” said Fiel. “We will continue to focus on who we are and what it means to be the specialized air arm of the SOF team.” (Hurlburt report by Capt. Kristen Duncan and Hurlburt report by Ashley M. Wright)
Depot-level maintenance took longer than expected for nearly three-quarters of Air Force aircraft from fiscal 2019-2024, according to a new report, as unplanned repairs rise across the aging fleet. The report, from the Government Accountability Office, also found that the extent of the delays has been masked because officials often revise their target timelines after unplanned work occurs.