San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
S.A. officials applaud Air Force’s new chief of staff
After a monthlong delay, the Air Force has a new leader.
The U.S. Senate voted 95 to 1 last week to confirm Gen. David W. Allvin as the service’s chief of staff and its representative on the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Also confirmed were Adm. Lisa Franchetti as chief of naval operations and Lt. Gen. Christopher Mahoney as assistant commandant of the Marine Corps. Franchetti is the first woman to serve on the Joint Chiefs.
Hundreds of other military promotions remain on hold, blocked by Sen. Tommy Tuberville, an Alabama Republican, as a protest against a Defense Department policy on abortion access. The policy provides for reimbursement of travel expenses for service members who live in states that prohibit abortion and who cross state lines to have the procedure.
Allvin’s confirmation Thursday was welcome news in San Antonio, home to two Air Force bases — Lackland and Randolph — and key Air Force commands. Randolph is headquarters of the Air Education and Training Command, which oversees training of pilots and air crews. Air Force basic military training is conducted at Lackland, known as the Gateway to the Air Force.
Allvin had served as acting Air Force chief since Oct. 1, pending a Senate vote to confirm him. He succeeded Gen. Charles “C.Q.” Brown Jr., a San Antonio native, who was sworn in as chairman of the Joint Chiefs in late September. Previously, Allvin was vice chief of staff under Brown.
Now, as the Air Force’s senior uniformed leader, Allvin oversees 689,000 uniformed and civilian employees in the activeduty Air Force, Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve.
He was sworn in Thursday at the Air Force Academy’s Falcon Stadium in Colorado Springs, Colo.
“It is truly an honor to be confirmed as the 23nd Chief of Staff of the Air Force,” Allvin said in
a statement to Air Force Times. “My wife, Gina, and I are humbled by this opportunity, and we are eager to continue to serve our Air Force, our airmen and their families.”
For eight months, Tuberville has exercised a prerogative that allows any senator to place a “hold” on a military promotion.
Last week, Republican senators lost patience with Tuberville, and Senate Democrats threatened rule changes to allow promotions to be confirmed over his objections.
Exasperated members of both parties say Tuberville’s blockade is undermining military readiness at a time of conflict in the Middle East and Ukraine.
Senators managed to confirm Allvin, Franchetti and Mahoney on Thursday. But a wider solution to the crisis remains elusive.
Allvin graduated from the Air Force Academy in 1986. He commanded the 97th Air Mobility Wing at Altus AFB in Oklahoma and was commanding general of the NATO Air Training Command in Afghanistan. He also led the 438th Air Expeditionary Wing in Afghanistan.
His career has focused on air mobility, a specialty that encompasses airlift of supplies and personnel, air refueling and medical evacuation.
He is a command pilot with more than 4,600 hours in over 30 aircraft, including 100 combat hours. His awards and decorations include the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, the Legion of Merit with oak leaf cluster and the Bronze Star Medal.
Among the challenges he confronts as chief of staff is how to interest more people in pursuing Air Force careers.
The Air Force fell 10% short of its goal of signing up 26,877 active-duty recruits in fiscal 2023, which ended on Sept. 30. It was the service’s worst recruiting performance since 1999. The Air Force Reserve and the Air National Guard both missed their recruiting goals by 30%.
In response, the service has raised its maximum age for new recruits and officers from 39 to 42.
Older applicants will not have a crack at serving as pilots or combat systems officers or in other front-line roles, however. For those so-called rated positions, only people 33 and younger are eligible to begin training.