USAF Leadership Shifts As New Top Officer Calls For Action

The U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff four-star Gen. David Allvin has seven words of advice for today’s airmen: “Don’t take your foot off the gas.” As reported in Air Force Times, Allvin explained that he believes current Air Force personnel stand at a tipping point in history—a contrast between how wars were fought in the past and how they will be fought in the future.

In prepared remarks at a ceremony last month, Allvin said, “We have accelerated change, and now must turn this momentum into outcomes. The time to execute is now.”

As the current top officer in the USAF, the career mobility pilot and strategist took the step up from the number-two spot in the service’s command structure. Heading a new slate of Air Force leadership, Allvin is in charge of a $180 billion budget addressing the needs of close to 700,000 service and civilian employees worldwide. His vice chief of staff is Lt. Gen. Jim Slife, who was confirmed Dec. 19 and has built his Air Force career as a special operations airman.

Joining Allvin and Slife at the senior level of the Air Force command are now-head of Air Combat Command Gen. Kenneth Wilsbach, formerly head of Pacific Air Forces (PACAF), and Lt. Gen. Kevin Schneider, who will assume command as top officer at PACAF. The officers will need to “ensure the force can juggle myriad conflicts around the world without significant growth, and convince a restive Congress to fund those plans,” according to Air Force Times.

Last month, Allvin said publicly, “We face a security environment which grows more complex by the day and a pacing competitor which continues to advance at an alarming rate. We have a responsibility to lead and advance the integration of the joint force … We must now follow through.”