- Source: List of United States Air Force lieutenant generals from 2010 to 2019
The rank of lieutenant general (or three-star general) is the second-highest rank normally achievable in the United States Air Force, and the first to have a specified number of appointments set by statute. It ranks above major general (two-star general) and below general (four-star general).
There have been 131 lieutenant generals in the U.S. Air Force from 2010 to 2019, 33 of whom were elevated to four-star general. All 131 achieved that rank while on active duty in the U.S. Air Force. Lieutenant generals entered the Air Force via several paths: 61 were commissioned via the U.S. Air Force Academy (USAFA), 44 via Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps (AFROTC) at a civilian university, 13 via Air Force Officer Training School (OTS), seven via AFROTC at a senior military college, five via direct commission (direct), and one via direct commission inter-service transfer from the Army National Guard (ARNG).
List of generals
Entries in the following list of lieutenant generals are indexed by the numerical order in which each officer was promoted to that rank while on active duty, or by an asterisk (*) if the officer did not serve in that rank while on active duty in the U.S. Air Force or was promoted to four-star rank while on active duty in the U.S. Air Force. Each entry lists the general's name, date of rank, active-duty positions held while serving at three-star rank, number of years of active-duty service at three-star rank (Yrs), year commissioned and source of commission, number of years in commission when promoted to three-star rank (YC), and other biographical notes (years of birth and death are shown in parentheses in the Notes column). Officers transferred to the U.S. Space Force in the grade of lieutenant general are included while having previously held that rank in the Air Force previously are included, while Air Force officers first promoted to lieutenant general in the U.S. Space Force are excluded.
Timeline
= 2010–2019
=For lieutenant generals who are dual-hatted as both numbered air force (NAF) commanders and commander or deputy commander of a joint force, the service-specific command is to be prioritized.
Background
= Three-star positions, elevations and reductions
=Several three-star positions were created, consolidated, or even eliminated entirely between 2010 and 2019.
The rank of the vice chief of the National Guard Bureau was raised to lieutenant general in 2012 with the passage of the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act, achieving parity with the directors of the Army National Guard and Air National Guard. Major General Joseph L. Lengyel was subsequently promoted and assumed the role of vice chief on 18 August 2012. This was the fourth three-star billet allocated to the National Guard, the others being the aforementioned ARNG/ANG directors and the deputy commander of U.S. Northern Command.
The Air Force chief information officer became a civilian office in 2018, following similar restructuring by the Navy. Lieutenant General Bradford J. Shwedo was the last commissioned officer to hold the CIO position, ceding control to his deputy, William E. Marion II until his successor, under secretary of the Air Force Matthew P. Donovan assumed office. Shwedo's military responsibilities were transferred to the then-DCS A2, Lieutenant General VeraLinn Jamieson as the new DCS A2/6 in 2019.
Air Education and Training Command (AETC), which had been a four-star major command since 1975 was downgraded to three-star level to compensate for the elevation of the Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC) to a four-star command. Accordingly, the office of the assistant chief of staff for strategic deterrence and nuclear integration was raised to deputy chief of staff level with the rank of lieutenant general. Lieutenant General Robin Rand was promoted to full general to assume command of AFGSC, with Third Air Force commander, Lieutenant General Darryl Roberson relieving Rand at AETC and Major General Jack Weinstein being promoted to lieutenant general as the first DCS A10.
Air Force Life Cycle Management Center (AFLCMC), which was activated on 9 July 2012, absorbed the Aeronautical Systems Center and Electronic Systems Center; both were fully dissolved once AFLCMC achieved initial operational capability on 1 October 2012. Lieutenant General C. D. Moore II became the first commander of AFLCMC upon activation.
Five numbered air forces faced rank transitions between 2010 and 2019:
First Air Force (Air Forces Northern) became a three-star command in August 2011, with Lieutenant General Stanley E. Clarke III assuming command from Major General Garry C. Dean on 31 August 2011.
Twelfth Air Force (Air Forces Southern) became a two-star command in August 2018, with Major General Andrew A. Croft assuming command from Lieutenant General Mark D. Kelly on 3 August 2018.
Fourteenth Air Force, the NAF attached to the Air Force Space Command was redesignated as Space Operations Command from December 2019 to October 2020 with the establishment of the U.S. Space Force. When SpOC was made into a separate field command, the former was redesignated back to Fourteenth Air Force and deactivated. The NAF's last two commanders, Major Generals Stephen N. Whiting and John E. Shaw became lieutenant generals in the Space Force.
Sixteenth Air Force (Air Forces Cyber) in 2019 was reactivated as a three-star command from the merger of the Twenty-Fourth and Twenty-Fifth Air Forces, with Lieutenant General Timothy D. Haugh as its inaugural commander effective 11 October 2019.
Eighteenth Air Force (Air Forces Transportation) was reduced to a two-star command in July 2018, with Major General Sam C. Barrett assuming command from Lieutenant General Giovanni K. Tuck on 31 July 2018.
= Senate confirmations
=Military nominations are considered by the Senate Armed Services Committee. While it is rare for three-star or four-star nominations to face even token opposition in the Senate, nominations that do face opposition due to controversy surrounding the nominee in question are typically withdrawn. Nominations that are not withdrawn are allowed to expire without action at the end of the legislative session.
For example, the nomination of Lieutenant General Susan J. Helms for reappointment to rank to become vice commander of Air Force Space Command was withdrawn in November 2013, after an eight-month-long hold by Senator Claire McCaskill due to concerns about her overturning the ruling in a sexual assault case under her command. Helms subsequently submitted a request for retirement, effective 1 April 2014.
The nomination of Major General Ryan F. Gonsalves for promotion to lieutenant general and assignment as commanding general of U.S. Army Europe was withdrawn in November 2017 after an investigation was launched into the general's inappropriate comment to a female Congressional staffer. As a result, Gonsalves was administratively reprimanded and retired in May 2018.
Additionally, events that take place after Senate confirmation may still delay or even prevent the nominee from assuming office.
For example, Major General John G. Rossi, who had been confirmed for promotion to lieutenant general and assignment as the commanding general of the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command in April 2016 died by suicide two days before his scheduled promotion and assumption of command. As a result, the then incumbent commander of USASMDC, Lieutenant General David L. Mann, remained in command beyond customary term limits until another nominee, Major General James H. Dickinson was confirmed by the Senate.
The 2020 National Defense Authorization Act explicitly prohibits adding new general officer billets to the Space Force beyond the sole four-star billet of the chief of space operations. This necessitated that five Air Force three-star appointments be transferred to the Space Force, leaving them with 30 as opposed to 35 available three-star positions.
For example, the position of commander of the Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) was transferred to the Space Force as the center transitioned into the Space Systems Command (SSC), the second Space Force field command to be established. The last Air Force general to command SMC, Lieutenant General John F. Thompson retired in August 2021 to make way for Lieutenant General Michael A. Guetlein, who assumed command of Space Systems Command on 13 August 2021.
Legislative history
The following list of Congressional legislation includes all acts of Congress pertaining to appointments to the grade of lieutenant general in the United States Air Force from 2010 to 2019.
Each entry lists an act of Congress, its citation in the United States Statutes at Large or Public Law number, and a summary of the act's relevance, with officers affected by the act bracketed where applicable. Positions listed without reference to rank are assumed to be eligible for officers of three-star grade or higher.
See also
Lieutenant general (United States)
General officers in the United States
List of active duty United States four-star officers
List of active duty United States three-star officers
List of United States Air Force four-star generals
List of lieutenant generals in the United States Air Force before 1960
List of United States Air Force lieutenant generals from 2000 to 2009
List of United States Air Force lieutenant generals since 2020
List of United States Space Force lieutenant generals
List of United States military leaders by rank
References
= Notes
=External links
"Senior Leader Announcements - United States Air Force". U.S. Air Force.
"Senior Leader Announcements - National Guard Bureau". National Guard Bureau.
"Releases - United States Department of Defense". U.S. Department of Defense.
Kata Kunci Pencarian:
- List of United States Air Force lieutenant generals from 2010 to 2019
- List of United States Air Force four-star generals
- List of United States Air Force lieutenant generals since 2020
- List of United States Army lieutenant generals from 2010 to 2019
- List of United States Air Force lieutenant generals from 2000 to 2009
- List of lieutenant generals in the United States Air Force before 1960
- United States Air Force Pararescue
- List of active duty United States four-star officers
- United States Air Force
- List of United States Army four-star generals
