NATO's decision-making body, the North Atlantic Council,has approved the nomination of GEN Tod D. Wolters,US Air Force, for Supreme Allied Commander Europe, the Alliance's top military post, first filled by GEN Dwight D. Eisenhower.*
Upon US Senate approval,GEN Wolters is expected to assume command at a ceremony in Spring 2019 at NATO'S military headquarters in Mons, Belgium,an Alliance press release said.He is currently Commander,US Air Forces Europe and US Air Forces Africa; Commander, Allied Air Command; and Director,Joint Air Power Competence Centre.*
GEN Wolters,a US Air Force Academy graduate, received a Master's degree in Strategic Studies from the Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.He has more than 5,000 hours of flying time in aircraft such as the F-15C and F-22.A combat veteran of Operations Desert Storm, Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom,GEN Wolters has been decorated with the Legion of Merit with two oak leaf clusters and the Bronze Star Medal with oak leaf cluster,as well as the Air Force Combat Action Medal.
Showing posts with label Operation Desert Storm. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Operation Desert Storm. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 26, 2019
Tuesday, October 18, 2016
US Army Astronaut Kimbrough to Assume ISS Command - how he got where he is today
West Point graduate,Gulf War veteran and retired US Army Colonel Robert Shane Kimbrough,49,is set to launch to the International Space Station on 19 October 2016 at 4:05 a.m. EDT from Baikonur Cosmodrome,Kazakhstan.He will be on the 50th expedition of the ISS with Russian Cosmonauts Sergei Ryzhikov and Andrei Borisenko.When the Expedition 49 crew currently running the ISS returns to Earth in just over a week's time,COL Kimbrough will assume command.*
COL Kimbrough was selected for the astronaut corps in 2004 in the first class following the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster,having served as an attack helicopter platoon leader;aviation liaison officer;and helicopter battalion operations officer in the first Gulf War,Operation Desert Storm in 1991.In 1994,he commanded an Apache helicopter company at Fort Bragg,North Carolina,earning a master's degree in Operations Research at Georgia Tech in 1998.
In 2004,the Army assigned him as a flight simulation engineer on the Shuttle Training Aircraft.He got his first flight assignment in 2008 to STS-126.Launched on shuttle Endeavour in 11-08 for a 16-day mission,he performed two EVAs for a total of about 13 hours to maintain and upgrade the ISS.His crew also expanded the living quarters to accommodate six crew members as of May 2009.COL Kimbrough then worked in the Robotics Branch of the Astronaut Office and as chief of the Vehicle Integration Office until selected for Expedition 49-50 in February 2015 on Soyuz MS-02.
The new Soyuz-MS has higher efficiency solar arrays;better propulsion system redundancy;new rendezvous hardware,control and autonomous navigation capabilities.It is planned that COL Kimbrough will perform two EVAs to install six Lithium-Ion batteries on the ISS that will replace 12 nickel-hydrogen ones in January 2017.
COL Kimbrough was selected for the astronaut corps in 2004 in the first class following the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster,having served as an attack helicopter platoon leader;aviation liaison officer;and helicopter battalion operations officer in the first Gulf War,Operation Desert Storm in 1991.In 1994,he commanded an Apache helicopter company at Fort Bragg,North Carolina,earning a master's degree in Operations Research at Georgia Tech in 1998.
In 2004,the Army assigned him as a flight simulation engineer on the Shuttle Training Aircraft.He got his first flight assignment in 2008 to STS-126.Launched on shuttle Endeavour in 11-08 for a 16-day mission,he performed two EVAs for a total of about 13 hours to maintain and upgrade the ISS.His crew also expanded the living quarters to accommodate six crew members as of May 2009.COL Kimbrough then worked in the Robotics Branch of the Astronaut Office and as chief of the Vehicle Integration Office until selected for Expedition 49-50 in February 2015 on Soyuz MS-02.
The new Soyuz-MS has higher efficiency solar arrays;better propulsion system redundancy;new rendezvous hardware,control and autonomous navigation capabilities.It is planned that COL Kimbrough will perform two EVAs to install six Lithium-Ion batteries on the ISS that will replace 12 nickel-hydrogen ones in January 2017.
Tuesday, April 12, 2016
B-52 Stratofortress Takes On Its Next Combat Role for US CENTCOM
On 9 April,at least 2 US Air Force B-52H Stratofortress bombers landed at Al Udeid Air Base,Qatar after a long haul flight from Barksdale Air Force Base,Louisiana.According to Air Force Central Command,they were deployed in support of theatre requirements and the anti-ISIL Operation Inherent Resolve.The B-52 will provide the coalition continued precision and deliver desired airpower effects,said Lieutenant General Charles Q. Brown,Commander,US Air Forces CENTCOM and Combined Forces Air Component.As a multi-role platform,the B-52 offers diverse capabilities including delivery of the precision weapons and the flexibility and endurance needed to support the combatant commanders' priorities and strengthen the coalition team.*
The long-range B-52 can perform a variety of missions including strategic attack;close air support;air interdiction;and maritime operations.Crews will be available for missions to both Iraq and Syria.The B-52 demonstrates our continued resolve to apply persistent pressure on ISIL and defend the region in any future contingency,LTGEN Brown added.*
The deployment is the first time the B-52s have been based in the CENTCOM Area of Responsibility since being based in Saudi Arabia 26 years ago during Operation Desert Storm.B-52s were last deployed in a combat role during Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan in May 2006.*
At a 7 March State of the Air Force briefing,Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James disclosed that the B-1B Lancer bombers had returned from their OIR mission in January.While they will be receiving much needed modernisation and maintenance,the venerable B-52 with its similar capacity and accuracy and endurance remains ready and able to meet combatant commanders' requirements.There have been recent infrastructure improvements that now allow the necessary support to deploy the B-52 in theatre,Ms.James noted.*
Indeed,the Air Force intends to keep the Boeing B-52s flying as far out as 2040,since they are seen as providing certain missions that are hard to replicate by other aircraft,primarily with regard to the range and payload aspects.The bomber's payload can include cruise missiles with both nuclear and conventional warheads,as well as Joint Direct Attack Munitions,cluster and gravity bombs.*
Boeing (BA)
The long-range B-52 can perform a variety of missions including strategic attack;close air support;air interdiction;and maritime operations.Crews will be available for missions to both Iraq and Syria.The B-52 demonstrates our continued resolve to apply persistent pressure on ISIL and defend the region in any future contingency,LTGEN Brown added.*
The deployment is the first time the B-52s have been based in the CENTCOM Area of Responsibility since being based in Saudi Arabia 26 years ago during Operation Desert Storm.B-52s were last deployed in a combat role during Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan in May 2006.*
At a 7 March State of the Air Force briefing,Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James disclosed that the B-1B Lancer bombers had returned from their OIR mission in January.While they will be receiving much needed modernisation and maintenance,the venerable B-52 with its similar capacity and accuracy and endurance remains ready and able to meet combatant commanders' requirements.There have been recent infrastructure improvements that now allow the necessary support to deploy the B-52 in theatre,Ms.James noted.*
Indeed,the Air Force intends to keep the Boeing B-52s flying as far out as 2040,since they are seen as providing certain missions that are hard to replicate by other aircraft,primarily with regard to the range and payload aspects.The bomber's payload can include cruise missiles with both nuclear and conventional warheads,as well as Joint Direct Attack Munitions,cluster and gravity bombs.*
Boeing (BA)
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