First Commander of NATO Ukraine Command Centre Germany Appointed

According to the NATO 75th Anniversary Summit in Washington DC Communique (July 2024),NATO decided to establish the NATO Security and Assistance Training for Ukraine (NSATU) to coordinate its provision of military equipment and training for Ukraine by Allies and Partners.Its aim is to place security assistance to Ukraine on an enduring footing,ensuring enhanced,predictable and enduring support.NSATU,which will operate in Allied states,will support Ukraine's self-defence in line with the UN Charter (international law).NSATU will not,under international law,make NATO a party to the conflict.It will support the transformation of Ukraine's defence and security forces,enabling its further integration into NATO.*The NATO Ukraine Command Centre Germany in Wiesbaden is located within the headquarters of U.S. Army Europe and Africa (USAEURAF) and reports directly to the Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR),currently GEN Christopher Cavoli,U.S. Army.*The new NATO Ukraine Command Centre Germany's first commander is LTGEN Curtis Buzzard,U.S. Army.The Centre is devoted to providing Ukraine the military equipment and training for the Ukrainian Armed Forces it needs to prevail against Russian aggression.Having recieved U.S. Senate approval,LTGEN Buzzard leads about 700 personnel at the Centre.According to NATO:By using military structures,our support will be on firmer footing;will provide more predictability for Kyiv;and will address both immediate and longer-term needs.*LTGEN Buzzard,a man with a broad smile,is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy (West Point,New York).He most recently served as commander,Army Maneuver Center of Excellence and Fort Moore,Georgia,from July 2022-July 2024.Prior to that,he served as Deputy Chief Of Staff for Operations,Plans and Training of the United States Army Forces Command from January to June 2022,and as the 78th Commandant of Cadets at the U.S. Military Academy (West Point,New York) from June 2019 to May 2021.Buzzard received a B.S. in Economics from West Point.He later received a Master of Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School and a Master of Military Science from the Marine Corps University.He then served as the U.S. Army Fellow at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington,DC.LTGEN Buzzard served as the 82d Airborne Division G3 and commanded its 3rd Brigade Combat Team.LTGEN Buzzard also served as the Army military aide to Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama.LTGEN Buzzard served tours in both the Iraq and Afghan Wars.In March 2021,LTGEN Buzzard became Deputy Chief of Operations in NATO's Operation Resolute Support,which trained and assisted Afghan Security Forces;Deputy Commanding General for Operations for U.S. Forces Afghanistan (USFOR-A);and Commander U.S. National Support Element Command for Operation Freedom's Sentinel.LTGEN Buzzard is married and the father of three daughters.*LTGEN Buzzard's Awards and Decorations include Defense Superior Service Medal;Legion of Merit (3);Bronze Star Medal (3);Meritorious Service Medal (6);Army Commendation Medal (3);Air Assualt Badge;Army Staff Badge;Combat Infantryman's Badge;Expert Infantryman's Badge;Master Parachutist's Badge;Presidential Service Badge;Ranger Tab;and numerous foreign jump wings.

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.