New Air Force chief of staff announced; new CIO, too
The service has some big personnel moves going on, including Gen. Norton Schwartz passing the baton as the Air Force chief of staff.
After four years as Air Force chief of staff, Gen. Norton Schwartz is turning the stick over to Gen. Mark Welsh III, who was nominated for the position by the president.
Welsh is a command pilot with 3,400 flight hours and is commander of U.S. Air Forces in Europe, as well as commander of the NATO Allied Air Component Command in Ramstein, Germany. He is scheduled to land at the Pentagon this summer, according to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, who made the announcement May 10.
In other news, the new Air Force chief information officer is going to be Lt. Gen. Michael Basla, who is presently vice commander of Air Force Space Command. He transitions to the Office of the Secretary of the Air Force at the Pentagon June 6. Basla participated in his first meeting of the 6’s (CIOs) the week of May 7 at the DISA conference in Tampa during a session moderated by Defense Department CIO Teri Takai.