The Air Force has put Lt. Col. Deanna Violette in command of the 13th Air Support Operations Squadron at Ft. Carson, Colo., making her the first to lead such a stateside unit. At the June 18 change of command ceremony, Brig. Gen. Michael Longoria, commander of the squadron’s parent 93rd Air-Ground Operations Wing at Moody AFB, Ga., said Violette “is a combat experienced aviator who has flown in support of our soldiers on the ground; she has also been on the ground in combat with the 10th Mountain Division as a prior air liaison officer.” Violette, who is an F-15E pilot, flew combat missions during Operation Northern Watch over Iraq and Operation Allied Force over Kosovo, and then transitioned to the ground support field. She served with the 20th ASOS, assigned to Ft. Drum, N.Y., and led an expeditionary air support operations unit in Afghanistan in 2003. (Ft. Carson report by Rick Emert)
As it develops new weapons to attack satellites, the U.S. Space Force is focused more on ground-based efforts where the technology is more mature, the service’s top general said April 3.