Lt. Gen. Stanley Clarke, the director of the Air National Guard, will retire, according to an internal Air Force memo. Clarke has served as ANG director since March 2013. He previously served as the commander of 1st Air Force and Continental US North American Aerospace Defense Command Region at Tyndall AFB, Fla. Clarke, who was commissioned in 1981, is a command pilot with more than 4,000 hours in the A-10, F-16, C-26, and T-38. The Air Force announcement did not include the official date of retirement.
Amid NATO’s continued push to ramp up air defenses in Eastern Europe, Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall swung by seven allied countries to boost relations last week, including those on Russia’s and Ukraine’s doorstep.