President Obama nominated Maj. Gen. James Jackson for a third star for his new assignment as Air Force Reserve chief and Air Force Reserve Command commander, announced Pentagon officials on Tuesday. Jackson will replace Lt. Gen. Charles Stenner, who has led Air Force Reservists since June 2008. Jackson has been serving since May 2010 as deputy to the AFR chief. (See also AFRC release.)
The Pentagon is significantly bolstering airpower near Venezuela, dispatching the USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group to Latin America, it said in an Oct. 24 statement. The announcement came just hours after U.S. Air Force B-1 bombers and other U.S. assets flew near the Venezuelan coast on Oct. 23.

