Lt. Gen. Robert Elder Jr., who has led 8th Air Force, headquartered at Barksdale AFB, La., since June 2006, plans to retire, effective July 1, according to his official biography. The Shreveport Times reports that Elder will leave his post on June 1. According to an April 24 Pentagon release, the Air Force already has tapped Maj. Gen. Floyd Carpenter, currently Elder’s vice commander, to take charge of the NAF. Elder, who entered the Air Force in 1976, also was instrumental in USAF efforts to establish a new cyber force as well as working to rejuvenate the service’s nuclear enterprise, a process that will include the shift of 8th Air Force from Air Combat Command to the new Air Force Global Strike Command.
Lt. Gen. Dan Caine, nominee to be chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that the Defense Department needs to upgrade its electronic warfare capability and its EW training ranges; just as his predecessor said at his own confirmation hearing.