Lt. Gen. David Fadok became the first president and the 29th commander of Air University at Maxwell AFB, Ala., during a recent ceremony. Fadok assumed command Aug. 12 from Lt. Gen. Allen Peck, who had commanded AU since 2008. Peck will officially retire Oct. 1. The Air University Board of Visitors recommended in 2009 that the title of the organization’s leader change to “commander and president” due to the successful growth of the university, including its relatively new authority to grant doctorate degrees in military strategy and the online master’s degree program through the Air Command and Staff College. Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz “directed that the change become effective with the next change of command,” said Bruce Murphy, AU’s chief academic officer, in a release. (Maxwell release by Kelly Deichert)
While U.S. defense officials have spent much of the past decade warning that China is the nation’s pacing threat and its People’s Liberation Army represents an urgent threat in the Indo-Pacific, several defense researchers are skeptical that the PLA has the human capital, the structural ability, or the political appetite…