President Obama has tapped Gen. William Fraser, Air Combat Command boss since September 2009, to be the next commander of US Transportation Command at Scott AFB, Ill. Fraser would replace Gen. Duncan McNabb, who is retiring after leading TRANSCOM since September 2008 and after having served more than 37 years in uniform. Fraser is a command pilot with more than 4,200 flight hours in bombers, tankers, trainers, and the C-21 Lear jet. The Air Force has not announced McNabb’s retirement date yet.
Fixing the Air Force’s chronic combat pilot shortage will require more aircraft in the fleet, more flying hours to squadron operations, and retaining more pilots within Reserve components, according to a new paper from AFA’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies.