The Senate on June 23 confirmed Lt. Gen. John Hesterman to be assistant vice chief of staff and director of the Air Staff. Hesterman has served as Air Forces Central Command boss since July 2013. A 1983 Air Force Academy graduate, Hesterman has served as an instructor pilot in the F-16C, F-117A, F-15A, and the T-38C. (For more coverage of Hesterman, see US Official: Air Strikes in Iraq, Syria are Effective, and No Micromanagement of Iraq Campaign, Air Boss Says.)
The Pentagon’s new counter-drone task force will play a direct role in arming Airmen with new weapons to defend Air Force agile combat employment, or ACE, air bases in austere locations against enemy drone attacks, the director of Joint Interagency Task Force 401 said Oct. 14.
