President Obama has nominated Maj. Gen. Thomas Travis to receive a third star for his new assignment as the Air Force’s surgeon general, announced the Pentagon. Travis has been USAF’s deputy surgeon general since November 2010. He’ll replace Lt. Gen. Charles Green, who’s served as surgeon general since August 2009. Also in the Pentagon’s June 8 release was word that the President has nominated Maj. Gen. Darren McDew for appointment to the rank of lieutenant general for his new assignment as commander of 18th Air Force, Air Mobility Command’s sole warfighting numbered air force, at Scott AFB, Ill. McDew, Air Force District of Washington commander at JB Andrews, Md., since December 2010, would replace Lt. Gen. Mark Ramsay, who’s been 18th AF boss since September 2011. Ramsay is moving on to become the Joint Staff’s director of force structure, resources, and assessment (J-8), states the release.
Airmen and Guardians in the Active and Reserve component, as well as civilian employees, in “mission critical and high-risk populations” are now required to receive influenza vaccinations annually to “preserve force readiness,” according to a recent Department of the Air Force memo.