President Bush has nominated Air Force Maj. Gen. Robert J. Elder Jr. for promotion to lieutenant general and to command 8th Air Force at Barksdale AFB, La. Elder, who currently is commandant of the Air War College and vice commander of Air University, also would serve as the joint functional component commander for Space and Global Strike at US Strategic Command, headquartered at Offutt AFB, Neb. If confirmed, Elder would take over from Lt. Gen. Kevin P. Chilton, who recently was nominated to take become commander of Air Force Space Command.
The Air Force is moving away from weapons meant to strike specific types of targets and instead toward generic munitions with "swappable" payloads that can be used in a variety of ways, said Air Force Global Strike Command planner Maj. Gen. Jason R. Armogost. Other goals are to increase production…