According to Air Force Gen. Norton Schwartz, head of US Transportation Command, the way to measure a military member is “whether people will follow.” Schwartz indicated that Air Force Reserve Command Brig. Gen. Harold Mitchell is such a leader as he pinned on Mitchell’s second star during a ceremony at Scott AFB, Ill. Mitchell, who started his military career as a Marine Corps aviator, now serves as TRANSCOM’s reserve component director when he is not flying for Alaskan Airlines. He left the service to become an airline pilot and, in 1983, joined the Air Force Reserve.
The U.S. supports “a stronger and more capable” European defense, Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III said during an Oct. 22 press conference in Brussels—but that defense should not duplicate the functions and capabilities of the NATO alliance.