Air Force Lt. Gen. Victor Renuart believes that “the best qualified officers” should “compete” for the top two leadership positions at US Northern Command rather than having Congress legislate that one or the other go to a National Guard officer, as has been put forth in recent Guard empowerment legislation. In answers to advance questions for his March 8 confirmation hearing to become commander of NORTHCOM and NORAD, Renuart noted that there already is one mandated Reserve Component slot, that of NORTHCOM Chief of Staff, while two other “open” positions—the commanders of Air Force North and Army North—currently filled by Guard officers. However, he does believe there is room for improvement in the reserve officer development process to ensure they “receive appropriate joint and operational exposure earlier in their career” so they will be better able to compete for senior command positions.
The stand-up of the Space Force, and now its early overhaul and the creation of a new Space Systems Command, are all about resilience: Ensuring that space capabilities, which the whole country relies on, could survive a concerted attack by a near-peer adversary. As part of that drive, a new…