USAF Lt. Gen. Daniel Leaf has become the deputy commander of US Pacific Command, with headquarters at Camp Smith, Hawaii. A veteran pilot, Leaf was vice commander of Air Force Space Command, headquartered at Peterson AFB, Colo.
U.S. Air Force F-35s and F-22s regularly deploy deep into the Pacific region from Alaska, Utah, and Hawaii. In the future, though, the head of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command would like to see the Air Force permanently station fifth-generation aircraft west of the international date line—closer to China.