Carlisle Confirmed as PACAF Commander

July 2, 2012

The Senate confirmed the nomination of Lt. Gen. Hawk Carlisle to receive a fourth star for his new assignment as commander of Pacific Air Forces. The Senate announced the confirmation on June 29. Carlisle will succeed Gen. Gary North, who has led PACAF since August 2009. North is retiring, effective Oct. 1, ending a 36-year Air Force career. Carlisle has overseen operations, plans, and requirements issues on the Air Staff since January 2011. President Obama nominated him for the promotion to command PACAF in January, but Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska) subsequently placed a hold on the nomination until last month. Begich wanted more details of the Air Force’s proposed relocation of its F-16 aggressor unit from Eielson Air Force Base to Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson.

Related Content

Air Force Projects Halted by Continuing Resolution Now Move Forward

Jan. 22, 2021
A three-month continuing resolution that ended in December inflicted less pain on the Department of the Air Force than it had expected, as procurement and construction continue in the new year. The federal government operated under a stopgap spending measure that stretched from the beginning of the fiscal year on…

Next F-35 Contracts Under Negotiation, Deal Expected by Late September

Jan. 22, 2021
Lockheed Martin and the Pentagon are negotiating the next three lots of F-35 production, expecting a contract by the end of the fiscal year, the Joint Program Office reported. The negotiating strategy calls for a “base year” contract followed by two options, likely to allow time for development to be…

New Paint Job for Air Force One Not on Biden’s To-Do List, Yet

Jan. 22, 2021
Want to know what the next Air Force One Will look like? You’ll have to wait. Deciding on the color scheme for the VC-25B, which is under development to replace the current VC-25As that serve as Air Force One, is not on the immediate to-do list for President Joe Biden.…

30 Years After Desert Storm: Jan. 23-25

Jan. 22, 2021
In commemoration of the 30th Anniversary of Operation Desert Storm, Air Force Magazine is posting daily recollections from the six-week war, which expelled Iraq from occupied Kuwait.

COVID-19 Delays Pentagon’s New Joint Warfighting Plan

Jan. 22, 2021
The coronavirus pandemic has delayed release of the Pentagon’s new joint combat guidelines until the spring, complicating efforts to put the armed forces on the same path to better communication and speed up decision-making, the military’s No. 2 officer said Jan. 22. Gen. John E. Hyten, vice chairman of the…

Austin Becomes 1st Black Defense Secretary

Jan. 22, 2021
Lloyd Austin was sworn in as Defense Secretary on Jan. 22, shortly after the Senate confirmed his nomination, becoming the first Black person to hold the position. He assumes the top Defense Department job just one day after Congress approved a waiver allowing him to lead the Pentagon five years…

DARPA Changing Directors Again in Third Recent Shuffle

Jan. 21, 2021
The Biden administration is reportedly tapping Stefanie Tompkins to run the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, spurring the third leadership change at the secretive Pentagon organization since January 2020. Defense One first reported Tompkins’s “pre-decisional” appointment to the post on Jan. 19. The White House did not respond to a…

Thousands of Guardsmen Remain in Capital Region After Inauguration

Jan. 21, 2021
The National Guard Bureau is working with states to drawdown “close to 15,000” of the nearly 26,000 troops still in the nation's capital following President Joe Biden’s Jan. 20 inauguration. Of that total, about 10,600 were still on duty as of the evening of Jan. 21, NGB wrote in a…

30 Years After Desert Storm: Jan. 22

Jan. 21, 2021
In commemoration of the 30th Anniversary of Operation Desert Storm, Air Force Magazine is posting daily recollections from the six-week war, which expelled Iraq from occupied Kuwait.