Gen. James Holmes took leadership of Air Combat Command Friday at a ceremony at JB Langley-Eustis, Va. Holmes was most recently deputy chief of staff for strategic plans and requirements at the Pentagon, and he takes command from Gen. Hawk Carlisle, who was chief at ACC since 2014. Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein presided over the ceremony, and he told the audience of ACC airmen, “There has never been a more important time to serve in uniform, and you truly represent the greatest treasure in our nation’s arsenal.” Carlisle, who also retired from the Air Force on Friday after 39 years of service, said, “I have absolute, complete confidence in Mike Holmes and Sarah, that they are the right team to lead this command in the future and to greater heights.” After assuming command, Holmes told the ACC airmen, “You now face new and revised challenges from both great and regional powers who threaten the survival of our American experiment.” He went on to say the ability of the nation to fend off these threats “certainly depends on the capabilities you bring as part of a joint team.”
The White House announced its United States Space Priorities Framework in a document released concurrently with Vice President Kamala Harris' first National Space Council meeting. Listed among five U.S. priorities is to “defend its national security interests from the growing scope and scale of space and counterspace threats.”