Brig. Gen. John Horner assumed command of the Air Force Recruiting Service from Brig. Gen. Balan Ayyar during a ceremony at JBSA-Randolph, Tex. “I’m both excited and humbled to be entrusted with command of the Air Force Recruiting Service,” said Horner during the Oct. 11 change of command, according to Randolph’s Oct. 15 release. He added, “This is a wonderful organization where leadership is absolutely dependent on teamwork and empowering our recruiters—some of the most gifted, most inspired people in America’s Air Force.” Horner comes to AFRS from the Pentagon where he served as director of ISR capabilities on the Air Staff. Ayyar, who led AFRS from September 2010, is moving on to serve as the rule-of-law deputy for US Forces-Afghanistan in Kabul. AFRS operates more than 1,200 recruiting offices. (Randolph report by TSgt. Andy Stephens) (For more on AFRS, read 21st Century Recruiting from Air Force Magazine’s June 2012 issue.)
Lloyd Austin, President-elect Joe Biden’s pick to lead the Pentagon, spent his Senate confirmation hearing on Jan. 19 pressing his civilian bona fides to lawmakers, with some pledging opposition to the waiver Austin would need to become the nation’s first Black Defense Secretary. Austin spent 40 years in the military…