Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh has tapped Maj. Gen. Kurt Neubauer to serve as the Air Force chief of safety and commander of the Air Force Safety Center at Kirtland AFB, N.M. Neubauer currently serves as the vice commander of 7th Air Force, Pacific Air Forces and chief of staff of the Air Component Command at Osan AB, South Korea. He will replace Maj. Gen. Margaret Woodward who has held the post since September 2012. Woodward will become the new head of the Air Force’s Sexual Assault and Prevention office.
The withdrawal of about 700 U.S. forces from Somalia required a massive nocturnal airlift, movement of fighters and tankers from the Middle East, and other overwatch from drones and other special operations aircraft, all planned and executed within weeks. The mission, called Operation Octave Quartz, came after former President Donald…