Retired Maj. Gen. Charles “Ron” Henderson, who has been serving as deputy assistant chief of staff for strategic deterrence and nuclear integration since 2008, died on May 3 in Clifton, Va., after a lengthy illness, announced Air Force officials. He was 64. “Ron Henderson was a tremendous leader and a great American,” said Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz. “Both in uniform and as a senior civilian, he epitomized all that is great about our Air Force. On behalf of all airmen, I extend our heartfelt condolences to Ron’s family and friends.” Henderson retired from the Air Force as a major general in 2000 after a 30-year career that included flying B-52 and B-1 bombers, commanding bomber wings, and overseeing strategic and nuclear issues on the Air Staff, Joint Staff, and at US Strategic Command. He returned to the Air Force in 2008 as a civilian. A memorial service will be held for Henderson on May 7 in Fairfax, Va.
Special-ops aviators, a physicist from the intelligence community, and an enlisted Marine with decades of deployments: U.S. Space Command’s military and civilian leaders who spoke May 7 were as likely to come from strictly space backgrounds as not. These are some of the day’s insights from inside the command, which…