The Air Force activates Air Force Global Strike Command, a new nuclear-centric major command, at Barksdale AFB, La. The new command, headed by a three-star general, will take responsibility for USAF’s nuclear-capable bombers and ICBM force. It also will inherit the lineage for Strategic Air Command, inactivated in June 1992. The first commander of AFGSC is Lt. Gen. Frank G. Klotz.
U.S. Air Force F-35s and F-22s regularly deploy deep into the Pacific region from Alaska, Utah, and Hawaii. In the future, though, the head of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command would like to see the Air Force permanently station fifth-generation aircraft west of the international date line—closer to China.