AETC has new boss

Lt. Gen. Brad Webb took the reins of Air Education and Training Command from Lt. Gen. Steve Kwast during a change of command ceremony at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas, on July 26. Prior to becoming the 34th commander in AETC history, Webb - a native of Austin, Texas - spent the last two years leading Air Force Special Operations Command at Hurlburt Field, Fla., where he oversaw some 19,500 active-duty, Reserve, Air National Guard and civilian professionals that make up the Air Force component of U.S. Special Operations Command. He is a command pilot with more than 3,700 flying hours in the CV-22 Osprey, UH-1N Huey, MH-53 Pave Low, MC-130H Combat Talon II and MC-130P Combat Shadow, and including 117 combat hours in Afghanistan, Iraq and Bosnia. Among Webb’s career achievements is being named winner of the 1996 Cheney Award for most valorous flight of the year in a humanitarian effort when he was involved in the search and recovery efforts for then-Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown in Croatia in April of that year. Webb also showed leadership during "Operation Assured Response,” a non-combatant evacuation operation in which his MH-53 team helped evacuate 2,126 people from 76 countries from the fighting that was taking place in Monrovia, Liberia. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David L. Goldfein presided over the ceremony and emphasized the importance of the AETC mission, including the Pilot Training Next, force development - a campaign of learning, squadron commander school - and the overhaul of the officer and enlisted promotion systems as “future game changers for our Air Force and joint teams. “This command has fundamentally changed how we develop Airmen to deliver joint war-fighting excellence,” Goldfein said. (Source: AETC 07/26/19) AETC operates more than 1,400 trainer, fighter and mobility aircraft at 23 wings, 10 bases and five geographically separated groups. It trains more than 293,000 students per year with about 61,000 active-duty, Reserve, Guard, civilian and contractor personnel. AETC units within Gulf Coast states are Columbus and Keesler AFBs, Miss.; Eglin AFB, Fla.; and Maxwell AFB, Ala.