U.S. Air Force Gen. Thomas Bussiere, the seventh head of Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC) since its founding in 2009, would become the second AFGSC commander to ascend to Air Force Vice Chief of Staff if approved by the Senate.
President Donald Trump nominated Bussiere on July 15, according to a Congressional notice.
Founded to improve nuclear weapons handling after incidents in 2007 and 2008, AFGSC, based at Barksdale Air Force Base (AFB), La., is the service component of the U.S. Strategic Command and helps shepherd a number of top tier Air Force programs, including the Northrop Grumman LGM-35A Sentinel future intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), the B-21 Raider stealth bomber, the RTX AGM-181 Long Range Standoff (LRSO) nuclear cruise missile to fly aboard the B-21, and modernization of the U.S.’ 74 Boeing B-52H bombers.
Retired Air Force Gen. Stephen Wilson was the third AFGSC head as a three-star between October 2013 and July 2015. Wilson got his fourth star in July 2016 and served as Air Force Vice Chief of Staff from then until November 2020.
The lead wing for the LRSO is to be Barksdale’s 2nd Bomb Wing.
This article was originally published in Exchange Monitor affiliate Defense Daily.
