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A longtime fighter pilot with service in Iraq and Afghanistan has assumed command over all military forces in Alaska.
U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Kenneth Wilsbach was promoted to lieutenant general in a Tuesday morning ceremony on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, where the Alaskan Command is based, the Air Force said. He took over the command from Lt. Gen. Russell Handy, who became its head in August 2013 but is retiring from the military after 34 years of service.
According to a fact sheet posted by the Alaskan Command, military forces in Alaska include some 20,000 service members as well as 4,700 Guardsmen and reservist personnel. Primary units of the command, which was formed in 1947, include the 11th Air Force and U.S. Army Alaska, both headquartered at JBER.
Wilsbach is currently the director of operations at U.S. Central Command, which has authority over American military forces in the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia.
An Air Force biography of Wilsbach notes he is a command pilot with 3,800 hours of flight time, primarily in F-15C Eagle fighters. He flew 71 combat missions in Operation Northern Watch and Operation Southern Watch, enforcing the no-fly zones over parts of Iraq in the 1990s, as well as Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan after the 9/11 terror attacks.
Wilsbach also spent more than three years starting in September 1998 with the 19th Fighter Squadron, stationed at Elmendorf Air Force Base before it became part of JBER. After serving as the squadron's assistant operations officer and then its operations officer, he commanded the 19th from June 2000 to May 2002.
Gen. Lori Robinson, commander of the North American Aerospace Defense Command or NORAD, and Pacific Air Forces commander Gen. Terrence J. O'Shaughnessy officiated at Wilsbach's change-of-command ceremony.
Correction: An initial version of this story inaccurately reported that the Alaskan Command oversees Alaska National Guard and reservist personnel in Alaska.