<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto"><div><span></span></div><div><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div><span></span></div><div><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div>Courtesy of <i><a href="http://military.com">Military.com</a></i> at:</div><div><br></div><div><a href="http://www.military.com/daily-news/2016/03/18/air-force-lori-robinson-become-1st-female-combatant-commander.html">http://www.military.com/daily-news/2016/03/18/air-force-lori-robinson-become-1st-female-combatant-commander.html</a></div><div><br></div><div>--------------------------------</div><div><h1 style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 10px; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size: 24px; font-family: Times, serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.00784314) 0px 0px 1px !important;">DoD Taps 1st Female Combatant Commander</h1><p style="line-height: 1.5em !important; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased !important; text-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.00784314) 0px 0px 1px !important; width: 100% !important; margin: 0px 0px 10px !important; padding: 0px !important;"><font color="#000000"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><a target="_blank" href="http://www.military.com/air-force" class="ui-link" style="line-height: 1.3; text-decoration: none; position: relative; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased !important; text-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.00784314) 0px 0px 1px !important;">Air Force</a> Gen. Lori Robinson was named by Defense Secretary Ashton Carter on Friday as the nominee to head Northern Command, which would make her the first woman leader of a combatant command in the history of the U.S. military.</span></font></p><p style="line-height: 1.5em !important; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased !important; text-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.00784314) 0px 0px 1px !important; width: 100% !important; margin: 0px 0px 10px !important; padding: 0px !important;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Carter also said that <a target="_blank" href="http://www.military.com/army" class="ui-link" style="line-height: 1.3; text-decoration: none; position: relative; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased !important; text-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.00784314) 0px 0px 1px !important;">Army</a> Gen. Vincent Brooks, now head of U.S. Army Pacific (USARPAC), had been chosen to take over command of U.S. Forces Korea. He would replace Army Gen. Curtis M. "Mike" Scaparrotti, who has been <a target="_blank" href="http://www.military.com/daily-news/2016/03/11/us-general-korea-nominated-nato-supreme-commander.html" class="ui-link" style="line-height: 1.3; text-decoration: none; position: relative; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased !important; text-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.00784314) 0px 0px 1px !important;">named to become the next NATO Supreme Commander and head of European Command</a>.</span></p><p style="line-height: 1.5em !important; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased !important; text-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.00784314) 0px 0px 1px !important; width: 100% !important; margin: 0px 0px 10px !important; padding: 0px !important;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">At a breakfast session with Politico, Carter said that President Obama had signed off on approving the nominations of both Robinson and Brooks.</span></p><p style="line-height: 1.5em !important; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased !important; text-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.00784314) 0px 0px 1px !important; width: 100% !important; margin: 0px 0px 10px !important; padding: 0px !important;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">If confirmed by the Senate, Robinson, now commander of Pacific Air Forces, will replace Adm. Bill Gortney, who has headed NorthCom since December 2014. Her nomination will culminate a fast rise through the upper ranks of the military. She was named a one-star brigadier general in 2012.</span></p><p style="line-height: 1.5em !important; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased !important; text-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.00784314) 0px 0px 1px !important; width: 100% !important; margin: 0px 0px 10px !important; padding: 0px !important;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Brooks' nomination signaled the Pentagon's commitment to the rebalance of forces to the Asia-Pacific region. At USARPAC, he has been the architect of the "Pacific Pathways" initiative aimed at getting the Army more involved in the region through the rotation of troops on training exercises with allies.</span></p><p style="line-height: 1.5em !important; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased !important; text-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.00784314) 0px 0px 1px !important; width: 100% !important; margin: 0px 0px 10px !important; padding: 0px !important;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Carter called Robinson one of a number of female officers "we have coming along" who qualify for top posts. "We have an amazingly deep bench," he said. Carter cited Robinson's managerial experience and her "very deep experience running air forces in the Pacific."</span></p><p style="line-height: 1.5em !important; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased !important; text-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.00784314) 0px 0px 1px !important; width: 100% !important; margin: 0px 0px 10px !important; padding: 0px !important;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Brooks has been the commander "shepherding Pacific Pathways" and his nomination showed that the U.S. military viewed the Asia-Pacific as "the single most consequential region of the world" for U.S. security, Carter said.</span></p><p style="line-height: 1.5em !important; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased !important; text-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.00784314) 0px 0px 1px !important; width: 100% !important; margin: 0px 0px 10px !important; padding: 0px !important;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Robinson, 57, joined the Air Force in 1982 following the ROTC program at the University of New Hampshire. She flew the <a target="_blank" href="http://www.military.com/equipment/b-1b-lancer" class="ui-link" style="line-height: 1.3; text-decoration: none; position: relative; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased !important; text-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.00784314) 0px 0px 1px !important;">B-1 Lancer</a> bomber, the <a target="_blank" href="http://www.military.com/equipment/kc-135-stratotanker" class="ui-link" style="line-height: 1.3; text-decoration: none; position: relative; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased !important; text-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.00784314) 0px 0px 1px !important;">KC-135 Stratotanker</a> and the <a target="_blank" href="http://www.military.com/equipment/e-3-sentry-awacs" class="ui-link" style="line-height: 1.3; text-decoration: none; position: relative; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased !important; text-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.00784314) 0px 0px 1px !important;">E-3 Sentry</a> aircraft in Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and in Operation Iraqi Freedom.</span></p><p style="line-height: 1.5em !important; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased !important; text-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.00784314) 0px 0px 1px !important; width: 100% !important; margin: 0px 0px 10px !important; padding: 0px !important;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Earlier this month, Robinson pledged that the U.S. would <a target="_blank" href="http://www.military.com/daily-news/2016/03/08/us-general-air-force-keep-flying-south-china-sea.html" class="ui-link" style="line-height: 1.3; text-decoration: none; position: relative; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased !important; text-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.00784314) 0px 0px 1px !important;">continue to fly missions over the South China Sea</a>despite China's buildup in the region and the construction of artificial islands, and she urged China to avoid a "miscalculation."</span></p><p style="line-height: 1.5em !important; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased !important; text-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.00784314) 0px 0px 1px !important; width: 100% !important; margin: 0px 0px 10px !important; padding: 0px !important;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"We've watched the increased military capability on those islands, whether it's the fighters, whether it's the missiles or the 10,000-foot runways," Robinson told reporters in Australia. We will continue to do as we've always done, and that is fly and sail in international airspace in accordance to international rules and norms."</span></p><p style="line-height: 1.5em !important; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased !important; text-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.00784314) 0px 0px 1px !important; width: 100% !important; margin: 0px 0px 10px !important; padding: 0px !important;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">--------------------</span></p><p style="line-height: 1.5em !important; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased !important; text-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.00784314) 0px 0px 1px !important; width: 100% !important; margin: 0px 0px 10px !important; padding: 0px !important;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Air Force General Lori Robinson</span></p><p style="line-height: 1.5em !important; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased !important; text-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.00784314) 0px 0px 1px !important; width: 100% !important; margin: 0px 0px 10px !important; padding: 0px !important;"><a href="http://www.tomandrodna.com/Photos/Air_Force/AF_Gen_Lori_Robinson.jpg">http://www.TomandRodna.com/Photos/Air_Force/AF_Gen_Lori_Robinson.jpg</a></p></div><div>---------------------------------<br><br><div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)</span></div><div><a href="http://www.moscowcares.com/" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><font color="#000000">http://www.MoscowCares.com</font></a></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></div><div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Tom Hansen</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Moscow, Idaho</span></div></div><div> </div></div></div></div></div></body></html>