<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto"><div dir="ltr"><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div>Courtesy of <i>Stars and Stripes</i> (Army publication) at:</div><div><br></div><div><a href="https://www.stripes.com/branches/air_force/2021-10-15/air-force-general-is-second-woman-to-lead-a-top-us-command-3254289.html?utm_source=Stars+and+Stripes+Emails&utm_campaign=Daily+Headlines&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Stars+and+Stripes+Emails&utm_campaign=bf65050398-Newsletter+-+Daily+Headlines&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_0ab8697a7f-bf65050398-296485783">https://www.stripes.com/branches/air_force/2021-10-15/air-force-general-is-second-woman-to-lead-a-top-us-command-3254289.html?utm_source=Stars+and+Stripes+Emails&utm_campaign=Daily+Headlines&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Stars+and+Stripes+Emails&utm_campaign=bf65050398-Newsletter+-+Daily+Headlines&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_0ab8697a7f-bf65050398-296485783</a></div><div><br></div><div>—————————————————</div><div><h1 id="article-headline" itemprop="name" class="default-font b f3 f2-m f1-l fs-normal lh-title headline-font-color mt3 mb0" style="--tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-inset: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-color: rgba(147, 197, 253, 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; font-size: 2.25rem; margin: 1rem 0px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.25; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: ff-meta-serif-web-pro; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;">Air Force Gen. Jacqueline Van Ovost is second woman to lead a top US command</h1></div><div><p class="storyline-p" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 18pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">WASHINGTON — Air Force Gen. Jacqueline Van Ovost on Friday became only the second woman to lead one of the Pentagon's 11 so-called combatant commands, the multi-service organizations that spearhead U.S. military operations around the world.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="storyline-p" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 1.25rem; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 18pt; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-inset: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-color: rgba(147, 197, 253, 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 2rem 5rem; margin-block: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">At a change-of-command ceremony at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin applauded Van Ovost's historic rise, calling her a "legend of a leader," a pilot by training and a pivotal player in the airlift of tens of thousands of evacuees from Kabul in August. She helped orchestrate the airlift as commander of the Air Force Air Mobility Command.</span></p><p class="storyline-p" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 1.25rem; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 18pt; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-inset: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-color: rgba(147, 197, 253, 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 2rem 5rem; margin-block: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;"><span style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;">"We need every Jackie Van Ovost we can get," Austin, a retired Army general, said. "As she likes to say, 'As young women looking up, it's hard to be what you can't see.' So General Van Ovost knows the importance of breaking barriers."</span></p><p class="storyline-p" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: medium; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 18pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">Transportation Command is in charge of all aspects of global transportation for the military, including the movement of cargo and personnel by land, sea and air. Its 89th Airlift Wing at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland operates aircraft for government VIP travel, including Air Force One for the president.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="storyline-p" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 1.25rem; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 18pt; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-inset: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-color: rgba(147, 197, 253, 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 2rem 5rem; margin-block: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">Van Ovost, a 1988 graduate of the Air Force Academy and a former vice director of the Joint Staff at the Pentagon, took over Transportation Command for Army Gen. Stephen Lyons, who is retiring. The only other woman to lead a U.S. combatant command is Army Gen. Lori Robinson, now retired, who took charge of U.S. Northern Command in 2016. Army Gen. Laura Richardson is scheduled to take over U.S. Southern Command on Oct. 29, succeeding Navy Adm. Craig Faller.</span></p></div><div>——————————</div><div><br></div><div>Photo . . .</div><div><br></div><div><a href="http://www.tomandrodna.com/Photos/Stars_and_Stripes/SS_101621.jpg">http://www.tomandrodna.com/Photos/Stars_and_Stripes/SS_101621.jpg</a></div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); background-color: whitesmoke;">Air Force Gen. Jacqueline Van Ovost, back right, stands behind Vice President Kamala Harris during an event to mark International Women’s Day in the East Room of the White House in Washington. Van Ovost has became only the second woman to lead one of the Pentagon’s 11 so-called combatant commands that spearhead the military’s worldwide operations.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><br></div>—————————————————<br><br><div dir="ltr"><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><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">http://www.MoscowCares.net</span></div><div><br></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><br></div><div>“A stranger is just a friend you haven’t met.”</div><div>- Roy E. Stolworthy</div><div></div></div></div></body></html>