General Kenneth Wilsbach nominated as 24th USAF chief of staff

General Kenneth Wilsbach has been nominated as 24th chief of staff of the US Air Force (USAF) by US President Donald Trump, the USAF announced on 30 September 2025.

Gen Wilsbach recently commanded Air Combat Command and was planning to retire after nearly four decades of active-duty service, but the current USAF chief of staff, General David Allvin, unexpectedly announced in August 2025 that he would retire early. Gen Allvin was confirmed as USAF chief of staff on 2 November 2023 and sworn in on the same day, meaning that the usual four-year term for the post would have seen him serve in that capacity until 2027.

Gen Allvin indicated that he would retire in November, so, assuming Gen Wilsbach’s nomination is confirmed by the US Senate, he will be in place as the new USAF chief of staff before then.

Neither Gen Allvin nor the USAF gave any specific reason for him retiring early, but the relationship between US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and the senior US military leadership has often been fraught. For example, General C Q Brown, who was Gen Allvin’s predecessor as chief of staff and went on to become Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was fired by Hegseth, who has waged an ‘anti-woke’ campaign based on ‘warrior ethos’ in the US military, while referring to himself as the secretary of war and the US Department of Defense as the ‘Department of War’ (this is currently a secondary title and would need Congressional approval to be made permanent).

Commenting on Gen Wilsbach’s nomination, Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink stated, “I am pleased to support the nomination of General Kenneth Wilsbach to serve as the next Chief of Staff of the Air Force. He is a combat-tested aviator and has the experience of leading combat forces around the globe. I have full confidence that he will make sure Airmen embody a warrior ethos and are ready to defend our nation and maintain our dominance against all adversaries. I also believe he will be a great partner to help continue advocating for the capabilities the Air Force needs not just for today, but also in the future to make sure we remain the most lethal Air Force in the world.”

During Operations ‘Northern Watch’ and ‘Southern Watch’, maintaining no-fly zones over Iraq from January 1997 until May 2003, and ‘Enduring Freedom’, encompassing the war in Afghanistan and the wider Global War on Terrorism from 2001, Gen Wilsbach flew 71 combat missions.