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What do general assignment reporters do.

Wondering what the job is really like for general assignment reporters?

You've come to the right place.

Keep reading to find detailed information about what general assignment reporters do, including the type of work they are tasked with on a daily basis, industries in which they work, and the specific skills needed for a successful career.

General Assignment Reporters Overview & Description

Let's get started with the basics about general assignment reporters by taking a look at a simple description and popular job titles.

General Assignment Reporters narrate or write news stories, reviews, or commentary for print, broadcast, or other communications media such as newspapers, magazines, radio, or television. May collect and analyze information through interview, investigation, or observation.

Popular Job Titles For General Assignment Reporters

Sample of reported job titles.

• Multimedia Journalists
• News Reporters
• Staff Writers
• News Anchors
• Anchors/Reporters
• General Assignment Reporters
• Sports Reporters
• News Anchors/Reporters
• Investigative Reporters
• News Writers

Read on for insight into the industries where the highest concentration of jobs for general assignment reporters can be found.

Best Industries for General Assignment Reporters

General assignment reporters jobs by industry.

• Newspaper, Periodical, Book, and Directory Publishers: 40.4%
• Media Streaming Distribution Services, Social Networks, and Other Media Networks and Content Providers: 29.2%
• Radio and Television Broadcasting Stations: 23%
• Motion Picture and Video Industries: 1.6%
• Education and Hospitals (State Government): 1%
• Advertising, Public Relations, and Related Services: 0.8%

When it comes to jobs in the United States, the largest single category of general assignment reporters can be found working in the Newspaper, Periodical, Book, and Directory Publishers sector. In 2022, about 40.4% of all jobs for general assignment reporters were found there.

Other top industries by percentage include Media Streaming Distribution Services, Social Networks, and Other Media Networks and Content Providers (29.2%), Radio and Television Broadcasting Stations (23%), Motion Picture and Video Industries (1.6%), Education and Hospitals (State Government) (1%) and Advertising, Public Relations, and Related Services (0.8%).

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What Do General Assignment Reporters Do on a Daily Basis?

So you have a high-level understanding of what general assignment reporters do and the types of industries in which they work - but what do they really do each day?

A great way to understand the type of work general assignment reporters do is to examine actual job postings and focus on the specific skills that employers are seeking. That will help paint a clearer picture of the tasks that general assignment reporters tackle each day.

Continue reading for a breakdown of specialized skills found in job postings for general assignment reporters, as well as common skills - interpersonal qualities and attributes - that can help you thrive in the workplace.

In-Demand Skills for Today's General Assignment Reporters Based on 25,610 job postings

Top 5 specialized skills for general assignment reporters, top 5 common skills for general assignment reporters.

Based on 25,610 job postings related to general assignment reporters, journalism was the top specialized skill sought by employers, with 53% of all postings looking for that skillset. Skills for news stories, social media, storytelling, content creation and news anchoring were also highly sought.

As for common skills, writing was the most desired skill found in job postings for general assignment reporters, followed by communications, editing, research, ability to meet deadlines and english language.

Most In-Demand Jobs for General Assignment Reporters

Top 5 posted job titles.

Expand the section below to see unique job postings for all occupations related to general assignment reporters.

Ready to dig deeper into career information for general assignment reporters? Visit our other pages focused on salary and education for general assignment reporters.

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About This Data

The Best Adult Colleges & Careers Guide is sponsored by Franklin University, a nonprofit, accredited institution. The guide uses 2022 information from Lightcast™ to provide data on dozens of in-demand jobs.

Job titles used in government data may differ slightly from the job title on this page, so the closest matching government job classification may be used as a proxy to present data here.

On this page, data corresponds to the following occupational classification: News Analysts, Reporters, and Journalists.

Copyright 2024 Franklin University

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Emily Hofstaedter

Emily is a general assignment news reporter for WYPR.

Emily began her journalism radio career nestled out on the tundra and on the shores of the sea ice in Nome, Alaska. Out there she covered everything from dog sled racing (mushing), climate change and Indigenous sovereignty. The work she did with her news team covering mishandled sexual assaults has won awards from the Alaska Press Club and led to an update in the Alaska consent statute.

In Alaska she met her now husband, and the two of them ended up in America’s Greatest City! She then spent a year working as a Ben Bagdikian Fellow for Mother Jones  magazine doing research and fact-checking while she reported on issues ranging from labor politics, environmental justice and religion.

Emily originally hails from just up the Susquehanna River in Lancaster, PA and so the Chesapeake watershed has always been her home. When she isn’t reporting you might catch her performing with a local theatre troupe, writing poetry or hiking Maryland’s glorious range of trails.

Send her news tips at [email protected] or on Twitter @ehofstaedter !

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• World Politics
• Russia-Ukraine war

Russia’s mobilization won’t fix its military problems

What Putin’s troop surge can — and can’t — do in Ukraine.

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Share All sharing options for: Russia’s mobilization won’t fix its military problems

Russian President Vladimir Putin this week announced that 300,000 more men would need to fight in his increasingly difficult and costly war in Ukraine. But amid Ukrainian victories, major strategic and personnel problems in the Russian armed forces, and domestic frustrations over the mobilization announcement, whether Putin can accomplish his goals in Ukraine — and the nature of those goals at this stage — isn’t clear.

“In the face of a threat to the territorial integrity of our country, to protect Russia and our people, we will certainly use all the means at our disposal,” Putin told Russians in a rancorous speech on Wednesday, referencing Russia’s arsenal of nuclear weapons and casting its invasion of Ukraine as a defensive war.

Putin also blamed the West and NATO for encroaching on Russian territory — including in the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions of Ukraine, which Russia is attempting to annex by holding referenda . Those referenda — in which votes are reportedly being cast at gunpoint or otherwise coerced — could complicate the future of the conflict if Russia considers those areas its sovereign territory.

Putin’s mobilization has already begun, as have widespread anti-mobilization protests and efforts by potential draftees to avoid the fighting. According to the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, the Russian military has already started issuing orders in Crimea among the Tatar population, a Turkic ethnic group indigenous to Crimea which has historically been oppressed by Russian and Soviet governments . Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged Ukrainians living in Russian-occupied territory and subject to Russia’s mobilization efforts to “do the most important thing — save your own lives, and help us weaken and destroy the occupiers” in a national address Friday. “Hide from the Russian mobilization by any means,” he said. “Avoid conscription letters. Try to get to the free territory of Ukraine.”

The mobilization orders are supposed to apply only to reservists with combat experience, but there have been reports of indiscriminate conscription . Some Russian men, even those who technically aren’t eligible for mobilization, are fleeing the country , and after Putin announced the order, according to Reuters , direct flights from Moscow to Istanbul and Yerevan, Armenia, both of which Russians can enter without a visa, quickly sold out.

While it’s not clear how many people have yet been called into service during this partial mobilization, the effort itself has been swift; independent Russian outlet Meduza reported that in Buryatia , a region in Siberia on Mongolia’s northern border, orders for the draft-eligible came down the day of Putin’s announcement.

Russian popular opinion supports the war — but not mobilization

Putin’s partial mobilization is an acknowledgement that the war is going badly for Russia after its rout in Ukraine’s Kharkiv oblast earlier in September, and represents an escalation of the conflict .

“[The] Kharkiv counteroffensive was an embarrassing defeat for Putin and the announcement of partial mobilization and renewed threats to deploy nuclear weapons indicates that Putin is under a lot of pressure to respond to it,” according to Natia Seskuria, an associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute who specializes in Russian foreign and domestic policy.

Though Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has said that the mobilization will be limited and gradual, “already there appears to be a disconnect between how it was described by Putin and Shoigu in their announcements of the policy and how it is being carried out,” Bryn Rosenfeld, a professor of government at Cornell University, told Vox via email.

According to Rosenfeld, “the details of how the mobilization order will be interpreted will either reassure lots of Russian men that they’re not really at risk — that mobilization is happening somewhere else, that it doesn’t really affect them or people like them, or they could become convinced that mobilization could actually pull in people like themselves.”

As of Sunday, it appears as though the latter is coming to pass. Thus far, Putin has been able to keep the war distant from ordinary people, keeping their lives as routine as possible; the mobilization order brings the war too close, Seskuria said.

“The war is no longer a distant event fought by a professional army so it can change the sentiments of Russians as it becomes clear that Russia is struggling in Ukraine and the war is now getting closer to ordinary citizens,” she told Vox via email.

Russians in cities from St. Petersburg in the west to Ulan-Ude in the east turned out to protest the orders this week, in defiance of a law criminalizing protests again the military . On Sunday alone, the New York Times reported, 745 people were detained, citing the human rights group OVD-Info. According to Seskuria, protesters have been punished with the fate they were trying to avoid: “Demonstrators who joined the protests across different cities in Russia have been detained and sent to military commissariats.”

This is just peak Sergei Sobyanin-era Moscow: Protesters getting beaten up by police in Zaryadye, the mayor's pet project, a modern landscaped urban park next to the Kremlin pic.twitter.com/vztNnHDkx0 — Francis Scarr (@francis_scarr) September 24, 2022

The ongoing protests are primarily against mobilization, however, not against the war overall. Though there were mass public protests in Russia in the beginning of the war, “they did not turn into a mass anti-war movement,” Seskuria explained, for a combination of reasons — the overwhelming presence of state propaganda, as well as harsh punishments for even referring to the operation as a war.

Additionally, according to Seskuria, “polls by Levada Center [an independent polling firm in Moscow] have shown that Putin’s ratings rose up to 83 percent since the beginning of the war. It is hard to measure what the real level of support is, but historically Russians have supported wars in Georgia, Ukraine, and Syria, and Putin’s ratings grew in the aftermath of these wars.”

Polls don’t necessarily tell the whole story, though. “Support for the war appears to be high among virtually all social groups, including among young men,” Rosenfeld told Vox. “But young people have been less supportive of the war than other Russians, and long before the war they were less supportive of Vladimir Putin.”

According to Rosenfeld, young Russians “have also been less willing to answer pollsters’ questions about the war. So there’s been a question already for some time about how much slack there might be in their true support — a question that matters a lot more now with mobilization.”

Putin has also been working to keep the war away from his main constituency, ethnic Russians, with poorer and ethnic minorities bearing the brunt of the costs of fighting. That’s made the war distant for most Russians, shoring up support for the conflict overall. But although some of those minority regions have “distinctive military cultures,” Rosenfeld explained, “there is also rising discontent at the war’s disproportionate burdens that have exploded in angry scenes at military recruitment centers. ”

#Russia In Eastern Siberia's Yakutsk, women were protesting against mobilization. According to local media, they performed the Yakut circle dance osuokhai. Police arrested the women pic.twitter.com/QnlD38ylI5 — Hanna Liubakova (@HannaLiubakova) September 25, 2022

Russians who choose to leave rather than fight are limited in terms of escape routes; Finland, for example, is the only European Union country bordering Russia still accepting Russians on tourist visas. Land routes from Russia into Finland, as well as Georgia and Mongolia, have been clogged since Wednesday by those attempting to flee, the Guardian’s Pjotr Sauer reported on Thursday.

The Georgia-Russia border at Verkhny Lars is often tailed-back, but the social media footage of it today is insane. Spot the guys crossing on scooters, avoiding the ban on pedestrians. https://t.co/6NKoqqE4Gt pic.twitter.com/e3RS82B905 — Felix Light (@felix_light) September 23, 2022

People shared tips about how to leave or avoid being called up on the messaging platform Telegram , with some groups like Rospartizan advocating for armed resistance against the mobilization effort. Indeed, as Meduza reported , there have been some incidents of arson at local military commissariats and government offices.

Resisting the mobilization orders carries with it harsh penalties; according to legislation Putin approved this week, people who leave the country to avoid service or stay and refuse risk up to 10 years in prison for their actions. “Before [the new law] was passed new stamps appeared in passports for ‘refusniks,’ soldiers who refuse to take part in the special operation,” Rosenfeld said. “The stamp equates refusing with desertion. They say things like ‘Deserter!’ ‘Prone to betrayal!’ The stamp goes right into a military ID,” she said. “So there’s an effort to create tremendous stigma.”

An influx of troops won’t change the fact that Russia’s military is a mess

Even if Putin is able to effectively carry out the mobilization, it’s unlikely that thousands of badly trained troops without a coherent command structure headed to the front lines will make a decisive difference for Russia.

Those that do fight, willingly or not, will receive about two weeks of training before deploying. Many reservists will have combat experience, and some may even have specialized experience, like driving tanks, but that doesn’t mean that they’re skilled soldiers who can operate the latest weapons technology. Reservists in the US, for example, are organized, with a regular training cycle and the ability to mobilize quickly when needed; that’s not the case in Russia.

“It remains uncertain how these reservists will be trained or who will train them and how they will be equipped,” Seskuria said, and even if they have previously served as conscripts in the armed forces, “they are largely unprepared, lack battlefield experience, and would require high-level training that Russia is unlikely to provide.”

Additionally, a vast influx of Russian troops won’t fix the glaring problems in the military’s command structure — deficiencies which contributed significantly to Russia’s humiliating, messy retreat from areas in Kharkiv oblast earlier in September, where rather than removing or destroying their equipment and using artillery to hold off the Ukrainians until they could execute an orderly retreat, many Russian troops simply left their positions, weapons in place

“We’ve seen such high levels of Russian officer casualties, and the officers coming are even less experienced,” Mason Clark, the Russia lead at the Institute for the Study of War told Vox in a mid-September interview . As a result, the junior-level officers going to the frontline now won’t necessarily have the training or experience to effectively lead their units — which are likely to be poorly trained themselves.

Not only is Ukraine taking out commanders on the battlefield, Putin has also taken to firing them or shifting command responsibilities as Russia’s military continuously fails to meet his goals in Ukraine. “We’ve gotten vague reports of officers being moved in and out,” Clark said. “That certainly is not helping create an effective and stable command structure.” On Saturday, for example, Putin “released” Gen. Dmitry Bulgakov, who was managing the Russian military’s logistical operations in Ukraine, in favor of Col. Gen. Mikhail Mizintsev, the architect of the Mariupol siege, according to the BBC .

Putin is also reportedly becoming increasingly involved in strategy, refusing to let troops withdraw from Kherson, though doing so would save Russian lives and preserve equipment. According to the New York Times , Putin has told commanders that he is in charge of making battlefield decisions, creating tensions within the highest ranks.

According to Michael Kofman , the director of Russia studies for the Center for Naval Analyses, Russia’s decision to move up reservists with so little training “suggests Russian [military] desperation to stabilize their lines by throwing people at the front.”

Appears the initial mobilized wave will receive 2 weeks of training. This is an incredibly short amount of time especially given the process is more de facto phased general mobilization. It suggests Russian mil desperation to stabilize their lines by throwing people at the front. https://t.co/4L1BH7XKhF — Michael Kofman (@KofmanMichael) September 23, 2022

Despite that apparent desperation, however, the war is is likely to drag on as Russia mobilizes more troops, becoming more costly not only for Ukraine and Russia, but for the countries supporting Ukraine with weapons, humanitarian aid, and sanctions against Russia, which will continue to drive up fuel costs.

And as those troops come to the front, Russia could pursue a familiar, brutal tactic. One way Russia found success on battlefields in Syria and Chechnya was through pure destruction; the siege in Mariupol followed along similar lines. As Rita Konaev, the deputy director of analysis at Georgetown University’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology, pointed out in a tweet Wednesday , “Russian military power is not about effectiveness. It’s about destruction.”

“The very simple truth is that just because something is going terribly wrong doesn’t mean it has to change or end soon,” Konaev wrote. “Even losing can take years.”

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In This Stream

Russia-ukraine crisis.

• There are now more land mines in Ukraine than almost anywhere else on the planet
• Russia’s mobilization won’t fix its military problems
• What Putin’s latest threats mean for the risk of nuclear war

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Melissa Adan NBC 7 San Diego

Published may 8, 2018 • updated on may 8, 2018 at 2:12 pm.

Melissa Adan is a bilingual general assignment news Reporter for NBC 7 San Diego and Telemundo 20. She joined the team in January, 2018 and is enjoying the beautiful weather and meeting the friendly people of San Diego County.

Adan joined the NBCUniversal family in June, 2016 under the well-esteemed NBC Reporter Development Program. She continued her journey as a Reporter/Multimedia Journalist for NBC 6 South Florida.

In South Florida she covered the tragic shooting at the Ft. Lauderdale/Hollywood International airport. Her work was featured on several NBC stations across the country, as well as MSNBC and The Weather Channel.

She is also working towards her Master’s in Criminal Justice online at Florida International University. She is passionate about ensuring fairness in our justice system.

Born and raised in Miami, Melissa is a first generation Cuban-American, who loves pastelitos and dancing to Celia Cruz.

Adan graduated from Miami Dade College, The Honors College with her A.A and then from Boston University's College of Communication with a B.S. in broadcast journalism and a minor in political science. Upon graduating she moved to Texas, where she was a weekend evening news anchor and general assignment reporter at the CBS affiliate in Lubbock, TX.

During her time in Texas she traveled to Ciudad Juarez, Mexico and El Paso, TX to cover Pope Francis' visit to the Texas/Mexico border.

Hit-and-run killer of flagman directing traffic in Valley Center in custody: CHP

Sex offender with machete who broke into Escondido home ends up with knife in neck: EPD

While living in Boston as a college student Adan was one of the first to interview now iconic "Cowboy Hat Hero" Carlos Arrendondo during the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings.

Her work with NBCUniversal began in 2013 when she was selected as a NBC Summer Fellow and intern for CNBC, working on two CNBC 2013 documentaries: Twitter Revolution and Rise of the Machines.

Reach out to her with any story ideas or SoCal recommendations on social media: @MelissaNBC7 or [email protected]

clock This article was published more than  3 years ago

Meryl Kornfield joins the General Assignment News Desk

Announcement from General Assignment Editor Keith McMillan, Senior Director of Audience Ryan Kellett and Live News Editor Josh Freedom du Lac:

We are delighted to announce that Meryl Kornfield is joining the General Assignment news desk, where she’ll cover breaking news and write enterprise.

Meryl, who came to The Post through the American University Investigative Workshop, impressed her editors during a stint with Investigative, where she worked on the Opioid Files and the Afghanistan Papers. When Meryl finished every task before editors could come up with more, they approached GA, thinking she might be well-suited to the faster pace. Meryl joined GA on a temporary basis in February as coverage of the pandemic began to ramp up. She worked five shifts a week writing for the coronavirus live updates file, the steady stream of essential news that has become immensely popular with readers. Somehow she also found time to write a Faces of the Dead profile about a man who died days after his wife of 71 years after they both caught covid-19 . She wrote with care about tourists trapped on a Nile cruise ship because of the coronavirus and about a family that died in a tornado near Nashville.

Meryl interned at the South Florida Sun Sentinel and the Palm Beach Post. She is a Miami native and proud University of Florida graduate with a bachelor’s degree in journalism.

"In the Before Times," Meryl says, "I think I liked traveling and hiking." She has visited 30 countries and was a member of the Florida TrailGators, her college's hiking club.

Please join us in welcoming her to GA in a full-time capacity on Aug. 3.

Apostles are conducting 3 of 5 sessions of April 2024 general conference

Having someone other than a member of the first presidency conduct conference sessions is rare, but has happened both historically and in recent years.

President Russell M. Nelson invited members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles to conduct select general sessions of the April 2024 general conference — a responsibility traditionally handled by a member of the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

In fact, by the end of the April 6-7 weekend, three members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles will have conducted the conference’s general sessions.

“During this conference, you will note that members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles have been invited to conduct three of the five sessions,” said President Dallin H. Oaks , first counselor in the First Presidency, at the start of the Saturday morning session . “We are grateful for their assistance.”

Four hours later, Elder Gary E. Stevenson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles welcomed attendees as he conducted the Saturday afternoon session. The entire First Presidency sat behind him as he stood at the pulpit.

And four hours after that, Elder Dale G. Renlund of the Twelve conducted the Saturday evening session. The third member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles to conduct a meeting was Elder Quentin L. Cook in the Sunday afternoon session.

Having someone other than the President of the Church or one of his counselors conduct conference sessions is rare, but has happened both historically and in recent years.

On occasion in the past, when part or all of the First Presidency have been absent from conference sessions, the First Presidency has designated someone to conduct the session. Typically, it has been the senior-most Apostle not in the First Presidency.

But that wasn’t the case Saturday. With Elder Stevenson ordained an Apostle in 2015, there are more in the quorum who have longer tenures as Apostles.

And the last time someone other a member of the First Presidency conducted a general conference came just two years ago. President Jean B. Bingham , then the Relief Society general president, conducted the Saturday evening session of the April 2022 general conference , with President Oaks offering an introductory message .

This is not the first time President Nelson has involved members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in something that previously was handled mostly by members of the First Presidency.

Early in his tenure as President of the Church, which started in January 2018, President Nelson found ways to involve members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in his ministry trips and in presiding at temple dedications and rededications.

“These Brethren are so loyal. I love them — like my own brothers, like my own sons,” he said in São Paulo, Brazil, in September 2019.

Watching his Brethren carry out the work of the Church across the globe has brought President Nelson great joy.

“Have you ever been a father and taken children on a fishing trip? Are you happy catching a fish? Are you happier watching your children catch a fish?’”

Holding the line

Major general john weidner recalls how his time at los alamos shaped his views of deterrence..

By J. Weston Phippen | April 2, 2024

In 2008, Major General John Weidner—then a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army—was stationed at Los Alamos National Laboratory . As a nuclear forensics and countering weapons of mass destruction (WMD) officer, also known as an FA52, Weidner was at Los Alamos to learn from the scientists and engineers who design nuclear weapons.

While at the Lab, Weidner recalls a conversation with a physicist who worked down the hall. “He was complaining about something at Los Alamos, and after several minutes, I interrupted him to ask why, given his frustration, he was still working at the Lab. Without missing a beat, he looked me dead in the eye and said he wanted to be of service to the nation and that working at Los Alamos was the best way he knew how to contribute.”

Weider says this type of patriotism is common across the nuclear security enterprise. “I have no doubt, none whatsoever, that this workforce will create and deliver the capabilities our nation needs to defend itself and our allies,” he says. “My nearly four years at Los Alamos provided me with an understanding of what it takes to create, sustain, and dismantle the nuclear stockpile—an incredible investment. Moreover, working at Los Alamos gave me the technical knowledge and practical experience to be successful in every one of my follow-on assignments.”

Today, Weidner is the chief of staff for the United Nations Command (UNC) and United States Forces Korea (USFK). National Security Science  spoke to Weidner about how his time at Los Alamos informed his current position and helped shape his views on deterrence. 

This conversation has been edited for clarity and brevity. The views expressed are those of Major General Weidner and do not necessarily represent those of the U.S. Department of Defense.

You are stationed at U.S. Army Garrison Humphreys in South Korea, where you are the UNC and USFK chief of staff. What are your responsibilities?

The primary mission of the UNC is to support and enforce the armistice agreement that ended the hostilities of the Korean War. As the UNC chief of staff, I am the senior U.S. member on the UNC Military Armistice Commission (UNCMAC). I provide oversight of the process the UNCMAC uses to determine if an activity by either side violates the armistice agreement.

My other primary duty is to coordinate efforts across our personnel, intelligence, operations, logistics, plans, policy, information technology, and resource directorates within and between both commands.

How has the current geopolitical environment impacted your mission?

Russia, China, North Korea, Iran, and other state powers wish to overturn the rules-based international order that has served the free world so well for so long. For example, China is making claims to almost the entire South China Sea. Russia invaded Ukraine in complete disregard of the sovereignty of nations. North Korea is threatening war with the Republic of Korea and the United States. 

China has reportedly constructed more than 300 intercontinental ballistic missile silos in the past few years. Russia claims to have modernized more than 90 percent of its nuclear forces, and North Korea has enshrined nuclear weapons into its constitution and its leader has directed an exponential increase in nuclear warhead production.

For the first time, the United States will be challenged by two near-peer nuclear nations, as well as a third nuclear power that says it is increasing its nuclear capabilities and stockpile size. This is all occurring at a time when our nuclear forces are at their lowest level since the early 1950s, and all legacy nuclear weapons and delivery platforms have long outlived their design lifetimes.

The importance of the U.S. nuclear stockpile is to demonstrate that an adversary cannot escalate its way out of a failing conflict and that efforts to do so would cause its demise. Our nation must communicate and demonstrate this through well-trained, well-equipped conventional and strategic forces every day. 

How do you define deterrence?

Deterrence is the process of convincing someone not to do something . More specifically, it is decisively influencing perceptions regarding the costs and benefits of taking an action and not taking an action to convince someone that restraint is the best course. 

I believe the nature of deterrence endures. The character of deterrence, however, has evolved. For example, there are no widely agreed upon norms for behavior in space or cyberspace, and that is driving us to evolve our approach to strategic deterrence. 

How should the United States best prepare itself for the future?

Russia, China, and North Korea appear to be increasing the role of nuclear weapons in their national security strategies. Moreover, all those countries have used forms of nuclear coercion to obtain their national security objectives. In my opinion, the United States must evolve our nuclear stockpile to convince potential adversaries not to engage in conflict with the United States or our allies. First, we should move away from nuclear weapon life extension programs and begin the design of completely new nuclear weapons purpose-built for the threats, environments, and likely targets of the 21st century. Second, we should complete the planned modernization program of record and in doing so explore and incorporate smart, micro-, and nano-technologies into new nuclear weapon designs that provide real-time measurements that enable nuclear weapons with longer design lifetimes and reduced surveillance costs. These options would plug gaps that an adversary may see in our nuclear capabilities. They would also reassure our allies of our extended deterrence commitments.

A nation can have a reasoned debate on whether to develop a nuclear deterrent, but once the decision is made to develop that capability, there must be no debate on building, growing, and sustaining the capabilities and staff necessary to maintain that stockpile. The nation must also plan for and exercise strategic deterrence while in conventional conflict because the greatest risk of nuclear use will almost certainly stem from a regional conventional war. The conventional fight is unlikely to end with an adversary’s first use of a nuclear weapon. It will continue, and during that fight, the United States and our alliance must continue to deter the adversary from using nuclear weapons. 

How does Los Alamos help in this mission? 

Los Alamos and the other labs, plants, and sites of the National Nuclear Security Administration are foundational to the vision I described. We need to unleash the talent, creativity, ingenuity, and dedication of our workforce on the problem. 

The national labs are helping leaders within the Department of Defense understand the threats we currently and are likely to face in the near-term. The labs can offer options and capabilities at the best possible value. This has been invaluable and educational. For example, the labs have some of the best nuclear weapon effects models. Those models are helping military and civilian leaders understand the outputs and effects of nuclear weapons. 

Speaking of effects, people may not know the Army has nuclear specialists, the FA52s. What is their unique role?

FA52 officers are the primary advisors to senior leaders on the effects of nuclear weapons. We are assigned in various capacities across the Department of Defense, as well as the Department of Energy and the Department of State. Some FA52s also support the intelligence community by providing in-depth analyses and assessments of emerging nuclear threats.

Tell us about your assignment at Los Alamos.

Los Alamos was the longest assignment of my career—nearly four years from fall 2008 to summer 2012—and one of my most enjoyable. I supported weapon physics studies on the W78 warhead and did medical isotope production experiments to complete my PhD. I also helped create an electronic database of U.S. nuclear tests , participated in many national technical nuclear forensic analyses and exercises, and made several cooperative threat reduction trips to the former Soviet nuclear test site at Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan.

I cannot overstate the importance of my assignment at Los Alamos. In my current role, I have been involved in the Nuclear Consultative Group meetings between senior Republic of Korea and U.S. national security members. My Los Alamos experience has informed my discussions with both the Republic of Korea government and military and helped me articulate the outputs and effects of nuclear weapons as well as options to manage the consequences of nuclear use. 

Given the increasing role of nuclear weapons in the nuclear security strategies of North Korea and other countries, how do you see the role of the FA52 evolving?

Among other things, FA52s will play key roles in advising military and civilian leaders about the effects of nuclear weapons and nuclear-related policy. In my experience, most leaders overestimate the effects of nuclear weapons, which may cause them to underestimate the likelihood of adversary nuclear use. 

I believe the most likely scenario for adversary first use of a nuclear weapon is in a conventional conflict they are losing. Should an adversary use a nuclear weapon in that case, the conventional war would continue. Therefore, it is important for U.S. military forces to understand how to operate in and through a nuclear environment created by an adversary. 

That may seem like an obvious statement, but almost all our leaders have lived their entire professional careers in an environment where adversary nuclear use was almost unthinkable. The United States has not been in a conflict where it had to worry about being out-escalated since World War II. 

With that in mind, it’s imperative that the United States and our allies develop a vision for how to go to war against a near-peer adversary. This includes an approach for how to mobilize a nation for war and how to integrate all elements of national power. In this way, our nation and our network of allies and partners will be best prepared to deter conflict and, if necessary, prevail in conflict. FA52s will be central to all of this.  ★

Meet another FA52 here.

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Paul Whelan, American Imprisoned in Russia, Is Seen in New Video

In footage posted by the state-owned network RT, he is shown in several settings, including in a cafeteria. Mr. Whelan has been largely out of sight since he was convicted by a Russian court in 2020.

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By Jesus Jiménez

• Published Aug. 28, 2023 Updated Aug. 29, 2023

Paul Whelan, an American imprisoned in Russia, appeared in a video released on Monday by a Kremlin-backed news network, giving his family a chance to see him for the first time in three years.

Mr. Whelan, a former Marine serving a 16-year sentence on what U.S. officials say are bogus espionage charges, has been largely out of sight since he was convicted by a Russian court in June 2020, although he has been visited by Western diplomats.

In the video posted by RT — a state-owned English-language network previously known as Russia Today — Mr. Whelan is seen in several settings, including eating in a cafeteria. He appeared to be in good health and declined an interviewer’s request to ask him questions.

In an email to supporters, Mr. Whelan’s twin brother, David, said that Monday “was the first time I’ve seen what he really looks like since June 2020.”

“So thank you, Russia Today, because although your reporting is the worst sort of propaganda and you are the mouthpiece for war criminals, at least I could see what Paul looks like after all of these years,” he wrote.

David Whelan said the video was recorded in May. He added that his brother previously informed their parents that prison officials had punished him for his refusal to participate in the interview, including by taking some of his clothing.

Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary, said at a news briefing on Tuesday that “it was reassuring to see that he remains — and this is to use his brother’s words — ‘unbowed.’”

“Paul continues to show tremendous courage,” Ms. Jean-Pierre said. “That does not change that his circumstance are truly unacceptable, and we will continue to be very clear about that. Russia should release him immediately.”

President Biden has said he is working to secure the release of Mr. Whelan. The State Department tried for months to include him in the deal that freed the W.N.B.A. star Brittney Griner, who was arrested in a Russian airport shortly before the invasion of Ukraine and later pleaded guilty to drug charges.

Ms. Griner was released in December in exchange for Viktor Bout , a notorious Russian arms dealer known as the “Merchant of Death.”

Aside from diplomatic visits, communication by Mr. Whelan, a corporate security executive, has been limited to phone calls and a phone interview that he did with CNN in May .

Mr. Whelan, 53, and Evan Gershkovich — an American reporter from The Wall Street Journal arrested in March, also on espionage charges — have been designated by the United States as “wrongfully detained,” which means they are essentially considered political hostages.

David Whelan said in an interview in April that he would “be happy for the U.S. government to make whatever concessions they can to bring Paul home.”

Jesus Jiménez is a general assignment reporter. More about Jesus Jiménez

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California School Assignment Calls Gavin Newsom a 'Champion for People's Rights'

History and civics classes may be designed to help students understand why their country considers certain people important and worthy of respect, but usually, those people are dead.

That's not the case in this first-grade assignment out in the People's Republic of California, which describes Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.) as a "Champion of People's Rights" and asks students to "write about changes Gavin Newsom made as mayor [of San Francisco] to respect people's rights."

The worksheet references then-Mayor Newsom's decision to legalize same-sex marriage in San Francisco in 2004, which the worksheet described as "Gavin said that people could marry who they choose. Sometimes, Gavin helped marry people. Some marriages were not between a man and a woman. He made sure that people's rights are respected."

INSANE: Received this from a teacher in a California elementary school. First graders are being given an assignment praising Governor Newsom for being a "Champion for People's Rights" and are asked to list praises for him. Blatant government-funded propaganda and indoctrination!… pic.twitter.com/Fq2Ob4qK3W — Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) April 10, 2024

Look, I know that history and civics classes will talk about people who are still alive, but I don't think they usually try to make any overt biases. Plus, these are first graders we are talking about, and they barely understand relationships anyway. This appears to be yet another instance of the left taking up the long march through the institutions, indoctrinating future generations into being good little foot soldiers for their causes.

In late March, my friend Lincoln Brown described how the state of Washington would require students to learn LGBTQ history, or as the state described it, "Education leaders must develop a curriculum including the histories and contributions of LGBTQ figures, as well as the histories of people with various racial, ethnic, and religious backgrounds."

Related:  Students Rejecting Trans Ideology Even as Governments Push It

The inclusion of multiple perspectives makes sense in more advanced history courses (since that's literally part of how studying history works), but this will only complicate and confuse younger kids (like the first graders who had to sing Gavin Newsom's praises), who likely aren't going to remember much beyond names, dates, and maybe a few simple facts.

I was considered smart because I could name all the Presidents around this age (and became a living party trick for it), but nobody expected me to try and explain what they did. Heck, I barely knew when their terms in office were.

But that's the point: the people who wrote this lesson made sure the simple (or at least simplified) fact kids would associate with Gavin Newsom was that he legalized same-sex marriage in San Francisco and framed it as respecting people's rights because respecting rights is good.

It is a subtle thing to do, but the continual teaching of the left's preferred historical figures and topics ensures kids will grow up to see things their way.

Thankfully, some students are waking up as Brown described in his column; students of John Jay High School in Upstate New York walked out of class in protest against allowing students to use whichever bathroom they identified with.

But that was just one instance of the kids showing that they'll be all right. How many more are going to be the same?

News junkie, meme enthusiast, Florida Man, would-be wordsmith. Hold a Master's Degree in Political Science from UCF despite coming from a Noles family. I also write hard news for The Floridian if that is more your style but I'm probably more entertaining here.

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Russia accuses Ukraine of striking same Moscow building that was hit by drone days ago

Russian authorities early Tuesday accused Kyiv of another attack on Moscow and its surroundings with drones, one of which hit a building in the capital that was damaged by a drone just days ago in a similar attack early Sunday. (August 1)

Russia shells hospital in Ukraine’s Kherson

Russian drones strike buildings in Kharkiv

Investigators examine an area next to a damaged building in the “Moscow City” business district after a reported drone attack in Moscow, Russia, early Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023. Ukrainian drones again targeted Moscow and its surroundings early Tuesday morning, the Russian military reported. Two of three launched were shot down outside Moscow, while one crashed into a skyscraper in the Moscow City business district, damaging the building’s facade. (AP Photo)

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Firefighters and a police officer stand next to a damaged building in the “Moscow City” business district after a reported drone attack in Moscow, Russia, early Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023. Ukrainian drones again targeted Moscow and its surroundings early Tuesday morning, the Russian military reported. Two of three launched were shot down outside Moscow, while one crashed into a skyscraper in the Moscow City business district, damaging the building’s facade. (AP Photo)

A view of the damaged building is seen in the “Moscow City” business district after a reported drone attack in Moscow, Russia, early Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023. Ukrainian drones again targeted Moscow and its surroundings early Tuesday morning, the Russian military reported. Two of three launched were shot down outside Moscow, while one crashed into a skyscraper in the Moscow City business district, damaging the building’s facade. (AP Photo)

Firefighters stand next to a damaged building in the “Moscow City” business district after a reported drone attack in Moscow, Russia, early Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023. Ukrainian drones again targeted Moscow and its surroundings early Tuesday morning, the Russian military reported. Two of three launched were shot down outside Moscow, while one crashed into a skyscraper in the Moscow City business district, damaging the building’s facade.(AP Photo)

A man takes a photo of the damaged building in the “Moscow City” business district after a reported drone attack in Moscow, Russia, early Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023. Ukrainian drones again targeted Moscow and its surroundings early Tuesday morning, the Russian military reported. Two of three launched were shot down outside Moscow, while one crashed into a skyscraper in the Moscow City business district, damaging the building’s facade.(AP Photo)

A view of the damaged building, centre, is seen in the “Moscow City” business district after a reported drone attack in Moscow, Russia, early Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023. Ukrainian drones again targeted Moscow and its surroundings early Tuesday morning, the Russian military reported. Two of three launched were shot down outside Moscow, while one crashed into a skyscraper in the Moscow City business district, damaging the building’s facade. (AP Photo)

A view of the damaged building is seen in the “Moscow City” business district after a reported drone attack in Moscow, Russia, early Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023. This building was already attacked by a drone two days ago. Ukrainian drones again targeted Moscow and its surroundings early Tuesday morning, the Russian military reported. Two of three launched were shot down outside Moscow, while one crashed into a skyscraper in the Moscow City business district, damaging the building’s facade. (AP Photo)

Investigators examine an area next to damaged building in the “Moscow City” business district after a reported drone attack in Moscow, Russia, early Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023. Ukrainian drones again targeted Moscow and its surroundings early Tuesday morning, the Russian military reported. Two of three launched were shot down outside Moscow, while one crashed into a skyscraper in the Moscow City business district, damaging the building’s facade. (AP Photo)

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — A drone attacked a skyscraper in central Moscow early Tuesday for the second time in around 48 hours, damaging the building’s facade and further underscoring the Russian capital’s vulnerability. Russian authorities accused Ukraine of staging the assault.

An adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy tweeted that Moscow “is rapidly getting used to a full-fledged war,” without confirming or denying Kyiv’s involvement.

Russian officials have claimed that the repeated attacks on the capital region reflect failures in Ukraine’s counteroffensive to recapture Russian-occupied territory. Zelenskyy said over the weekend that “the war is gradually coming back to Russian territory,” but he stopped short of taking responsibility.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said it shot down two Ukrainian drones outside Moscow and jammed another, sending it crashing into a skyscraper and damaging the building’s facade. The attack happened in a business district of high-rise office buildings known as Moscow City, west of the Kremlin.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said the drone crashed into the same building that was damaged Sunday in a similar attack. IQ-Quarter, located 7.2 kilometers (4.5 miles) from the Kremlin, houses multiple government agencies, including the headquarters of the Ministry of Economic Development, the Ministry of Digital Development and Communications, and the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

The mayor said the attack on Tuesday did not result in any casualties.

It wasn’t clear why the same building was hit twice in a row. In both attacks, the Russian military said the drones that hit the skyscraper were jammed before crashing, which elicited questions from even the staunchest supporters of the Kremlin.

Margarita Simonyan, chief editor of the state-funded TV channel RT, said in a social media post that “a drone hitting the same tower for the second time in a row, where three federal ministries are located, at least requires explaining the comments that the electronic warfare downed them all.”

Asked about how protected the Russian capital is, given that supposedly jammed drones hit the same building, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov redirected the question to the Defense Ministry, saying only that “the threat exists and measures are being taken.”

Sobyanin said the drone that struck the building Tuesday hit the 21st floor, one of the floors housing the Economic Development ministry. Photos from the scene showed several panels of glass missing, exposing the charred insides of the building. According to the mayor, 150 square meters (about 1,600 square feet) of the building’s glass facade were damaged.

Russian news agency Interfax cited Darya Levchenko, an adviser to the economic development minister, as saying that the ministry’s staff worked from home Tuesday while damage to the office was assessed.

The Russian military also said Ukrainian forces tried to attack two of its warships in the Black Sea, using maritime drones. Three drones targeted two patrol vessels, Sergei Kotov and Vasily Bykov, 340 kilometers (210 miles) southwest of the Russian-controlled city of Sevastopol on the Crimean Peninsula , the Defense Ministry reported. All three drones were destroyed, the report said.

The governor of the Sevastopol region, Mikhail Razvozhaev, said a drone was shot down about 10 kilometers (6 miles) east of the city on Tuesday evening, causing a brush fire.

The attacks on Moscow and Crimea, which Russia illegally annexed from Ukraine in 2014, follow a deadly Russian missile strike on Kryvyi Rih , Zelenskyy’s hometown in central Ukraine.

Monday’s strike partially destroyed a residential building and killed seven people. Dozens more were wounded.

Russia’s land and sea border with Ukraine spans more than 2,200 kilometers (1,400 miles), meaning that much of the line separating the two countries is not covered by defense radar, which creates an opening for drones.

“Depending on where they are launched from, if there is a way to get through the initial line of defenses, then there will probably be a very poor ability to track them in real time,” said professor Justin Bronk, an expert in military air power and technology at the Royal United Services Institute, a defense think tank in London.

The most advanced defense systems around Moscow “are typically optimized for ballistic missile defense and are looking at targets and objects which are coming in at extremely high speeds and from very high angles,” Bronk said.

Unlike ballistic missiles, drones can fly low and slow. That presents a challenge for radar systems, which scan higher altitudes and filter out slow-moving objects such as birds.

In other developments Tuesday, Russian forces attacked Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, with Iranian-made Shahed drones , according to Kharkiv Gov. Oleh Syniehubov.

One drone struck a three-story building at an educational institution in the Saltivka district, partially destroying the top two floors of the building, as well as the roof. No one was inside at the time.

Three more drone strikes hit the area of a sports complex in the Shevchenkivskyi district of Kharkiv. A two-story building in the complex was partially damaged, and a 63-year-old security guard was wounded, according to Syniehubov.

Russian forces shelled the city of Kherson and hit a medical facility, according to regional Gov. Roman Mrochko, killing a doctor and wounding one nurse.

“A young, talented doctor was killed, who was on his first day of work after internship. It was his first working day, which ended without even starting,” Tetiana Karchevych, Kherson region health department head, said at the site of the attack.

Ukraine’s presidential office reported Tuesday morning that at least 12 civilians had been killed in the country over the previous 24 hours, and 104 people injured.

The office reported that Monday’s attack on Kryvyi Rih killed seven people, including a 10-year-old girl, making it one of the deadliest attacks on civilians in recent weeks. Russian rockets struck a residential high-rise building and a university building in the attack, which also wounded 81 people, including seven children.

Hanna Arhirova in Kyiv, Ukraine, and Yuras Karmanau in Berlin, contributed to this report.

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General Officer Announcements

Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III announced today that the president has made the following nominations:

Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Michael J. Borgschulte for appointment to the grade of lieutenant general, with assignment as deputy commandant for Manpower and Reserve Affairs, Quantico, Virginia.  Borgschulte is currently serving as commanding general, 3d Marine Aircraft Wing, San Diego, California.

Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Roberta L. Shea for appointment to the grade of lieutenant general, with assignment as commander, U.S. Marine Corps Forces Command; commanding general, Fleet Marine Force Atlantic; and commander, Marine Forces North.  Shea is currently serving as the legislative assistant to the commandant of the Marine Corps, Washington, D.C.

Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Paul J. Rock Jr. for appointment to the grade of lieutenant general, with assignment as director, Marine Corps Staff, Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps.  Rock is currently serving as the commandant, National War College, National Defense University, Washington, D.C.

Space Force Brig. Gen. Dennis O. Bythewood for appointment to the grade of major general.  Bythewood is currently serving as the deputy commander, U.S. Space Forces - Space, Vandenberg Space Force Base, California. 

Space Force Brig. Gen. James E. Smith for appointment to the grade of major general.  Smith is currently serving as the assistant deputy chief of space operations for Operations, Cyber and Nuclear: and deputy chief operations officer, Office of the Chief of Space Operations, U.S. Space Force, Pentagon, Washington, D.C. 

Air Force Col. Jack R. Arthaud for appointment to the grade of brigadier general.  Arthaud is currently serving as the deputy director, Operations, Strategic Deterrence, and Nuclear Integration, Headquarters U.S. Air Forces Europe–Air Forces Africa, Ramstein Air Base, Germany. 

Air Force Col. Anthony D. Babcock for appointment to the grade of brigadier general.  Babcock is currently serving as chief, Aircraft Maintenance Division, Deputy Chief of Staff, Logistics, Engineering and Force Protection, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Pentagon, Washington, D.C.

Air Force Col. Catherine V. Barrington for appointment to the grade of brigadier general.  Barrington is currently serving as the military assistant to the deputy secretary of defense, Office of the Deputy Secretary of Defense, Pentagon, Washington, D.C.

Air Force Col. Ariel G. Batungbacal for appointment to the grade of brigadier general.  Batungbacal is currently serving as the commander, National Air and Space Intelligence Center, Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. 

Air Force Col. Cassius T. Bentley III for appointment to the grade of brigadier general.  Bentley is currently serving as the deputy director, Strategic Plans, Programs and Logistics, U.S. Transportation Command, Scott Air Force Base, Illinois.

Air Force Col. John A. Cluck for appointment to the grade of brigadier general. Cluck is currently serving as the wing commander, 139th Airlift Wing, Missouri Air National Guard, Missouri.

Air Force Col. Michael D. Curry for appointment to the grade of brigadier general.  Curry is currently serving as the director, Secretary of the Air Force; and chief of staff of the Air Force Executive Action Group, Office of the Secretary of the Air Force, Pentagon, Washington, D.C. 

Air Force Col. Lindsay C. Droz for appointment to the grade of brigadier general.  Droz is currently serving as the director of staff, Headquarters Air Force Materiel Command, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. 

Air Force Col. Mason R. Dula for appointment to the grade of brigadier general.  Dula is currently serving as the executive officer to the commander, U.S. Special Operations Command, MacDill Air Force Base, Florida.  

Air Force Col. Todd R. Dyer for appointment to the grade of brigadier general.  Dyer is currently serving as the division chief, Futures and Concepts Division, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Pentagon, Washington, D.C.

Air Force Col. Travis L. Edwards for appointment to the grade of brigadier general.  Edwards is currently serving as the deputy director, Operations, Strategic Deterrence & Nuclear Integration, Headquarters Air Mobility Command, Scott Air Force Base, Illinois.  

Air Force Col. Chad R. Ellsworth for appointment to the grade of brigadier general.  Ellsworth is currently serving as the deputy director, Contested Logistics, Deputy Chief of Staff, Logistics, Engineering and Force Protection, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Pentagon, Washington, D.C.

Air Force Col. Paul G. Filcek for appointment to the grade of brigadier general.  Filcek is currently serving as the director, Space Force Mission Sustainment Division, Deputy Chief of Space Operations for Operations, Cyber, and Nuclear, Headquarters U.S. Space Force, Pentagon, Washington, D.C.

Air Force Col. Brian A. Filler for appointment to the grade of brigadier general.  Filler is currently serving as the director, Air Force Colonel Management Office, Deputy Chief of Staff, Manpower, Personnel and Services, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Pentagon, Washington, D.C.

Air Force Col. John B. Gallemore for appointment to the grade of brigadier general.  Gallemore is currently serving as inspector general, Headquarters Air Combat Command, Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia. 

Air Force Col. Timothy A. Herritage for appointment to the grade of brigadier general.  Herritage is currently serving as principal deputy director, Air Force Public Affairs, Secretary of the Air Force Office of Public Affairs, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Pentagon, Washington, D.C.

Air Force Col. James V. Hewitt for appointment to the grade of brigadier general.  Hewitt is currently serving as the chief, Legislative Affairs, U.S. Cyber Command, Fort George Meade, Maryland.

Air Force Col. Jay A. Johnson for appointment to the grade of brigadier general.  Johnson is currently serving as the chief of staff, Headquarters Air Education and Training Command, Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas.

Air Force Col. Matthew E. Jones for appointment to the grade of brigadier general.  Jones is currently serving as the division chief, Joint Operations Division Africa Command, Regional Operations Directorate, Joint Staff, Pentagon, Washington, D.C.  

Air Force Col. Michele A. Lobianco for appointment to the grade of brigadier general.  Lobianco is currently serving as the commander, 15th Wing, Pacific Air Forces, Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii.

Air Force Col. Sean E. Lowe for appointment to the grade of brigadier general.  Lowe is currently serving as the commander, 603rd Air Operations Center, U.S. Air Forces Europe–Air Forces Africa, Ramstein Air Base, Germany. 

Air Force Col. Robert P. Lyons III for appointment to the grade of brigadier general.  Lyons is currently serving as the senior materiel leader, F-35 Air Vehicle Program Management Office, Air Force Material Command, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Pentagon, Washington, D.C.

Air Force Col. Mark A Massaro for appointment to the grade of brigadier general. Air Force Col. Kimberly A. McCue for appointment to the grade of brigadier general. McCue is currently serving as the mobilization assistant to the director, Medical Operations, Office of the Air Force Surgeon General, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Falls Church, Virginia. Air Force Col. Craig D. Prather for appointment to the grade of brigadier general.  Prather is currently serving as the chief of staff, Headquarters Air Force Special Operations Command, Hurlburt Field, Florida. 

Air Force Col. Joseph L. Sheffield for appointment to the grade of brigadier general.  Sheffield is currently serving as the chief, House Liaison Division, Office of the Secretary of the Air Force, Pentagon, Washington, D.C.

Air Force Col. Andrew J. Steffen for appointment to the grade of brigadier general.  Steffen is currently serving as the assistant deputy commander, 16th Air Force, Air Combat Command, Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas.

Air Force Col. Kristen D. Thompson for appointment to the grade of brigadier general.  Thompson is currently serving as military fellow, Council on Foreign Relations, New York, New York.

Air Force Col. Brian E. Vaughn for appointment to the grade of brigadier general. Vaughn is currently serving as the wing commander, 187th Fighter Wing, Alabama Air National Guard, Alabama.

Air Force Col. Shane S. Vesely for appointment to the grade of brigadier general.  Vesely is currently serving as the deputy commander, U.S. Special Operations Command Pacific, Camp Smith, Hawaii. 

Air Force Col. Douglas P. Wickert for appointment to the grade of brigadier general.  Wickert is currently serving as the commander, 412th Test Wing, Air Force Materiel Command, Edwards Air Force Base, California.

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