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AFDW/CC confirmed for 18 AF position, third star

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Chyenne A. Adams
  • Air Force District of Washington Public Affairs
JOINT BASE ANDREWS, Md. --  Maj. Gen. Darren McDew has been confirmed for appointment to the rank of lieutenant general and for assignment as commander, Eighteenth Air Force, Air Mobility Command, Scott Air Force Base, Ill.

McDew was nominated for his new rank and position by the Secretary of the Air Force through the Secretary of Defense; and confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

Personnel actions involving general and flag officers that require Senate confirmation include nominations, appointments, reappointments, extensions, assignments, reassignments, promotions, and retirements. DOD Instruction 1320.4 describes the procedures used to process these personnel actions.

McDew began his assignment as Air Force District of Washington commander, Joint Base Andrews, Md., in December 2010. The general served previously at 18th Air Force as the vice commander from July 2006 to November 2007.

The command pilot's other assignments include serving as a member of the Air Force Chief of Staff Operations Group, Air Force aide to the President, Chief of the U.S. Air Force Senate Liaison Division, Washington, D.C.; Director of Public Affairs, Office of the Secretary of the Air Force, Washington, D.C.; and as the Vice President for Sun Microsystems through a Secretary of Defense Corporate Fellowship program. He has deployed in support of ongoing operations in Central and Southwest Asia as an air expeditionary group commander and later as the Director of Mobility Forces. Prior to his current assignment, the general was the Vice Director for Strategic Plans and Policy, Joint Staff, Pentagon, Washington, D.C.

His current assignment has him at the helm of Air Force District of Washington, a direct reporting unit that provides the single Air Force voice and component to the Joint Forces Headquarters-National Capital Region, as well as organizes, trains, and equips combat forces for the aerospace expeditionary forces, homeland operations, civil support, national special security events and ceremonial events. In addition, AFDW serves as Uniform Code of Military Justice authority for more than 40,000 personnel and provides major command-level support for more than 24,000 personnel assigned worldwide.

As 18th Air Force commander, McDew will lead Air Mobility Command's sole warfighting numbered air force and be responsible for the command's worldwide operational mission. With more than 39,000 active-duty Airmen, Reservists, and civilians and approximately 1,300 airlift and air refueling aircraft, 18th Air Force manages a streamlined organization that focuses the air mobility warfighting capability through the 618th Air and Space Operations Center (Tanker Airlift Control Center), 11 wings and two stand-alone groups.