Biden Nominates New Air Force Chief as Service Faces China, Recruiting Woes
President Joe Biden has nominated Gen. David Allvin to serve as the next chief of staff of the Air Force; if confirmed, he would replace Gen. Charles "C.Q." Brown as the top military leader of the service.
Allvin has served as the vice chief of staff of the Air Force since November 2020, according to his service biography. His prior roles included serving as the director for strategy, plans and policy, J-5, on the Joint Staff.
A notice that Biden submitted Allvin's nomination to the Senate was made public Wednesday, and it was referred to the Senate Armed Services Committee. The previous Air Force chief of staff, Brown, was nominated in May to serve as the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
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Allvin graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1986. He is a command pilot with more than 4,600 hours, including 800 flight test hours in more than 30 aircraft and 100 combat hours in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to his service biography.
His earliest assignments were as a C-12F Huron co-pilot out of Ramstein Air Base, Germany, and as a C-141B co-pilot out of McChord Air Force Base, Washington, which was later consolidated into a joint base. He also flew C-17 Globemaster IIIs and C-130J Super Hercules as an experimental test pilot out of Edwards Air Force Base, California.
If confirmed, Allvin will be responsible for 689,000 active-duty, Guard, reserve and civilian forces.
He would also be taking over the role at a pivotal time for the Air Force as the Pentagon continues to focus on competition with China and as the service struggles to meet its recruiting goals.
The U.S. has seen some of its lowest unemployment rates in more than 50 years, something that hurts military recruiting efforts. Added to that, the Pentagon has released studies showing that only 23% of American youth are eligible to serve due to being overweight, using drugs, or having mental and physical health problems.
The Air Force Recruiting Service said that, overall, less than 10% of the young population is interested in serving in the first place -- 50% can't even name all the military service branches.
Considering all those factors, Air Force officials have told Military.com that the service is projecting a shortfall of between 10% and 13% in its recruiting goals.
Meanwhile, both Allvin and Brown face an uncertain timeline to be confirmed for their new roles as Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., continues to stymie military promotions in retaliation for the Pentagon's abortion travel policies.
As of July 12, 97 Air Force and six Space Force nominations are being held up because of Tuberville, Defense One reported.
-- Thomas Novelly can be reached at thomas.novelly@military.com. Follow him on Twitter @TomNovelly.
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