As of October 5, 2025, the nomination of Gen. Kenneth S. Wilsbach to be the 24th Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force is before the Senate with a confirmation hearing set for October 9.
Nomination Filed Sept. 30, 2025 and Senate Hearing Scheduled Oct. 9, 2025
The Department of the Air Force announced on September 30 that the President submitted Gen. Wilsbach’s nomination for Chief of Staff. The official notice lists him to succeed Gen. David W. Allvin as the service’s senior uniformed officer.
The Senate received the nomination the same day. Defense officials confirm the Armed Services Committee scheduled his nomination hearing for October 9 at 09:30 in room SD-G50 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.
Industry reporting the same week matched the dates and indicated a handoff planned around early November, pending confirmation.
Allvin Retirement Effective Around Nov. 1, 2025
Gen. Allvin publicly announced on August 18 that he will retire around November 1. The service identified him as the 23rd Chief of Staff and stated he will remain in office until a successor is confirmed.
Briefings in late September reiterated the plan for Allvin to serve through confirmation and indicated a retirement ceremony in October. The same updates described the normal four-year expectation for a chief of staff tour and noted Allvin’s early departure.
Parallel changes inside the Air Force senior ranks continued to unfold. Gen. Thomas Bussiere, previously nominated to serve as vice chief, saw that nomination withdrawn in early September and has since moved to retire with a successor already identified for Air Force Global Strike Command.
Wilsbach’s Background and Recent Commands with ACC and PACAF
Service records list Gen. Wilsbach as a command pilot with more than 6,000 flight hours and 71 combat missions. He has operational experience in Operations Northern Watch, Southern Watch and Enduring Freedom. His aircraft qualifications include the F-15C, F-16C, MC-12W and F-22A.
Before the nomination, Wilsbach led Air Combat Command after his tenure at Pacific Air Forces. The Air Force detailed his assumption of ACC on February 29, 2024, and his departure in August 2025 as he prepared for retirement. Public summaries also note prior commands at 7th Air Force, 11th Air Force, and multiple wings and groups.
At PACAF, he described several Chinese intercepts as unsafe and unprofessional. In September 2023, he warned that poor airmanship in international airspace risked loss of life. The Defense Department released a report that year, documenting multiple unsafe intercepts over the Western Pacific.
Immediate Oversight Issues for the Next Chief of Staff
Flight-test milestones for the B-21 Raider advanced during September. The Air Force reported the arrival of a second B-21 test aircraft to Edwards Air Force Base on September 11. Imagery and independent reporting the same week showed the second aircraft taking flight, consistent with an early phase of envelope work.
F-35 production and fielding remain under scrutiny for TR-3 hardware and software maturity. A Government Accountability Office review dated September 3 outlined how TR-3 drove late deliveries through 2024 and recommended aligning planned purchases with demonstrated delivery capacity. The Pentagon resumed accepting jets in 2024 while withholding about $5 million per aircraft until combat-coded TR-3 capability is qualified.
Collaborative Combat Aircraft Increment 1 progressed with two competitors – teams led by General Atomics and Anduril – moving toward flight test articles. Late-September updates from senior leaders pointed to early contract steps for a second iteration within months. According to industry sources, timelines for Increment 2 awards depend on test performance and budget direction in fiscal 2026.
The Sentinel ICBM program faces a Nunn-McCurdy breach documented in 2024 and revisited by independent oversight this September. Congressional research and audit products both cite major cost growth and a multi-year restructure, while keeping the recapitalization rationale intact due to the lack of an alternative.
Airborne moving-target indication and battle management plans drew new attention after the Department moved to cancel the E-7 Wedgetail in June, citing cost increases, schedule delays and survivability in contested airspace. Subsequent reporting tracked congressional pushback seeking to preserve development funds and prohibit termination. Hearings and markups across July pointed to a legislative effort to keep the AWACS replacement in play. Defense officials confirm the cancellation notice; committee actions signal the issue remains live heading into conference.
Tanker modernization remains paced by KC-46 Remote Vision System 2.0 maturity. Published schedules in May projected fielding slipping to summer 2027, placing the operational tanker fleet’s full-capability date beyond the original plan.
These portfolio items will meet the incoming chief immediately: test points for B-21, acceptance gates for F-35 with TR-3, early production risk for CCA, nuclear modernization with Sentinel’s re-baselining, airborne sensing architecture choices after the E-7 decision and aerial refueling upgrades.
According to senior Air Force public statements in September, the service intends to avoid leadership gaps during the transition. The scheduled hearing date and the stated retirement timing for the incumbent show a coordinated approach. Defense officials confirm the committee will take testimony from the nominee at the October 9 session, after which the panel can report the nomination for a floor vote.
The B-21 Combined Test Force will carry on at Edwards under pre-arranged sortie plans. The F-35 Joint Program Office and the contractor teams will proceed with TR-3 software builds and fielding gates tied to operational test. CCA teams will move from build to flight. Sentinel will follow the Nunn-McCurdy remediation steps approved in 2024 and updated this year. The E-7 question will turn on legislative language and any directed studies. KC-46 retrofit lines will continue toward 2027.
The October 9 hearing coincides with the period of fall reprogramming decisions and early posture work for the fiscal 2027 submission. The immediate practical levers available to a new chief are narrow at first – test tempo, acceptance pacing and staffing guidance – until budget lines and directives catch up through formal cycles.
REFERENCE SOURCES
- https://www.airandspaceforces.com/new-kc-46-rvs-slips-summer-2027/
- https://www.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/4319090/gen-kenneth-wilsbach-nominated-as-24th-air-force-chief-of-staff/
- https://www.armed-services.senate.gov/hearings/to-consider-the-nomination-of_general-kenneth-s-wilsbach-usaf-for-reappointment-to-the-grade-of-general–and-to-be-chief-of-staff-of-the-air-force
- https://www.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/4278007/air-force-chief-of-staff-announces-retirement/
- https://www.airandspaceforces.com/allvin-to-remain-as-chief-of-staff-until-replacement-confirmed/
- https://www.airandspaceforces.com/bussiere-retire-vice-chief-nomination-withdrawn/
- https://www.airandspaceforces.com/wilsbach-next-csaf/
- https://www.defensenews.com/air/2025/09/30/gen-wilsbach-tapped-to-replace-allvin-as-air-force-chief/
- https://defensescoop.com/2025/09/30/gen-wilsbach-air-force-chief-of-staff-nomination-trump/
- https://www.af.mil/About-Us/Biographies/Display/Article/108478/kenneth-s-wilsbach/
- https://www.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/3693038/air-combat-command-welcomes-new-commander/
- https://www.airandspaceforces.com/world-air-9/
- https://breakingdefense.com/2023/09/not-uncommon-for-american-jets-to-be-intercepted-by-china-10-times-a-day-pacaf-chief-says/
- https://www.pacom.mil/Media/NEWS/News-Article-View/Article/3569987/unprofessional-intercept-of-us-b-52-over-south-china-sea/
- https://www.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/4301502/us-air-force-announces-arrival-of-second-b-21-test-aircraft-at-edwards-afb/
- https://www.twz.com/air/second-b-21-raider-stealth-bomber-has-flown
- https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-25-107632
- https://www.reuters.com/world/us/pentagon-withholds-5-mln-per-f-35-jet-deliveries-resume-2024-08-29/
- https://breakingdefense.com/2025/09/cca-update-air-force-expects-early-contracts-for-second-iteration-in-months/
- https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/us-air-force-narrows-list-general-atomics-anduril-build-autonomous-aircraft-2024-04-24/
- https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/IF11681
- https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-25-108466.pdf
- https://breakingdefense.com/2025/06/air-force-cancels-e-7-wedgetail-citing-survivability-and-cost-concerns/
- https://www.airandspaceforces.com/air-force-cancel-e-7-wedgetail-buy/
- https://www.twz.com/air/step-toward-blocking-e-7-wedgetail-radar-jet-program-cancellation-taken-by-congress
- https://www.defensenews.com/air/2025/05/07/kc-46-vision-system-upgrade-slips-to-2027-three-years-behind-schedule/
