USAFE leader to retire

Gen. Roger A. Brady, commander of U.S. Air Forces in Europe, will retire early next year, concluding a two-year tenure as the top Air Force leader in Europe.

Lt. Gen. Mark A. Welsh III has been named as Brady’s successor, the Air Force announced Friday. Welsh, who has been confirmed by the U.S. Senate for appointment to general, currently serves as the CIA associate director for Military Support and Military Affairs in Washington.

From his new office at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, Welsh also will function as commander of NATO’s Air Component Command and as director of the alliance’s Joint Air Power Competency Center.

Brady’s retirement will end a 40-year career that includes service in Vietnam and experience in other deployed operations spanning from securing coalition support for the stand-up of expeditionary wings during Operation Allied Force in Yugoslavia to providing air mobility support for the war efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

A date for the USAFE change of command has not been announced.