KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany — President Barack Obama has nominated Lt. Gen. Tod D. Wolters as the next commander overseeing Air Force operations in Europe and Africa, the Defense Department announced Tuesday.

If confirmed by the Senate, Wolters would replace Gen. Frank Gorenc as commander of U.S. Air Forces in Europe-Air Forces Africa and commander of Allied Air Command at Ramstein Air Base. Gorenc is scheduled to retire in July, USAFE-AFAFRICA officials have said.

Wolters is currently director of operations on the Joint Staff at the Pentagon, a position he’s held since last summer. He’s an Air Force Academy graduate and a fighter pilot who’s flown the F-15, F-22 and A-10, among other aircraft. Since 1982, when he graduated from the academy, he’s had overseas assignments in Europe and the Middle East.

Early in his career, he was an OV-10 pilot for eight months at Sembach Air Base, according to his Air Force biography. In the late 1980s, Wolters was sent to Germany again as an F-15 instructor pilot and flight examiner at Bitburg Air Base.

Wolters has spent two years in Afghanistan in two separate assignments. He has been nominated for a fourth star.

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