Gen. Kenneth Wilsbach testifies before the Senate Armed Services Committee about his nomination to be Air Force chief of staff on Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025, in Washington. (Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes)
WASHINGTON — Air Force Gen. Kenneth Wilsbach and his wife had planned to retire to Florida this year and begin the next chapter of their lives.
“But then I received a call to continue my service. After much reflection and prayer, I said yes because I love this country, and I love the Air Force,” Wilsbach told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday as the nominee to be the Air Force’s top officer.
Wilsbach most recently served as the commander of Air Combat Command, which ensures airmen and aircraft are prepared for combat. He stepped down from his position as head of Air Combat Command in August and previously led U.S. Air Forces in the Pacific.
“During your tenure as the Air Combat Commander, you helped lead the service through a critical period of modernization, and you have extensive leadership experience at every level — from squadron to wing and across the globe, including in combat,” said Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the top Democrat on the committee.
President Donald Trump nominated Wilsbach last month to be the Air Force chief of staff. If confirmed, Wilsbach will succeed Gen. David Allvin, who unexpectedly announced in August he would retire as the Air Force’s chief of staff halfway through his four-year term.
Allvin said he plans to leave his post in November and did not give a reason for his early retirement.
His departure follows the firing of the Air Force vice chief of staff in February and makes him the third member of the Joint Chiefs to leave or be dismissed early in recent months.
Senators addressed several topics, including modernization and readiness, as well as ensuring China remains an area of focus.
“I never thought I’d be at a hearing where the exciting and sexy topic of maintenance would be dominating the discussion, but it is critically important,” Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, said.
Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., said the Air Force has faced “persistent decline” in overall aircraft mission capability rates including for the F-22, F-35 and the KC-46s. He told the general “we have got to reverse this rate.”
“We have the people available to fix them, but they determine we need a part, and they turn around to the shelf to pull the part off the shelf, and it’s not there,” Wilsbach responded. “It’s not completely funding, but that’s a large, large part of it.”
The Air Force requested Congress spend $209.6 billion — a 13.5% increase from fiscal 2025 — in the next fiscal budget. It includes $184.9 billion in the annual defense budget, supplemented with another $24.9 billion in one-time spending included in legislation now before Congress.
To fund its priorities, the Air Force will reduce its planned purchase of F-35A Lightning II fighters by 24 planes. The budget also calls for retiring all 162 of its remaining A-10 Thunderbolt II ground attack aircraft by the end of 2027 instead of the previously planned phase-out over three years.
China was identified as the U.S. military’s pacing threat by both the first Trump administration and the administration of former President Joe Biden. The administration’s forthcoming defense strategy reorders U.S. military priorities — centering the Pentagon on perceived threats to the homeland, narrowing U.S. competition with China, and downplaying America’s role in Europe and Africa, The Washington Post reported.
“It is concerning that there are some rumors, recent reporting that the draft national defense strategy deprioritizes the challenges posed by China. General … would you agree that China continues to be a significant or the most significant threat to US national security,” Sen. Mazie Hirono asked.
“Yes, I would agree,” Wilsbach replied.
Wilsbach was commissioned in 1985 after graduating from the University of Florida and earned his pilot wings the following year. As a fighter pilot, Wilsbach has logged 6,000 flying hours in aircraft such as the F-22, F-15 and F-16 and has flown 71 combat missions.
