Subscribe
Maj. Gen. Timothy Ray has been selected to replace Lt. Gen. Darryl L. Roberson as 3rd Air Force commander.

Maj. Gen. Timothy Ray has been selected to replace Lt. Gen. Darryl L. Roberson as 3rd Air Force commander. (U.S. Air Force)

Maj. Gen. Timothy Ray has been selected to replace Lt. Gen. Darryl L. Roberson as 3rd Air Force commander.

Maj. Gen. Timothy Ray has been selected to replace Lt. Gen. Darryl L. Roberson as 3rd Air Force commander. (U.S. Air Force)

Lt. Gen. Darryl L. Roberson, 3rd Air Force commander, salutes a unit commander during the 3rd Air Force assumption-of-command ceremony June 11, 2014, at Ramstein Air Base, Germany. The 3rd Air Force commander is packing his bags for Texas after less than a year on the job. 

Joshua L. DeMotts/Stars and Stripes

Lt. Gen. Darryl L. Roberson, 3rd Air Force commander, salutes a unit commander during the 3rd Air Force assumption-of-command ceremony June 11, 2014, at Ramstein Air Base, Germany. The 3rd Air Force commander is packing his bags for Texas after less than a year on the job. Joshua L. DeMotts/Stars and Stripes (Joshua L. DeMotts/Stars and Stripes)

KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany — After less than a year on the job, 3rd Air Force commander Lt. Gen. Darryl L. Roberson has been selected for a new assignment, the military said Wednesday.

President Barack Obama nominated Roberson to be the next commander of Air Education and Training Command at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph in Texas, the Pentagon said in a news release. His replacement, if approved by Congress, will be Maj. Gen. Timothy Ray, a bomber pilot.

Roberson would take over at Air Education and Training Command for Gen. Robin Rand. In March, the Senate confirmed Rand to be the first four-star commander of Air Force Global Strike Command. The Air Force is upgrading the position by one star as part of an overhaul aimed at fixing morale and other problems within the service’s nuclear missile fleet.

Roberson, a fighter pilot who began his Air Force career flying the F-4E Phantom, took command of 3rd Air Force in June 2014. He also commands the 17th Expeditionary Air Force. Between the two, Roberson is responsible for directing air operations for U.S. Air Forces in Europe and Air Forces Africa from 3rd Air Force headquarters at Ramstein.

Ray, his proposed replacement, currently serves as director of global power programs, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, in Washington.

Ray, a 1985 Air Force Academy graduate, has flown the B-52 and B-1 bombers, among other aircraft, according to his official biography. He headed NATO’s Air Training Command and the 438th Air Expeditionary Wing in Kabul, Afghanistan, from August 2011 to September 2012.

This would be Ray’s first assignment in Europe. He has been nominated for promotion to lieutenant general.

svan.jennifer@stripes.com

author picture
Jennifer reports on the U.S. military from Kaiserslautern, Germany, where she writes about the Air Force, Army and DODEA schools. She’s had previous assignments for Stars and Stripes in Japan, reporting from Yokota and Misawa air bases. Before Stripes, she worked for daily newspapers in Wyoming and Colorado. She’s a graduate of the College of William and Mary in Virginia.

Sign Up for Daily Headlines

Sign up to receive a daily email of today's top military news stories from Stars and Stripes and top news outlets from around the world.

Sign Up Now