RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas –
Brig. Gen. Gregory A. Feest will take command of 19th Air Force from Maj. Gen. Irving L. Halter Jr. at a ceremony July 30 at 9 a.m. in Hangar 4 here.
General Feest, who has been selected for promotion to major general, returns to Randolph from the Joint Staff at the Pentagon, where he served since December 2006 as deputy director for Force Application in the Directorate of Force Structure, Resources and Assessment. In his previous assignment, he was AETC director of Logistics, Installations and Mission Support here.
General Halter leaves 19th Air Force for an assignment on the Joint Staff as vice director of Operations (J-3).
Lt. Gen. Richard Y. Newton III, Air Force deputy chief of staff for Manpower and Personnel, announced General Halter's assignment July 17. He was previously announced June 5 as the next vice commander for Air Education and Training Command. That position will be filled by Maj. Gen. Anthony F. Przybyslawski, director of Intelligence and Air, Space and Information Operations at AETC.
A command pilot with more than 3,200 hours of flight time logged, including more than 2,200 hours in the F-15, General Halter took command of 19th Air Force in October 2006.
General Feest is a command pilot who has logged more than 5,200 flying hours, including more than 800 combat hours earned during operations Just Cause, Desert Storm, Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom.
The 19th Air Force trains nearly 25,000 U.S. and allied students annually. The training ranges from entry-level undergraduate flying training through advanced combat crew training, and ultimately provides fully qualified aircrew members to the warfighting commands. The 19th Air Force is composed of more than 38,000 total force members and 1,720 aircraft assigned to 17 wings and three independent training groups located across the United States.