Air Force general is second woman to lead a top US command

By ROBERT BURNS
AP National Security Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — Air Force Gen. Jacqueline Van Ovost has became only the second woman to lead one of the Pentagon’s 11 so-called combatant commands that spearhead the military’s worldwide operations. At a change-of-command ceremony at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin applauded her historic rise, calling her a “legend of a leader.” She is a 1988 graduate of the Air Force Academy. A pilot by training, she was a pivotal player in the airlift of tens of thousands of evacuees from Kabul in August. She helped orchestrate the airlift as commander of the Air Force Air Mobility Command.