New commander to assume role over 18th Air Force at Scott AFB
From Illinois Business Journal news services
SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE – Lt. Gen. Samuel D. Cox will formally assume command of 18th Air Force at 10 a.m., Oct. 19, during a ceremony at the Scott Club on Scott AFB.
Cox will succeed Maj. Gen. Thomas J. Sharpy, who has commanded the Air Force’s largest numbered Air Force since September.
A numbered air force is subordinate to a major command and has assigned to it operational units such as wings, squadrons and groups.
As Air Mobility Command’s sole warfighting numbered air force, 18th Air Force is responsible for the command’s worldwide operational mission of providing rapid, global mobility and sustainment for America’s armed forces through airlift, aerial refueling, aeromedical evacuation, and contingency response. With more than 37,000 active-duty airmen, reservists and civilians and approximately 1,100 aircraft, the 18th Air Force manages the global air mobility enterprise through the 618th Air and Space Operations Center (Tanker Airlift Control Center), 11 wings and two stand-alone groups. Cox will also command Task Force 294, which oversees Air Force tanker operations in support of U.S. Strategic Command.
Cox will be the ninth 18th Air Force commander since the command’s reactivation in 2003. Prior to this assignment, he was deputy chief of staff for Manpower, Personnel and Services, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C.
