Brig. Gen. Scott Kindsvater will receive his second star and become the next deputy commander for operations and intelligence for Operation Inherent Resolve, the air campaign against the Islamic State militant group, the Air Force said Feb. 12.
In his new role, Kindsvater will also be commander of the 9th Air Expeditionary Task Force-Levant for Air Combat Command in Southwest Asia. Kindsvater is now assistant deputy commander for U.S. Air Forces Central Command and assistant vice commander of the 9th Air Expeditionary Task Force for ACC at Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina.
Kindsvater is an F-15E command pilot with more than 3,600 flight hours, and graduated from the Air Force Academy in 1989. He has also been the commander of the 336th Fighter Squadron, the commandant of the Air Force Weapons School, and commanded the 93rd Air Ground Operations Wing.
Kindsvater's new job will spark a reshuffling of general officers at the Air Force. Brig. Gen. Andrew Toth, who is now commander of the Pacific Air Forces' 36th Wing at Andersen Air Force Base in Guam, will take over Kindsvater's current roles at CENTCOM and ACC, the Air Force said.
Brig. Gen. Douglas Cox, who is now director of U.S. Air Forces in Europe-United Kingdom at RAF Mildenhall, will succeed Toth at the 36th Wing. And Col. Mark Slocum, who is now commander of the 4th Fighter Wing at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in North Carolina, will receive his first star and take over Cox's old job at Mildenhall.
The Air Force also announced that Brig. Gen. Paul Guemmer, who is commander of the Jeanne M. Holm Center for Officer Accessions and Citizen Development at Air Education and Training Command at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama, will become the military deputy for total force-continuum and deputy chief of staff strategic plans and programs at the Air Force's Pentagon headquarters.
And Brig. Gen. Trent Edwards, who is commander of the 37th Training Wing at AETC at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland in Texas, will be the next director of financial management and comptroller at Air Force Space Command headquarters at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado.
Stephen Losey is the air warfare reporter for Defense News. He previously covered leadership and personnel issues at Air Force Times, and the Pentagon, special operations and air warfare at Military.com. He has traveled to the Middle East to cover U.S. Air Force operations.
