Brig. Gen. Elton to get second star, take counterterror post in Pentagon

Brig. Gen. Albert "Buck" Elton, the deputy commanding general for Joint Special Operations Command at U.S. Special Operations Command, has been selected for promotion and a new job heading up counterterrorism efforts at the Pentagon, according to a Defense Department release Thursday.

If approved, Elton will get his second star and become deputy director for special operations for counterterrorism at the Pentagon's joint staff.

Elton is a command pilot with more than 4,300 flying hours — including 350 combat hours — in the C-130E, MC-130H, MC-130E and MQ-1B. He graduated from the Air Force Academy in 1989.

As a lieutenant colonel in 2006, he served as deputy commander for the Combined Joint Special Operations Air Component in Balad, Iraq. And as a colonel in 2010, he served as commander for the Joint Special Operations Air Component in Port au Prince, Haiti, and also as the commander for the Combined Joint Special Operations Air Detachment in Bagram, Afghanistan.

Elton will be replaced as deputy commanding general for JSOC by Maj. Gen. Gregory Lengyel, who is now commander of Special Operations Command Europe and director of Special Operations Directorate at U.S. European Command in Stuttgart-Vaihingen, Germany.

In other assignment announcements:

• Maj. Gen. Peter Gerston, deputy commander of operations and intelligence for U.S. Central Command's Combined Joint Task Force for Operation Inherent Resolve and commander of Air Combat Command's 9th Air Expeditionary Task Force will be deputy assistant secretary for programs for the Air Force's comptroller.
• Brig. Gen. Kirk Smith, director of plans, requirements and programs for Air Force Special Operations Command at Hurlburt Field in Florida, will become director for force management and development at SOCOM at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida.

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