Maj. Gen. Peter Gersten, the commander of the Air Force Warfare Center at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada, was relieved of command Sunday over allegations of an unprofessional relationship.
“The Air Force holds leaders to high standards and expects them to uphold the core values of the service at all times,” Air Combat Command spokeswoman Leah Garton said in an email. “There is currently an on-going investigation and additional details will not be released at this time.”
ACC commander Gen. Mike Holmes fired Gersten “due to a loss of confidence in his ability to command based on an alleged unprofessional relationship,” the command said in a Wednesday release.
Brig. Gen. David Snoddy, vice commander of the warfare center, has now assumed command. He will run the warfare center until July, when Maj. Gen. Charles Corcoran — who was already slated to be the center’s next commander — is scheduled to take over.
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Gersten is an F-16 Falcon pilot who graduated from the Air Force Academy in 1989. He has also flown the unmanned MQ-1 Predator, MQ-9 Reaper and RQ-170 Sentinel, and has more than 2,800 flight hours. The Air Force said that 400 of those flight hours were in combat over Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan and Bosnia.
He has commanded the Air Force Warfare Center since July 2017 and has also held leadership roles in the Pentagon and as deputy commander for operations and intelligence for Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve.
The Air Force Warfare Center was originally founded in 1966 as the Air Force Tactical Fighter Weapons Center and trains airmen to be ready to fight integrated combat operations while deployed. Nellis’ website said the center is intended to be “the world’s premier proving ground for air, space and cyberspace lethality.”
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.
