Senate Panel Advances Biden’s Pick to Lead Air Forces Cyber

The Senate Armed Services Committee has advanced President Joe Biden’s pick to lead the 16th Air Force, a numbered air force that specializes in information warfare.

Also known as Air Forces Cyber, the Joint San Antonio-Lackland-based organization is tasked with delivering multi-source intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, electronic warfare and information capabilities to the Air Force, its website says.

If approved by the full Senate, Maj. Gen. Kevin Kennedy would be promoted to the grade of lieutenant general and succeed Lt. Gen. Timothy Haugh, The Record reported.

The Senate confirmed Haugh in May as the new deputy commander of the U.S. Cyber Command. He is credited with consolidating several USAF missions into the purview of Air Forces Cyber.

Kennedy, a speaker at a past Potomac Officers Club event, currently serves as the director of operations at USCYBERCOM. According to his service biography, he carries out full-spectrum Department of Defense information network operations.

He was previously an instructor at the U.S. Air Force Weapons School and the 28th Bomb Wing commander at Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota. The Air Force said that Kennedy has more than 3,400 flying hours in the B-1 and T-38.

He has also served on the staffs of the USAF headquarters, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Office of the Secretary of Defense.

Kennedy earned a bachelor’s degree in astronautical engineering from the USAF Academy, where he received his commission. He also holds a master’s degree in systems management from the University of Southern California.