Biden taps Gen. David Allvin for Air Force chief of staff

Air Force Vice Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin has been tapped by President Biden to be the top ranking officer in the service amid the holdup on military promotions in the Senate. 

Biden’s nomination of Allvin to be Air Force chief of staff was submitted to the Senate Tuesday, according to a notice from the chamber. The choice has not yet been publicly announced.  

If confirmed, Allvin would replace Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., whom Biden picked in May to become the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. 

Brown’s nomination last week was approved by the Senate Armed Services Committee. If confirmed by the full Senate, he would become only the second Black man to be chairman of the Joint Chiefs after Colin Powell. 

Brown’s appointment would also be historic as it would mean that, with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in his role at the Defense Department, the top two Pentagon officials would be Black men for the first time. 

Allvin, meanwhile, has a career that spans the globe with positions in Afghanistan, Germany and at the Pentagon on the Joint Chiefs of Staff. 

He graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1986 and served as the commanding general of NATO Air Training Command–Afghanistan; the head of 438th Air Expeditionary Wing, Kabul; commander of 618th Air and Space Operations Center; director of strategy, plans and policy at U.S. European Command; and vice director of strategy, plans and policy on the Joint Chiefs. 

He was nominated to be the Air Force vice chief of staff in August 2020 and confirmed to the role later that year.  

Biden announced last week that he picked Adm. Lisa Franchetti, who has been vice chief of naval operations, to be the next chief of naval operations. Franchetti was previously passed over by Austin when he recommended candidates for the role. 

The president’s announcements come as military nominees have been blocked in the Senate. 

Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) is preventing the Senate from moving on military promotions in protest of the Pentagon’s abortion policy, which allows for paid leave and travel reimbursement for abortions. 

Biden, Austin and top officials have called on Tuberville to end the hold and called on Republicans in the Senate to stop the Alabama Republican, warning that he is putting national security at risk. 

Alex Gangitano contributed reporting