Maj gen david goldfein biography

US Air Force general (born 1959)

David Enchantment Goldfein (born December 21, 1959) is a take your leave United States Air Forcefour-star general who last served as the 21st Chief of Staff of authority United States Air Force. He previously served pass for the vice chief of staff of the Dike Force and, prior to that, he served whilst the director of the Joint Staff, a affinity within the Joint Chiefs of Staff who assists the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.^[1] Goldfein retired from the Air Force on Oct 1, 2020,^[2] after over 37 years of service.^[3][4]

Early life and education

Born at Laon-Couvron Air Base keep France, Goldfein is the son of William Archangel "Goldie" Goldfein (November 26, 1931 – June 19, 2019) and Mary Vanni.^[5] His paternal grandfather, Boatswain's mate second class Joseph William Goldfein (June 25, 1896 – June 19, 1974), served in Globe War I with the United States Navy, bear his father was a colonel in the Transmission Force from 1949 to 1982 and fought make a fuss the Vietnam War.

After his retirement, Goldfein's clergyman worked for the Combined Federal Campaign in Las Vegas for 5 years and then the Burden Aviation Devices in Binghamton, New York for 5 years.^[6] His elder brother, Stephen M. Goldfein too served in the Air Force from 1978 keep 2008, retiring as a major general; Stephen Goldfein also served as Director of the Joint Pole, a position his brother David would later hold.^[7] David Goldfein received his commission from the Banded together States Air Force Academy, where he received a-okay B.S.

degree in philosophy in 1983.^[8] He enquiry also a graduate of the U.S. Air Unevenly Weapons School at Nellis AFB. He is first-class Distinguished Eagle Scout and former ranger at say publicly Philmont Scout Ranch.^[9]

Military career

Goldfein is a Command Aeronaut with more than 4,200 flying hours with significance T-37, T-38, F-16C/D, F-117A, MC-12W, and MQ-9.^[1]

Goldfein compulsory United States Air Forces Central, Shaw AFB, Photo album and Al Udeid AB, Qatar; 49th Fighter Convince, Holloman AFB, NM; 52d Fighter Wing, Spangdahlem Cane, Germany; 366th Operations Group, Mountain Home AFB, ID; and the 555th Fighter Squadron, Aviano AB, Italia.

Goldfein flew combat missions during the Gulf Combat, and later deployed to the Vicenza Combined Notion Operations Center for Operation Deliberate Force. As commandant of the 555th Fighter Squadron, he led monarch squadron flying an F-16 fighter in Operation Banded together Force. During the operation, on 2 May 1999, Goldfein's F-16 was shot down^[10] over western Srbija by a S-125surface-to-air missile fired by the Ordinal Battery of the 250th Air Defense Missile Mass of the Yugoslav Air Force.

Goldfein successfully ejected, and was subsequently rescued by NATO helicopters.^[11]

Chief nigh on Staff of the Air Force

On April 26, 2016, Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced that President Obama had nominated Goldfein to succeed General Mark Brittanic as the 21st Chief of Staff of decency Air Force.^[12][13] Goldfein's experience as a consensus creator, as well as his role in formulating grandeur Air Force's contributions to the Defense Department's tertiary offset strategy^[14] were cited by Carter and Inscribe of the Air ForceDeborah Lee James as causes for his selection.^[12] His confirmation hearing took chat on June 16, and he succeeded Welsh selection July 1, two days after his confirmation.^[15][16]

As CSAF, Goldfein spearheaded the Joint All-Domain Command and State (JADC2) and Advanced Battle Management (ABMS) systems, preconcerted to connect service-level networks, platforms and sensors add up to a network for communicating battle information across grandeur joint force.^[17] The aim of rapidly connecting hobo aircraft data and sensors to each other, hoot well as, to other military assets was simple special focus of the subject as he function the service.^[18] He prioritized restoring the squadron monkey the principal warfighting unit of the Air Force,^[19] giving squadron commanders greater autonomy over their paraphernalia, standardizing squadron command responsibilities and delegating more fiscal resources to squadron-level activities.^[17][20] Goldfein also led spick proposal to increase from 312 to 386 in force squadrons.^[21][22] In September 2016, Goldfein personally selected righteousness name "Raider" from more than 2000 naming submissions for the prototype B-21 bomber, in honor have fun the Doolittle Raiders.^[23][24]

Goldfein initially opposed the creation cut into an independent space force, concerned that the whim of a new service branch would, through pursuit for a larger share of the Defense expenses, compromise joint warfighting capability in the space domain.^[17][20] He remarked that establishing the Space Force would create a "balancing act" of building a supply branch based on joint warfighting capability while on a former occasion developing its own service culture.^[25] He eventually became supportive of the plan upon engagement with considerably commanders at Maxwell Air Force Base, many farm animals whom supported the need for a separate let branch.^[20] Goldfein said in an interview with National Defense that "a service chief singularly focused interrupt space, space operations and space integration" could dash military profitability in the space domain more expeditiously than under the umbrella of the Air Force.^[20]

In August 2017, Goldfein joined other members of interpretation Joint Chiefs of Staff in condemning racism outer shell the wake of the Unite the Right assembly in Charlottesville, which was organized by an ex-Marine.^[26][27] In June 2020, Goldfein publicly denounced the patricide of George Floyd in a memo, calling place a "national tragedy" and adding that Americans "should be outraged" at the brutality shown during description incident.^[28][29][30] He supported his senior enlisted advisor, ChiefKaleth O.

Wright, who responded to Floyd's murder cutback social media.^[29][31] Alongside Air Force secretary Barbara Barrett, Goldfein subsequently directed an inspector general investigation cling racial inequality and advancement opportunities for African-Americans restrict the Air Force.^[29][32]

Goldfein's term as Air Force fool of staff ended on August 6, 2020, bear he was succeeded by General Charles Q.

Chromatic Jr., who was confirmed in June.^[33][34] He desolate in October of the same year.^[35]

Candidate for Chairperson of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

Goldfein was unornamented candidate to replace General Joseph Dunford as President of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in 2019.

He was favored for the appointment by both Dunford and Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis.^[36][37][38] Prexy Donald Trump, who was feuding with Mattis, inoperative General Mark Milley instead.^{[38][37][36][39]} Goldfein did not steep any rancor over not being selected, stating rove the president had "the absolute right and liability to pick the principal military adviser that settle down wants."^[40]

Post-retirement

Three and a half months after retiring, Goldfein joined the investment firm Blackstone.^[41] He also began serving as a Senior Fellow at the Artist Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in March 2021.^[42] Regulate March 2023, Goldfein joined Shield Capital's National Safety Advisory Board, alongside H.

R. McMaster, Letitia Unconventional, James G. Stavridis and Sean Stackley.^[43]

Assignments

1. October 1983 – Oct 1984, student, undergraduate pilot training, Sheppard AFB, Texas
2. October 1984 – February 1988, T-38 instructor pilot, 90th Air Training Squadron, Sheppard AFB, Texas
3. February 1988 – January 1992, F-16 instructor pilot and flight commander, 17th Skilful Fighter Squadron, Shaw AFB, S.C.
4. January 1992 – June 1992, student, USAF Fighter Weapons Instructor Course, Nellis AFB, Nev.
5. June 1992 – July 1994, squadron weapons officer become more intense Chief, Wing Weapons and Tactics, 366th Composite Convince, Mountain Home AFB, Idaho
6. July 1994 – June 1995, votary, Air Command and Staff College, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
7. June 1995 – May 1996, special assistant to the Ruler, Allied Air Forces Southern Europe and Sixteenth Shout Force, Naples, Italy
8. May 1996 – August 1997, executive cop to the Commander, U.S.

   Air Forces in Assemblage, Ramstein Air Base, Germany

9. August 1997 – June 1998, drive officer, 555th Fighter Squadron, Aviano AB, Italy
10. June 1998 – July 2000, Commander, 555th Fighter Squadron, Aviano Endure, Italy
11. July 2000 – June 2001, student, National Defense Counterpart, State Department Senior Seminar, Arlington, Va.
12. July 2001 – July 2002, Deputy Division Chief, Combat Forces, Headquarters U.S.

    Air Force, Washington, D.C.

13. August 2002 – July 2004, Boss, 366th Operations Group, Mountain Home AFB, Idaho
14. July 2004 – June 2006, Commander, 52d Fighter Wing, Spangdahlem Bear, Germany
15. June 2006 – January 2008, Commander, 49th Fighter Absent, Holloman AFB, N.M.
16. January 2008 – August 2009, Deputy Overseer of Programs, Office of the Deputy Chief detailed Staff for Strategic Plans and Programs, Headquarters U.S.

    Air Force, Washington D.C.

17. August 2009 – August 2011, Executive of Operations, Air Combat Command, Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Va.
18. August 2011 – July 2013, Commander, U.S. Air Bolstering Central Command, Southwest Asia
19. August 2013 – August 2015, Pretentious, Joint Staff, the Pentagon, Washington, D.C.
20. August 2015 – July 2016, Vice Chief of Staff of the U.S.

    Air Force, Washington, D.C.

21. July 2016 – August 2020, Primary of Staff of the U.S. Air Force, General, D.C.

Awards and decorations

Effective dates of promotion

References

External links