Gen. Mark Welsh, the Air Force's chief of staff, will retire on July 1.
In an email Sunday, Air Force spokesman Maj. Christopher Moore said that the date of the chief of staff transition ceremony, in which Welsh will welcome his successor as the top officer in the Air Force, has not yet been set. Moore said the transition ceremony date will be announced when the White House reveals its nominee to be the next chief of staff, but it is unclear how soon that will happen.
Pentagon watchers believe the top three candidates to replace Welsh are Gen. Darren McDew, head of U.S. Transportation Command, Air Combat Command head Gen. Herbert "Hawk" Carlisle, and Air Force Space Command head Gen. John Hyten.
Last year, Gen. Lori Robinson was seen as an early favorite to succeed Welsh and become the first female chief of staff in U.S. history. But last month, Robinson was nominated to head U.S. Northern Command, taking her out of the running for chief of staff.
Welsh was commissioned as an Air Force officer in June 1976, and became chief of staff in August 2012. He is a command pilot with more than 3,300 hours flying the F-16, A-10, T-37 and TG-7A motorized glider.
Aaron Mehta of Defense News contributed to this report.
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.
