Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick M. Shanahan recently announced Air Force Lt. Gen. James C. Slife has been nominated to command Air Force Special Operations Command at Hurlburt Field. No announcement has yet been made regarding when he will assume command.
Slife is currently serving as vice commander, U.S. Special Operations Command, Pentagon, Washington, District of Columbia, where he is responsible for planning, coordinating, and executing actions with the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Joint Staff, the Services, and other government agencies in the National Capital Region on behalf of the Commander U.S. Special Operations Command.
Slife was born outside of Detroit and grew up in Hot Springs, Arkansas. He was commissioned through the ROTC program at Auburn University and has spent the majority of his career in special operations aviation assignments, deploying extensively.
He earned a Bachelor of Science in aerospace engineering from Auburn University, a Master of Aerospace Science, aeronautics, from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University and a Master of Administrative Science, organizational management, from George Washington University.
He is a command pilot with 3,100 flight hours via MH-53, MQ-1 and others.
He has been awarded the Defense Superior Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters, Bronze Star Medal with oak leaf cluster, Air Medal with three oak leaf clusters and Air Force Combat Action Medal.
Additionally, he was named 2008 Major General John R. Alison Special Operations Educator of the Year, 1998 Air Force Special Operations Command Pilot of the Year and 2002 Air Force Historical Foundation Writing Award – Best SAAS Thesis, “Creech Blue: General Bill Creech and the Reformation of the Tactical Air Forces, 1978-1984.”
