Gen. Jim Slife has assumed his new role as the U.S. Air Force’s 41st Vice Chief of Staff.
In this position, Slife will lead the Air Staff and help Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin organize, train and equip more than 689,000 active duty, Guard, Reserve and civilian forces, the USAF said on Friday.
Allvin said Slife is someone who has “seen all parts of the business and has done it with excellence” during a ceremony at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling, D.C., in which the former received his fourth star and celebrated his promotion.
Allwin added that one of Slife’s “hallmarks” is the “idea of leaving things better than when you found it” and expressed his enthusiasm for the ceremony and future collaboration.
Throughout his Air Force career, Slife has compiled over 3,100 flight hours in the MH-53 and MQ-1 as well as other aircraft. Prior to stepping into his new role, he was the service branch’s deputy chief of staff for operations, a position in which he oversaw the development and implementation of policy surrounding global operations, force management, training and readiness.
Earlier, Slife was commander of the Air Force Special Operations Command. He has also served in multiple joint leadership positions, including vice commander of the U.S. Southern Command, chief of staff for the U.S. Special Operations Command and chief of staff for the United Nations Command and U.S. Forces Korea.
Gen. CQ Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, also attended the ceremony. He said Slife’s promotion was “truly deserved” and described the official as someone he “could always turn to because he always provided thoughtful insights.”
During the event, Slife noted the shifting strategic environment faced by the USAF today.
“General Brown called on us to accelerate change. Secretary Kendall has empowered us to actually think about… what we need to have to be competitive for the next several decades,” he said.
Tackling these challenges, said Allvin, is “the hardest thing we’ve done in a long time and maybe the hardest thing we do together.”
Having a team member who has navigated these issues “couldn’t be better now for our force,” he remarked.