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| Navy Admiral William E. Gortney, the outgoing commander of the North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command, hugs the incoming commander, Air Force Gen. Lori J. Robinson, also giving her his Denver Broncos mug, during the change of command ceremony at Peterson Air Force Base, in Colorado Springs, Colo., Friday, May 13, 2016. Gen. Robinson is the first woman to lead a top-tier U.S. military command after taking charge Friday at NORAD and USNORTHCOM. |
PETERSON AIR
FORCE BASE, Colo. (AP) -- Air Force Gen. Lori J. Robinson on
Friday became the first woman to lead a top-tier U.S. warfighting
command when she took charge of the North American Aerospace Defense
Command and U.S. Northern Command in Colorado.
Robinson
- one of just two female four-star generals in the Air Force - was "the
clear and obvious choice," said Defense Secretary Ash Carter, who
attended the change of command ceremony in a vast hangar at Peterson Air
Force Base. Outside, a row of cannons fired a 19-gun salute.
Carter
praised Robinson's extensive experience and her skill as a strategic
thinker capable of making split-second, life-and-death decisions. Her
promotion shows the U.S. has female officers qualified for the most
senior positions, he said.
"I do hope - well, I know - there are more in her wake, more female officers in her wake," Carter said.
Robinson
is an inspiration to female cadets at the nearby Air Force Academy,
said Academy Superintendent Michelle Johnson, a three-star general and
the first woman to head the school. "They appreciate seeing somebody
that they can aspire to," Johnson said after the ceremony.
Robinson's
family has deep roots in the Air Force. Her husband, David Robinson, is
a retired two-star general and was a pilot in the Thunderbirds
demonstration team. A daughter, 2nd Lt. Taryn Ashley Robinson, was
fatally injured in a pilot training crash months after graduating from
the Air Force Academy. She died in January 2006, four weeks before her
23rd birthday.
"I knew she was peeking over the clouds, and I knew that she was saying, 'You go, Mom,' " Robinson said after the ceremony.
People
who know Robinson describe her as the personification of a new
generation of leaders, someone who understands that the Air Force has a
broad role in space, cybersecurity and drones, not just flying and
fighting.
That's what sets Robinson apart, not
her gender, said Maria Carl, a retired Air Force colonel who worked
with her when the general headed the Pacific Air Forces at Joint Base
Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii.
"Gen. Robinson
reflects that change as much as anything else," said Carl, who serves on
the Military Affairs Council of the Hawaii Chamber of Commerce. "She
has an ability to take all the different pieces of the picture and pull
it together strategically."
One of her new
commands, the North American Aerospace Defense Command or NORAD, is a
joint U.S.-Canada operation that defends the skies over both nations and
monitors sea approaches. It's best known for its Cold War-era control
room deep inside Cheyenne Mountain - now used only as a backup - and for
its wildly popular NORAD Tracks Santa operation on Christmas Eve,
fielding calls from children asking for Santa's whereabouts.
Her
other command, Northern Command, is responsible for defending U.S.
territory from attack and helping civilian authorities in emergencies.
It was created after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Robinson
has an extensive background in command and control, the science of
orchestrating military operations across a broad area. In her previous
job, commander of Pacific Air Forces, her area of responsibility spanned
more than half the globe.
"You're dealing
with a lot of countries, a lot of the air forces in the Pacific, China
being one of them," said Darryll Wong, a retired Air Force major general
and Hawaii's former adjutant general. "She had to be a fast learner."
