Two from Wright-Patt on general officer nomination list

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An April 14 senior leader announcement indicates that President Obama has nominated Maj. Gen. John Thompson for appointment to the grade of lieutenant general with assignment to become the next Air Force Life Cycle Management Center (AFLCMC) commander.

One of five centers under Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC), AFLCMC is the single center responsible for total life cycle management of Air Force weapon systems.

Thompson will succeed Lt. Gen. C. D. Moore II, who is retiring after a 34-year Air Force career.

Thompson currently is the Air Force Program Executive Officer for tankers within the AFLCMC Tanker Directorate. He is responsible for the planning and execution of all life cycle activities of the Air Force tanker fleet. His responsibilities include development, test, fielding and support of the KC-46 tanker system; in addition to modification and sustainment of the Air Force's tanker legacy tankers, the KC-135 and KC-10.

Thompson entered the Air Force in 1984 as a graduate of the Air Force Academy. He has served in a variety of scientific, acquisition and logistics-oriented capacities, including staff assignments at Air Force Systems Command, AFMC and in the office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition. In 1996 he served as the Air Force's Lead Joint Strike Fighter Program Element Monitor.

Thompson has been chief of the Commodities Division, Ogden Air Logistics Complex at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, and chief of the Air Vehicle Division, C-17 System Program Office at Wright-Patterson AFB. He also served as Director of Propulsion, Oklahoma City ALC at Tinker AFB, Okla.; and Chief of Staff at AFMC headquarters. He has commanded the 327 Aircraft Sustainment Wing at Tinker AFB, and the 303 Aeronautical Systems Wing at Wright-Patterson AFB, where he also served as Air Force Program Executive Officer for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance.

Thompson has also served as Air Force Program Executive Officer for Strategic Systems, Deputy Program Executive Officer for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Program, and KC-46 Program Director.

The president also nominated Col. Walter Lindsley for appointment to the grade of brigadier general. Lindsley is the director of staff in AFMC headquarters.

Lindsley is responsible for integrating daily operations, management, resources, facilities and executive administrative activities in support of the Command Headquarters mission. His role includes harmonizing the cross-cutting activities of five AFMC centers, 81,000 personnel and more than $55 billion annually in research, development, test and evaluation, and sustainment and acquisition.

Prior to this assignment, he was the 498 Nuclear Systems Wing commander at Kirtland AFB, N.M., where Lindsley was responsible for all nuclear maintenance and sustainment activities in the continental United States.

Lindsley entered the Air Force in July 1982 and received his commission in November 1989 after completing Air Force Officer Training School, earning a distinguished graduate award and a regular commission. He has held various assignments in the aircraft and munitions maintenance and logistics fields at the squadron, group, wing, field operating unit, air logistics complex and Air Force headquarters levels, and has served as a deployed commander in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and Korea operations.