Activated

The Air Force today officially stood up the command that will oversee all of the service’s nuclear bomber and intercontinental ballistic missile activities.

The provisional Global Strike Command (AFGSC) will be led by Brig. Gen. James Kowalski -- a combat bomber pilot extensive time in the B-52 and B-1B -- and will call Bolling Air Force Base in Washington its temporary home. Air Combat Command and Air Force Space Command will house supporting detachments.

The command is slated to reach initial operational capability in September. The provisional shop will “lead preparation activities for the establishment of a major command (MAJCOM) that will consolidate nuclear operations under a single organization,” according to a service statement.

This includes assisting in identifying a final location, and identifying manpower and resource requirements that will transfer to the newly established AFGSC.

The provisional command will also work closely with Headquarters Air Force Strategic Deterrence and Nuclear Integration Office (A10), Air Combat Command, Air Force Space Command, Air Force Materiel Command and U.S. Strategic Command as it refines the roles and responsibilities of this MAJCOM.

The Air Force will inactivate the provisional command upon the stand-up of the MAJCOM.

Headquarters Air Force and MAJCOMs provided temporary personnel to fill a core HQ element of 55 personnel who are subject matter experts capable of developing the functional requirements for AFGSC.

The service announced it would stand up a major command to oversee its nuclear enterprise last fall in response to several high-profile gaffes involving the services’s handling of nuclear weapons and components.