WASHINGTON — The U.S. Air Force has named Shawn Barnes to be assistant deputy chief of staff for space operations directorate, and Maj. Gen. Pamela Lincoln to be mobilization assistant to the deputy chief of staff for space operations.
The Air Force has yet to name the deputy chief for the new directorate, but Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein noted in June the job will be filled by a “a new three-star deputy chief of staff for space” who “will increase decision making speed and help ensure freedom from attack and freedom to maneuver,”
Barnes is now Air Force’s Legislative Liaison Directorate deputy director. He had served in the Air Force between 1985 and 2013, retiring as a colonel. He had served in a wide variety of ICBM and space operations and staff positions including instructor, crew commander, executive officer, and chief of special operations. He commanded the 12th Space Warning Squadron at Thule Air Base, Greenland, and the 595th Space Group at Schriever Air Force Base, Colorado.
Lincoln is the now mobilization assistant to the Commander, 14th Air Force (Air Forces Strategic), Air Force Space Command; and commander, Joint Functional Component Command for Space, U.S. Strategic Command, Vandenberg Air Force Base. She received her commission in 1989. She served on active duty in various assignments until 1998 when she joined the Air Force Reserve. She has held leadership positions at the squadron, wing, and Air Staff levels.
Initially, the new directorate will include 43 military members, government civilians, and contractors, with an official start date of Aug. 21.
The new directorate is part of the Air Force effort to adapt its operations, processes and organizational structure to recognize space as a warfighting domain. The service also is instituting a new space warfighting concept of operations, changing its space force training model, streamlining its acquisition processes, and designing more resilient and survivable space systems.
The Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson will continue to serve as the principal space adviser to the Defense Secretary James Mattis over the next year.
