SC’s 9th Air Force to get Wells as new commander

SHAW AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. (AP) — Maj. Gen. Stephen Hoog is handing command of the 9th Air Force to Maj. Gen. Lawrence Wells at Shaw Air Force Base.

Wells takes responsibility in a ceremony Monday at the installation outside Sumter. He most recently served as deputy chief of staff for the United Nations Command and U.S. Forces Korea.

The 9th Air Force is responsible for 350 aircraft and 24,000 men and women in units along the U.S. East Coast. It is also in charge of 14 Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve units.

Hoog has been selected for promotion to lieutenant general and reassignment as commander of the Alaskan Command, the 11th Air Force, and the Alaskan North American Defense Region based at Elmendorf Air Force Base in Alaska.