Jackson takes helm of AF Reserve Command

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ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. --  -- Lt. Gen. James F. Jackson became chief of Air Force Reserve and assumed command of Air Force Reserve Command in a ceremony July 30 at the Museum of Aviation.

He replaced Lt. Gen. Charles E. Stenner Jr., who retired from the Air Force with 39 years of military service after the change of command. Stenner had served as chief and commander since June 2008.

Air Force Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Larry O. Spencer, officiated the ceremony.

As the chief of Air Force Reserve, Jackson serves as the principal adviser on Reserve matters to the Air Force chief of staff. As AFRC commander, he supervises 71,400 reservists in the Selected Reserve assigned to command units and the Individual Mobilization Augmentee program.

"The challenges will continue," Jackson said at the change of command ceremony. "I will do my best to lead us all to success.

"I will not overlook that the Reserve's strength is based on a careful balance of family, employer and military responsibilities - the triad we always talk about. I will focus on projecting those strengths of Citizen Airmen where they will most benefit the continued security of our nation and its interests."

Jackson became the deputy to the chief of Air Force Reserve in the Pentagon in May 2010. When he assumed command of AFRC, he became the chief of Air Force Reserve.

He is a 1978 graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy. He completed more than 14 years on active duty, including flying tours in Europe and the Pacific, before joining the Air Force Reserve in 1992.

Jackson has held numerous wing leadership and command positions, as well as staff assignments at Headquarters Pacific Air Forces, Headquarters U.S. Pacific Command and Headquarters U.S. Air Force.

"I believe George Washington explained it well as he spoke of his Continental soldiers in the war of independence," Jackson said. "His soldiers were farmers, clerks, lawyers, shopkeepers and factory workers. He said, 'When we assumed the soldier, we did not lay aside the citizen.'

"Indeed, in today's Air Force Reserve, the Airman is the citizen and the citizen is the Airman."

Stenner's previous assignment was assistant deputy chief of staff for strategic plans and programs at Headquarters U.S. Air Force. Stenner was also director of plans and programs and director of operations at Headquarters AFRC and spent nine years commanding AFRC wings and operations groups. Between May 2001 and July 2003, he was deputy director and director of strategy, policy and plans, and director of transformation for U.S. Southern Command in Miami.