.jpg/1600px-Gen_David_L._Goldfein_(2).jpg)
Recent from talks
David L. Goldfein
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
David L. Goldfein
David Lee Goldfein (born December 21, 1959) is a retired United States Air Force four-star general who last served as the 21st Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force. He previously served as the vice chief of staff of the Air Force and, prior to that, he served as the director of the Joint Staff, a position within the Joint Chiefs of Staff who assists the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Goldfein retired from the Air Force on October 1, 2020, after over 37 years of service.
Born at Laon-Couvron Air Base in France, Goldfein is the son of William Michael "Goldie" Goldfein (November 26, 1931 – June 19, 2019) and Mary Vanni. His paternal grandfather, Boatswain's mate second class Joseph William Goldfein (June 25, 1896 – June 19, 1974), served in World War I with the United States Navy, and his father was a colonel in the Air Force from 1949 to 1982 and fought in the Vietnam War. After his retirement, Goldfein's father worked for the Combined Federal Campaign in Las Vegas for 5 years and then the Link Aviation Devices in Binghamton, New York for 5 years. His elder brother, Stephen M. Goldfein also served in the Air Force from 1978 to 2008, retiring as a major general; Stephen Goldfein also served as Director of the Joint Staff, a position his brother David would later hold. David Goldfein received his commission from the United States Air Force Academy, where he received a B.S. degree in philosophy in 1983. He is also a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Weapons School at Nellis AFB. He is a Distinguished Eagle Scout and former ranger at the Philmont Scout Ranch.
Goldfein is a Command Pilot with more than 4,200 flying hours with the T-37, T-38, F-16C/D, F-117A, MC-12W, and MQ-9.
Goldfein commanded United States Air Forces Central, Shaw AFB, SC and Al Udeid AB, Qatar; 49th Fighter Wing, Holloman AFB, NM; 52d Fighter Wing, Spangdahlem AB, Germany; 366th Operations Group, Mountain Home AFB, ID; and the 555th Fighter Squadron, Aviano AB, Italy.
Goldfein flew combat missions during the Gulf War, and later deployed to the Vicenza Combined Air Operations Center for Operation Deliberate Force. As commander of the 555th Fighter Squadron, he led his squadron flying an F-16 fighter in Operation Allied Force. During the operation, on 2 May 1999, Goldfein's F-16 was shot down over western Serbia by a S-125 surface-to-air missile fired by officer (future Lt. General) Tiosav Janković from the 3rd Battery of the 250th Air Defense Missile Brigade of the Yugoslav Air Force. Goldfein successfully ejected, and was subsequently rescued by NATO helicopters. This was one of only two crewed NATO aircraft shot down during the operation, the other was an F-117A in March.
On April 26, 2016, Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced that President Obama had nominated Goldfein to succeed General Mark Welsh as the 21st Chief of Staff of the Air Force. Goldfein's experience as a consensus builder, as well as his role in formulating the Air Force's contributions to the Defense Department's third offset strategy were cited by Carter and Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James as reasons for his selection. His confirmation hearing took place on June 16, and he succeeded Welsh on July 1, two days after his confirmation.
As CSAF, Goldfein spearheaded the Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2) and Advanced Battle Management (ABMS) systems, designed to connect service-level networks, platforms and sensors into a network for communicating battle information across the joint force. The aim of rapidly connecting all aircraft data and sensors to each other, as well as, to other military assets was a special focus of the subject as he led the service. He prioritized restoring the squadron as the principal warfighting unit of the Air Force, giving squadron commanders greater autonomy over their units, standardizing squadron command responsibilities and delegating more financial resources to squadron-level activities. Goldfein also led a proposal to increase from 312 to 386 operational squadrons. In September 2016, Goldfein personally selected the name "Raider" from more than 2000 naming submissions for the prototype B-21 bomber, in honor of the Doolittle Raiders.
Goldfein initially opposed the creation of an independent space force, concerned that the creation of a new service branch would, through competition for a larger share of the Defense budget, compromise joint warfighting capability in the space domain. He remarked that establishing the Space Force would create a "balancing act" of building a service branch based on joint warfighting capability while simultaneously developing its own service culture. He eventually became supportive of the plan upon engagement with field commanders at Maxwell Air Force Base, many of whom supported the need for a separate service branch. Goldfein said in an interview with National Defense that "a service chief singularly focused on space, space operations and space integration" could expedite military profitability in the space domain more efficiently than under the umbrella of the Air Force.
Hub AI
David L. Goldfein AI simulator
(@David L. Goldfein_simulator)
David L. Goldfein
David Lee Goldfein (born December 21, 1959) is a retired United States Air Force four-star general who last served as the 21st Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force. He previously served as the vice chief of staff of the Air Force and, prior to that, he served as the director of the Joint Staff, a position within the Joint Chiefs of Staff who assists the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Goldfein retired from the Air Force on October 1, 2020, after over 37 years of service.
Born at Laon-Couvron Air Base in France, Goldfein is the son of William Michael "Goldie" Goldfein (November 26, 1931 – June 19, 2019) and Mary Vanni. His paternal grandfather, Boatswain's mate second class Joseph William Goldfein (June 25, 1896 – June 19, 1974), served in World War I with the United States Navy, and his father was a colonel in the Air Force from 1949 to 1982 and fought in the Vietnam War. After his retirement, Goldfein's father worked for the Combined Federal Campaign in Las Vegas for 5 years and then the Link Aviation Devices in Binghamton, New York for 5 years. His elder brother, Stephen M. Goldfein also served in the Air Force from 1978 to 2008, retiring as a major general; Stephen Goldfein also served as Director of the Joint Staff, a position his brother David would later hold. David Goldfein received his commission from the United States Air Force Academy, where he received a B.S. degree in philosophy in 1983. He is also a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Weapons School at Nellis AFB. He is a Distinguished Eagle Scout and former ranger at the Philmont Scout Ranch.
Goldfein is a Command Pilot with more than 4,200 flying hours with the T-37, T-38, F-16C/D, F-117A, MC-12W, and MQ-9.
Goldfein commanded United States Air Forces Central, Shaw AFB, SC and Al Udeid AB, Qatar; 49th Fighter Wing, Holloman AFB, NM; 52d Fighter Wing, Spangdahlem AB, Germany; 366th Operations Group, Mountain Home AFB, ID; and the 555th Fighter Squadron, Aviano AB, Italy.
Goldfein flew combat missions during the Gulf War, and later deployed to the Vicenza Combined Air Operations Center for Operation Deliberate Force. As commander of the 555th Fighter Squadron, he led his squadron flying an F-16 fighter in Operation Allied Force. During the operation, on 2 May 1999, Goldfein's F-16 was shot down over western Serbia by a S-125 surface-to-air missile fired by officer (future Lt. General) Tiosav Janković from the 3rd Battery of the 250th Air Defense Missile Brigade of the Yugoslav Air Force. Goldfein successfully ejected, and was subsequently rescued by NATO helicopters. This was one of only two crewed NATO aircraft shot down during the operation, the other was an F-117A in March.
On April 26, 2016, Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced that President Obama had nominated Goldfein to succeed General Mark Welsh as the 21st Chief of Staff of the Air Force. Goldfein's experience as a consensus builder, as well as his role in formulating the Air Force's contributions to the Defense Department's third offset strategy were cited by Carter and Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James as reasons for his selection. His confirmation hearing took place on June 16, and he succeeded Welsh on July 1, two days after his confirmation.
As CSAF, Goldfein spearheaded the Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2) and Advanced Battle Management (ABMS) systems, designed to connect service-level networks, platforms and sensors into a network for communicating battle information across the joint force. The aim of rapidly connecting all aircraft data and sensors to each other, as well as, to other military assets was a special focus of the subject as he led the service. He prioritized restoring the squadron as the principal warfighting unit of the Air Force, giving squadron commanders greater autonomy over their units, standardizing squadron command responsibilities and delegating more financial resources to squadron-level activities. Goldfein also led a proposal to increase from 312 to 386 operational squadrons. In September 2016, Goldfein personally selected the name "Raider" from more than 2000 naming submissions for the prototype B-21 bomber, in honor of the Doolittle Raiders.
Goldfein initially opposed the creation of an independent space force, concerned that the creation of a new service branch would, through competition for a larger share of the Defense budget, compromise joint warfighting capability in the space domain. He remarked that establishing the Space Force would create a "balancing act" of building a service branch based on joint warfighting capability while simultaneously developing its own service culture. He eventually became supportive of the plan upon engagement with field commanders at Maxwell Air Force Base, many of whom supported the need for a separate service branch. Goldfein said in an interview with National Defense that "a service chief singularly focused on space, space operations and space integration" could expedite military profitability in the space domain more efficiently than under the umbrella of the Air Force.
Recent media