{"id":27622,"date":"2020-10-05T19:31:08","date_gmt":"2020-10-05T19:31:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2020\/10\/05\/vice-adm-whitesell-becomes-navys-new-air-boss\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T19:19:46","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T19:19:46","slug":"vice-adm-whitesell-becomes-navys-new-air-boss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2020\/10\/05\/vice-adm-whitesell-becomes-navys-new-air-boss\/","title":{"rendered":"Vice Adm. Whitesell becomes Navy\u2019s new Air Boss"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Navy has a new Air Boss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vice Adm. Kenneth Whitesell<\/a> took command of Naval Air Forces and Naval Air Force, Pacific Fleet, in a ceremony Friday aboard the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt at Naval Air Station North Island in San Diego, according to a Navy news release. Whitesell had been serving as deputy commander of U.S. Pacific Fleet since July 2019 and succeeded Vice Adm. DeWolfe \u201cBullet\u201d Miller III<\/a>, who has now retired.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is an honor to become the ninth Air Boss, Whitesell said, according to the release “The list of those who have served under the title of \u2018Air Boss\u2019 \u2026 remain the titans of naval aviation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whitesell said sailors remain the Navy\u2019s \u201ccompetitive advantage.\u201d His priority, he said, will be to ensure the naval aviation community continues to focus on \u201csuperiority in aerial combat execution and coordination across multiple domains.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A 1983 graduate of Old Dominion University in Virginia, he then joined the Navy and later graduated the Navy Fighter Weapons School, or TOPGUN. Whitesell started his career flying the F-14 Tomcat and later flew the F\/A-18 Super Hornet. He has racked up more than 4,000 flight hours and 1,000 landings aboard aircraft carriers during the course of his career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He previously served as the commander of Carrier Air Wing 1 aboard the aircraft carrier Enterprise and the commander of Carrier Strike Group 2 aboard the aircraft carrier George H.W. Bush. He also was the assistant commander for career management at Navy Personnel Command, before assuming his role at U.S. Pacific Fleet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Miller, who was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal during the ceremony, previously served as the Navy\u2019s director of Air Warfare before becoming the Navy\u2019s eighth Air Boss in 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\t