General David Allvin
Air Force Chief of Staff
David Wayne Allvin was born in 1963. He graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy with a bachelor of science. He earned a master’s from Troy University.
Allvin commanded the 97th Air Mobility Wing, Altus Air Force Base, Oklahoma, as well as other major command assignments. He served as commanding general of NATO Air Training Command, in Afghanistan and held other command positions. He became a deputy chief of staff and served at Headquarters United States European Command in Germany.
Allvin was vice director of strategy, plans and policy for the Joint Staff before his promotion to general and position as Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force. President Biden nominated him as chief of staff of the Air Force and he was confirmed by the Senate and sworn into on the same day in November 2023.
General Allvn is a command pilot with more than 4,600 flying hours, including 800 test flight hours.
In the News…
Air Force Chief of Staff David Allvin said that the service needs collaborative combat aircraft (CCA) that will be replaced or heavily overhauled within a single generation. He does not anticipate these drones to be in service for decades as fighters, bombers, tankers, and other aircraft have.
At the Air and Space Forces Association, General Allvin stated, “I don’t want a set of collaborative combat aircraft that’s going to last for 25 to 30 years. If it’s going to last 25 or 30 years, then it’s gotta do everything but make you toast in the morning.”
He said that creating the drones as complex, multi-mission craft would make them more expensive and restrict how many the service could purchase. The goal is to augment crewed fighters with “affordable mass.”
With the rapid advancements in technology, General Allvin anticipates that the drones would need to by replaced or majorly updated. “That CCA won’t be as relevant — but it might be adaptable, and that’s why we’re building in the modularity,” he said.
