General Glen VanHerck
USAF Commander, U.S. Northern Command
Glen David VanHerck was born in October 1962 in Murray, Kentucky, and grew up in Bismarck, Missouri. He is a graduate of the University of Missouri and was commissioned through the Reserve Officer Training Corps program. He earned an MS in Aviation Safety Management from the University of Central Missouri and has had considerable other education through the U.S. military. He is a command pilot with more than 3,200 flying hours.
He served as an instructor pilot and flight examiner, and also served as a U.S. Air Force Weapons School Instructor. He has commanded at the squadron, group, and wing level, and commanded the U.S. Air Force Warfare Center. He has held numerous staff positions including as the Vice Director of Strategy, Plans and Policy for the Joint Staff and the Vice Director of the Joint Staff at the Pentagon.
Since August 2020, VanHerck has been Commander, North American Aerospace Defense Command and United States Northern Command out of Colorado Springs, Colorado.
In the News…
U.S. Air Force General Glen VanHerck voiced concerns over security threats posed by Russia and China. The commander of North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command recently spoke at a Space and Missile Defense Symposium regarding strategies to deter those threats.
The general said, “We’re in strategic competition with two strategic competitors, both nuclear armed.“ He added, “We’ve never been there before, and we’re economically intertwined with one of them” referring to China.
“Russia has created capabilities to hold the homeland at risk,” General VanHerck stated. He said that, in addition to its nuclear arsenal, Russia has long-range cruise missiles and hypersonics as well as modernized bomber and submarine fleets. He continued, “In the last year, we got more air defense identification zone incursions than we’ve ever had since the end of the Cold War by Russia.”
The general concluded, “We need the ability to collaborate globally, across all domains in near real time, or in real time to present options to our nation’s leaders.”
