Air Force Maj. Gen. Bradford R. Everman Nominated for Third Star
The nominee would take command of the Continental U.S. NORAD Region and First Air Force at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida, pending Senate confirmation.
Air Force Maj. Gen. Bradford R. Everman was nominated for a third star and command of the air defense mission over the continental United States.
The Pentagon announced the nomination for appointment to lieutenant general on July 16, 2026, listing an assignment as commander of the Continental U.S. North American Aerospace Defense Command Region and commander of First Air Force at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida, according to war.gov. The post oversees Air Forces Northern and Air Forces Space. Everman now serves as mobilization assistant to the commander of the North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command at Peterson Space Force Base, Colorado.
The role sits at the center of homeland air defense. First Air Force directs the alert fighters, radars and command centers that guard American skies, a mission that grew after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. Whoever holds the job answers for detecting and intercepting threats over the continental United States, and coordinates the military response to hurricanes, wildfires and other domestic emergencies alongside civil agencies.
The nomination now moves to the Senate, which must confirm the promotion before Everman pins on the third star. A third star places an officer among the most senior in the service, with a small number of lieutenant general billets across the Air Force. Confirmation would elevate him from a two-star reserve-component leadership role to a joint operational command in the NORAD and Northern Command chain.
The announcement fits a broader pace of senior officer moves this year. This nomination is one of 109 officer nominations announced so far this year, and Hawaii leads all states with 10 total nominations while the Army has the most among the services with 74. At the same point in 2025, the database recorded only 26 officer nominations. The previous nomination announcement came 43 days earlier.
Most Americans never see the command, yet its work touches daily life during a crisis. When a hurricane forces evacuations or a wildfire overruns a region, First Air Force helps route military aircraft, search-and-rescue assets and logistics into the disaster zone. The same headquarters scrambles fighters when an unidentified aircraft strays into restricted airspace near a major city or a presidential event.
Has a reserve-component general moved into this seat before? This has happened before. The First Air Force and Continental NORAD Region command has drawn leaders from across the active and reserve components, and the headquarters has long relied on Air National Guard and Reserve airmen to staff its around-the-clock alert posture. The mobilization-assistant path Everman now walks feeds senior reserve officers directly into NORAD and Northern Command leadership.
The Senate Armed Services Committee will review the nomination before a floor vote. A date for that action has not been announced.
Senior officer promotions have stalled in Washington before, as happened when a single senator blocked hundreds of flag and general officer confirmations. The hold froze roughly 450 nominations for months in 2023 before the Senate cleared them, according to war.gov. Commands sat under acting leaders, and officers waited on orders, families and moves. The episode showed how one procedural objection can ripple across the entire chain of command that officers like Everman are nominated to join.
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