Kirtland Air Force Base -- The Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center held a change of command
ceremony here Oct. 22 as Maj. Gen. David J. Eichhorn assumed command of the center
from Maj. Gen. Stephen T. Sargeant. Lt. Gen. William L. Shelton, the assistant vice chief of staff of the Air Force, presided.
As a certified acquisition professional, General Eichhorn said he is "looking forward to leading AFOTEC and working with the Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition and the entire test community to further acquisition excellence."
General Eichhorn comes to AFOTEC from Edwards AFB, Calif., where he served as the commander of the Air Force Flight Test Center.
In earlier assignments he served as an experimental test pilot, and his commands include two flight test squadrons, a test group, a test wing and the Arnold Engineering
Development Center in Tennessee overseeing developmental flight tests on a wide variety of weapon systems. He has flown the B-52D/H, B-1B, F-111 and T-38, serving as an instructor pilot and aircraft commander and has accumulated more than 5,700 flight
hours in more than 40 aircraft types.
General Sargeant has been reassigned by the Air Force chief of staff to be the special assistant to the commander of Air Education and Training Command at Randolph AFB, Texas.
AFOTEC is a direct reporting unit that reports directly to the chief of staff of the Air Force.
It is the Air Force's independent test agency responsible for testing, evaluating and reporting results on new systems being developed for Air Force and multi-service use.