Senate confirms General Fraser as next USTRANSCOM commander

SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. - The U.S. Senate has confirmed Gen. William M. Fraser III as the next commander of U.S. Transportation Command with an anticipated change of command in October. The Senate made its confirmation on Aug. 2.

Gen. Duncan J. McNabb spoke on the subject of the upcoming transition during his July Commander’s Call. “It’s bittersweet for me, as I think about finishing up as the TRANSCOM commander,” he said. “I’ll just have to say, you have no idea, how proud I am of what you’ve done.”

Over the weekend, McNabb met with USTRANSCOM’s first commander, Gen. Duane Cassidy. “I talked with him about what TRANSCOM is now,” McNabb said. “I was his aide when he stood up TRANSCOM.”

McNabb said that, according to Cassidy, back then they could never have envisioned the challenges the command faces today through last year’s surge, responding to the earthquake in Haiti, surviving the “March madness” of the Japanese earthquake, support for NATO forces and people of Libya, at the same time meeting the requirements of U.S. Central Command for Operation New Dawn and Operation Enduring Freedom, and bringing the entire global mobility enterprise together.

“Again, I am very, very proud of what you’ve done,” McNabb added.

Fraser, now serving as commander of Air Combat Command, entered the Air Force in 1974 as a distinguished graduate of the Texas A&M University ROTC program. His operational assignments include duty as a T-37, B-52, B-1 and B-2 instructor pilot and evaluator.

Fraser has commanded an operations group and two bomb wings. His staff duties include tours on the Air Staff, Joint Staff, and Joint Strategic Target Planning Staff at Offutt AFB, Neb. He has also served as Chief of the Nuclear Requirements Cell at Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe, Chief of Staff for U.S. Strategic Command, and as the Assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The general has extensive wartime, contingency and humanitarian relief operational experience. During OEF, he led an intelligence fusion organization that provided direct support to warfighters.

Prior to assuming his current position, Fraser served as the Air Force Vice Chief of Staff.

“He’s a great guy,” McNabb said during Commander’s Call. “I’ve known him for a lot of years. When I was the J4 (Director of Logistics on the Joint Staff), he had just come on as the assistant to the chairman. He will do great stuff in the command.”