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President Donald Trump nominated the adjutant general of Texas to be the new director of the Air National Guard.
If confirmed by the Senate, Air Force Maj. Gen. Thomas M. Suelzer would receive a third star and take responsibility for formulating, developing and coordinating all federal policies, plans and programs related to the Air Guard nationwide.
Suelzer has been the adjutant general of Texas since March 2022. He is a 1990 Air Force Academy graduate who began his career in the active component as a C-5 Galaxy transport pilot.
In 2012, he joined the Texas Air Guard, where he flew C-130 Hercules cargo planes and commanded the 136th Airlift Wing.
He would replace Maj. Gen. Duke Pirak, who has served as acting Air Guard director since June 2024.
The nomination was one of several for senior military positions announced this week.
Trump also tapped Oklahoma Air Guard Brig. Gen. Christopher Eason to become the Judge Advocate General of the Air Force, a currently vacant position.
Eason is the senior advisor to the Oklahoma adjutant general on Air Guard issues. In civilian life, Eason has served as a senior federal prosecutor at the Department of Justice.
If confirmed by the Senate, Eason would receive a second star.
The president also nominated Gen. John Lamontagne, the commander of Air Mobility Command, to be the next Air Force chief of staff.
Lamontagne spoke at the 147th General Conference & Exhibition in August.
“In short, Air Mobility Command could not do what we do without this [National Guard] team,” he said. “No doubt about it.”
AMC includes more than 40 Air Guard tanker and airlift wings.
Retired Gen. Mike Minihan, AMC commander from 2021 to 2024, said Lamontagne’s nomination strengthens the service’s push to modernize its tanker and airlift capabilities, including the Next‑Generation Air Refueling System and Next‑Generation Air Lift.
Minihan told Defense One that Lamontagne is “exactly the kind of credibility this moment demands. I am optimistic the chief and the vice chief can win the resourcing conversations now to secure connectivity, NGAS, NGAL, and the lethality required to deter and decisively defeat China and any other potential adversary.”
—By Michael Metz
