Shamokin native to head base

OMAHA, Neb. - Gen. C. Robert Kehler, a Shamokin native who is an Air Force general with ties to Offutt Air Force Base and operates the Space Command at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado, has been nominated by President Barack Obama to replace retiring Gen. Kevin Chilton, head of the U.S. Strategic Command based at Offutt Air Force Base.

Kehler, a 1970 graduate of Shamokin Area High School, is a son of Carolyn (Lark) Kehler and the late Claude E. Kehler. His father served as a captain in the U.S. Army during World War II and became an influential business and public servant in his hometown, for which he was permanently saluted with a community park on Arch Street named in his honor. Claude E. Kehler served as a city councilman and longtime public safety director.

Gen. Kehler, who is in his fourth decade of a distinguished military, is one of 13 four-star generals in the Air Force.

No date has been set for the change in command.

Kehler is no stranger at Offutt. He served a few months in 2007 as StratCom's deputy commander and interim leader.

In his current job, he is responsible for training and maintaining mission-ready space and cyberspace forces for North American Aerospace Defense Command, U.S. Strategic Command and other combatant commands around the world.

The 58-year-old Kehler oversees Air Force network operations, manages a global network of satellite command and control, communications, missile warning and space launch facilities, and is responsible for space system development and acquisition.

According to reports in the Omaha World Leader, local leaders familiar with Kehler said they expect him to adopt a similar approach as Chilton in working with the community to maintain StratCom's role at Offutt.

Keeping the command's headquarters and a robust number of its personnel at Offutt helps guard against any efforts to close the base - an important economic engine for the region.

Offutt, also home to the Air Force's 55th Wing, has an economic impact here of more than $2.6 billion, according to recent military estimates.

StratCom oversees the military's nuclear weapons, missile defense systems, space satellites and cyberspace mission.

One of Chilton's top priorities during his three years in charge has been the push for a new StratCom headquarters building at Offutt, with the current facility seen as inadequate for the command's expanding, high-tech missions. The military is expected to break ground on the new, half-billion-dollar headquarters in a couple of years.

"(Chilton's) focus on the new headquarters has been a real significant step to help the community retain that big military presence out at Offutt," said David Brown, president of the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce.

Megan Lucas, president of the Bellevue chamber, also singled out Chilton's dedication to the new headquarters.

"That's going to be, I believe, his legacy," she said.

Chilton, a 55-year-old former astronaut, also fought to replace aging nuclear weapons and grappled with the ever-evolving threat of cyber attacks from hostile governments and computer hackers.

"Now it's time to close this chapter of my career and say thanks to all who have supported Cathy and me over the past three decades - what a wonderful experience it's been!" Chilton wrote in a letter announcing his retirement from a 34-year Air Force career.

Chilton played an important role in the New START arms control treaty with Russia because of his detailed understanding of the U.S. nuclear arsenal and what the country needs to defend itself, said Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and chairman of its Strategic Forces Subcommittee.

"It was his knowledge of the subject matter that made it possible for negotiators to be able to work with their Russian counterparts to be certain that the numbers in the treaty were sufficient for our national security," Nelson said.

Chilton pushed to bring annual conferences to town related to the base's missions on cyber security and global nuclear deterrence, and he received praise from chamber officials and members of Nebraska's congressional delegation for his involvement in the wider community.

They noted that he frequently attended local events and always was ready to listen to concerns.

StratCom replaced its forerunner, Strategic Air Command, in 1992. It employs more than 3,300 people from every branch of the military. Some are headquartered at Offutt. Others are scattered at joint commands elsewhere.

StratCom has had seven commanders since 1992, most of whom served in the role for three or four years.

Chilton, the first astronaut to become a four-star general, took a colorful route to his StratCom post. He earned an engineering master's degree from Columbia University, flew planes at Air Force bases in Japan and joined NASA as an astronaut in 1988.

After flying three missions on the space shuttles Atlantis and Endeavor, he quickly rose through the ranks of the Air Force, eventually commanding a base in Louisiana.

He served in Kehler's current post - commander of Air Force Space Command - before taking over here in October 2007.