If confirmed, Shipton would be the first female commander of AFLCMC, a center spokesman said Thursday.
In her current role, Shipton is responsible for research and development, test, production, product support and modernization of Air Force programs worth more than $60 billion annually.
She received her commission in 1991 through the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps after graduating from Clemson University, according to her Air Force biography. She has served as deputy director of the National Reconnaissance Office in Chantilly, Va., and she is very familiar with Wright-Patterson.
From May 2004 to June 2005, she studied at the Air Force Institute of Technology at Wright-Patt, earning a master of space systems degree in 2005. She returned to the base in June 2017, serving until 2019 as program executive officer for tankers at the Tankers Directorate at AFLCMC, which is based at Wright-Patt.
And from July 2020 to August 2021, Shipton was director of Strategic Plans, Programs, Requirements, and Analyses at Air Force Materiel Command headquarters, again at Wright-Patterson.
AFLCMC is responsible for the development and sustainment of Air Force weapons and equipment, from cradle to retirement. The center’s motto: “If Airmen fly it, fuel it, transport it, drive it, wear it, shelter in it, communicate with it or drop it on targets, AFLCMC provides it.”
The 88th Air Base Wing at Wright-Patterson reports to AFLCMC, as does the 66th Air Base Group at Hanscom Air Force Base in Massachusetts.
Anchored at Wright-Patt, AFLCMC has more than 17,000 civilian employees at 79 locations worldwide, with about 36% of those in the Dayton area.
Wright-Patterson itself is a large Air Force base, with the largest concentration of employment in one location in the state of Ohio, about 35,000 military and civilian employees.
The effective date of Shipton’s promotion to lieutenant general was August 2022, according to the Air Force. Lt. Gen. Shaun Q. Morris is the center’s current commander.
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