Biden nominates new senior military assistant for Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin

July 26 (UPI) -- President Joe Biden Friday nominated Air Force Maj. Gen. Jennifer M. Short as a senior military assistant to the secretary of Defense.

The DoD said in a statement, "Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III announced today that the president has made the following nomination: Air Force Maj. Gen. Jennifer M. Short for appointment to the grade of lieutenant general, with assignment as senior military assistant to the secretary of Defense, Pentagon, Washington, D.C."

Short currently serves as director, legislative liaison, in the Office of the Secretary of the Air Force at the Pentagon. She acts as a liaison between the Air Force, Space Force and Congress.

Short graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science degree in marketing from Arizona State University. She's a command pilot with more than 1,800 hours in the air and has flown more than 430 combat hours in the A-10.

She completed Officer Training School as a distinguished graduate at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is scheduled to leave Friday for meetings in Japan and the Philippines July 29 with Secretary of State Antony Blinken as they visit several countries in the region amid tensions with China and North Korea .

They will also visit Vietnam, Laos, Philippines, Singapore and Mongolia.

The trip is to reinforce ties and relationships with those nations and to further underscore the United States' enduring commitment to them, according to the Defense Department.

In June, Short was a witness in the court martial of Air Force Maj. Gen. Phillip Stewart for the alleged sexual assault of a female officer under his command.

Short's testimony was about a conversation she had with Stewart Aug. 8, 2023, during which she said he told her about an inspector general and OSI investigation into his behavior in the alleged sexual assault.

He has pleaded not guilty.