Paul Joseph Selva is a retired United States Air Forcegeneral who served as the 10th Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. In this capacity, he was a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the nation's second highest-ranking military officer, and the highest-ranking officer in the Air Force. He assumed his last assignment on July 31, 2015, and retired on August 1, 2019.
3. January 1984 – December 1988, co-pilot, aircraft commander, instructor pilot, and flight commander, 32d Air Refueling Squadron, Barksdale AFB, La.
4. January 1989 – July 1991, company grade adviser to Commander, Strategic Air Command, later, manager of offensive aircraft systems and executive officer, Deputy Chief of Staff, Plans and Resources, Headquarters Strategic Air Command, Offutt AFB, Neb.
5. August 1991 – July 1992, student, Air Command and Staff College, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
6. July 1992 – June 1994, instructor pilot and flight commander, 9th Air Refueling Squadron, later, Commander, 722d Operations Support Squadron, March AFB, Calif.
7. June 1994 – June 1995, Commander, 9th Air Refueling Squadron, later, Deputy Commander, 60th Operations Group, Travis AFB, Calif.
8. July 1995 – June 1996, National Defense Fellow, Secretary of Defense Strategic Studies Group, Rosslyn, Va.
9. July 1996 – August 1998, assistant to the Director, Office of the Secretary of Defense for Net Assessment, the Pentagon, Washington, D.C.
10. August 1998 – July 2000, Commander, 60th Operations Group, Travis AFB, Calif.
11. July 2000 – June 2002, Commander, 62d Airlift Wing, McChord AFB, Wash.
13. June 2003 – November 2004, Commander, Tanker Airlift Control Center, Scott AFB, Ill.
14. December 2004 – August 2006, Director of Operations, U.S. Transportation Command, Scott AFB, Ill.
15. August 2006 – June 2007, Director, Air Force Strategic Planning, Deputy Chief of Staff for Strategic Plans and Programs, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C.
16. June 2007 – October 2008, Director, Air Force Strategic Planning, Deputy Chief of Staff for Strategic Plans and Programs, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, and Director, Air Force QDR, Office of the Vice Chief of Staff, Washington, D.C.
17. October 2008 – October 2011, Assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Washington, D.C.
18. October 2011 – November 2012, Vice Commander, Pacific Air Forces, Joint-Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii
19. November 2012 – May 2014, Commander, Air Mobility Command, Scott AFB, Ill.
20. May 2014 – July 2015, Commander, U.S. Transportation Command, Scott AFB, Ill.
21. July 2015 – July 2019, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Washington, D.C.
Flight information
Rating: Command pilot
Hours flown: More than 3,100
Aircraft flown: C-5, C-17A, C-141B, C-37, KC-10, KC-135A and T-37
Awards and decorations
On April 5, 2018, Selva was presented with the Eisenhower Award.
Effective dates of promotion
Second Lieutenant May 28, 1980
First Lieutenant May 28, 1982
Captain May 28, 1984
Major January 1, 1990
Lieutenant Colonel March 1, 1994
Colonel September 1, 1998
Brigadier General January 1, 2004
Major General June 2, 2007
Lieutenant General October 8, 2008
General November 29, 2012
Personal life
Selva was acknowledged in President Obama's announcement speech on May 5, 2015. Selva achieved the rank of Eagle Scout in the Boy Scouts of America in 1974. In an April 5, 2020 phone call to White House Chief of StaffMark Meadows, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer touted Selva as a potential COVID-19 czar to oversee the production and disbursement of medical equipment.
