Scanlan promoted to major general Published Jan. 6, 2017 By USAF Expeditionary Center Public Affairs JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. -- James P. Scanlan has been promoted to the rank of major general in the Air Force. Maj. Gen. Scanlan, a native of Doylestown, Pennsylvania, was nominated for promotion by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Scanlan received his commission through the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps at Villanova University in 1985 and spent 15 years in the Navy as an EC-130Q Hercules navigator and later an E-6A Hermes and TC-18F instructor pilot. He then transitioned to the Air Force Reserve, with assignments to include KC-10 Extender flight commander, squadron commander, and deputy operations group commander. Scanlan was commander of the former 440th Airlift Wing, Pope Field, North Carolina prior to his current position. Scanlan is a command pilot with more than 7,000 flight hours. He leverages those skills in his time away from the Air Force Reserve as a pilot for American Airlines where he has worked for 17 years. Scanlan is currently assigned as the mobilization assistant to the commander, U.S. Air Force Expeditionary Center, here, but has been selected for reassignment to Air Force Special Operations Command Hurlburt Field, Florida. The Expeditionary Center is the Air Force's center of excellence for advanced combat support training and education, while also providing Joint base and installation support, contingency response operations, and global en route operations for Air Mobility Command. The Expeditionary Center provides operational control of the USAF Expeditionary Operations School and administrative control for six wings and two groups, totaling more than 14,000 Airmen.