The Pacific Air Forces command has responsibility for Air Force activities spread over half the globe and supports 45,000 airmen serving principally in Japan, South Korea, Hawaii, Alaska, and Guam.

On March 18, 2016, United States Secretary of Defense Ash Carter announced that Robinson would be named by President Barack Obama to replace Admiral William E. Gortney as commander of USNORTHCOM and NORAD, subject to approval by the United States Senate.

Robinson entered the United States Air Force in 1982 through the Reserve Officers' Training Corps program at the University of New Hampshire.

She served in a variety of positions as an Air Battle Manager, including instructor and commander of the Command and Control Operations Division at the United States Air Force Weapons School, as well as Chief of Tactics in the 965th Airborne Warning and Control Squadron.

[10] Robinson's stepdaughter, United States Air Force Reserve Second Lieutenant Taryn Ashley Robinson (b. February 1, 1983), was critically injured, and her civilian flight instructor James Weaver was killed, when their plane impacted terrain on September 21, 2005.