The Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday took up Michael Wynne’s nomination to be Secretary of the Air Force. Though Sen. Carl Levin, the ranking Democrat, thought Wynne’s involvement in the tanker controversy would be a non-issue (DR, 10/06/05), Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) couldn’t pass it up. McCain, who led the attack on the Air Force over the propriety of a tanker-lease deal, also demanded assurances that Wynne had a plan to overcome cost overruns in several major USAF programs. Wynne assured him that he planned to balance technology, requirements, and schedules. He emphasized the need to give program managers more authority to say “no” to add-ons to control costs.
Three B-1B Lancers from the 7th Bomb Wing flew over the Indo-Pacific alongside F-16s from the Japanese Air Self Defense Force recently, as part of a joint large force exercise. The mission began and ended in the continental U.S., as the bombers flew 31 hours and landed Jan. 11.