Air Force Reserve Command plans on Jan. 7 to activate a new space unit—the Headquarters Reserve National Security Space Institute—to work with the NSSI in Colorado Springs, Colo. The NSSI is the DOD lead for educating the military about space power. The Reserve NSSI will provide a “surge capacity” for the NSSI to develop new courses and offer “long-term continuity and a firm knowledge base,” says the unit’s commander, Col. Susan Rhodes. It will be part of AFRC’s 310th Space Group at Schriever AFB, Colo., and comprise 11 full-time reservists and 44 traditional reservists.
A record investment in research and development by the Department of the Air Force will help the United States win the long-term technology race with China, even while shrinking the fleet size before a possible mid-decade Taiwan contingency, Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said May 17. “With the Air Force,…