The Air Force plans to settle its 40,000-slot force reduction within the next three years rather than the five years it originally established, according to the Associated Press. That means instead of taking the last cuts in 2011, it will take them in 2009. The Air Force official talking with AP says the service still is wrangling with just which jobs will be axed, but the mix will include active, reserve, and civilian positions. We question whether there will be any reduction in USAF’s two reserve components. The Air National Guard certainly is on record as saying it will take its slice of the budget reduction driving these personnel cuts out of other areas. ANG does not intend to cut airmen until the dust settles on its new mission areas.
The congressionally chartered National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence has completed its work, but the team that created its 756-page report will continue, backed this time by its former chair, Eric Schmidt, who is committing his own money to the new effort, dubbed the "Special Competitive Studies Project." Schmidt continues…