The Air Force now believes it should only reduce the service by 20,000 people, rather than 40,000. However, a senior service official speaking on background Friday said that the reduction number depends on getting additional funding (see above)—without that the Air Force will have to stick with the 40,000 cut. If service leaders succeed in gaining extra funding, the new 2009 end strength number would be 328,000. If not, the bottom will be around 316,000. (This must be what Gen. Tom Hobbins was talking about in December.)
The World War I Centennial Commission officially raised the flag at the new National World War I Memorial in Washington, D.C., with a unique salute to the early days of air power. During the April 16 ceremony, two F-22s from the 94th Fighter Squadron at Joint Base Langley, Va., performed…