It would seem that the Pentagon let the cart get before the horse when it OK’d the plan to retire all USAF’s high-flying U-2 reconnaissance aircraft by Fiscal 2011. There apparently is concern from warfighting commanders that there may be a gap in ISR coverage during the switchover from U-2 to Global Hawk UAV (see above). Rep. Curt Weldon (R-Pa.), chairman of the House Armed Services tacair subcommittee, asserted Thursday that he had received back-channel indications from combatant commanders noting a problem. A senior DOD intelligence official assured lawmakers that if US Strategic Command finds a gap, DOD would “make changes.”
Maintainers will soon be allowed to wear shorts, under new rules aimed at giving Airmen and Guardians more wiggle room when it comes to uniform regulations. The Department of the Air Force on March 15 will publish “an interim change to Air Force Instruction 36-2903”—which governs dress and appearance for…