The Air Force is playing a big role in helping the federal government employ veterans, according to the Office of Personnel Management’s recently released annual report on federal employment of veterans. OPM figures showed that of the government’s 1,813,166 civilian employees, 456,254, or 25 percent, were veterans in Fiscal 2005. That figure marked a two percent increase from 2004. Moreover, the Air Force led all government agencies with the most veterans in its workforce, 47.3 percent in 2005, up slightly from the 47 percent posted in 2004.
U.S. Air Force F-35s and F-22s regularly deploy deep into the Pacific region from Alaska, Utah, and Hawaii. In the future, though, the head of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command would like to see the Air Force permanently station fifth-generation aircraft west of the international date line—closer to China.