The US needs to seriously think about how it apportions its intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance assets to ensure that all combatant commands get what they need, even though the vast majority of ISR is focused on the Middle East. Retired Air Force Gen. Philip Breedlove, who retired early this year from serving as commander of US European Command and NATO Supreme Allied Commander, said during his tenure at EUCOM he only got less than five percent of the military’s total ISR. Of that number, half was shared with CENTCOM to help watch the Turkish border. More is needed as tensions flare in Eastern Europe, including Russia’s incursion into Ukraine. “We need to think about our apportionment and allocation of ISR,” Breedlove said at ASC16. If the nation cannot afford to buy more assets and analysts, leadership needs to at least discuss how it can reapportion the ISR that is flying, he said.
A three-month continuing resolution that ended in December inflicted less pain on the Department of the Air Force than it had expected, as procurement and construction continue in the new year. The federal government operated under a stopgap spending measure that stretched from the beginning of the fiscal year on…