The word on the ground at AFA’s Air Warfare Symposium in Orlando, Fla., on Thursday is that Gen. Philip Breedlove, US Air Forces in Europe commander, is emerging as a leading candidate to become President Obama’s new nominee to be the next NATO supreme allied commander for Europe and also head US European Command. The President’s need for a new nominee came about on Feb. 19 after Marine Corps Gen. John Allen announced that he would retire from the military and step away from his nomination to take on those leadership posts. Stay tuned for more on this topic.
The Air Force overall reduced its size by 120 aircraft in fiscal year 2021, but kept about the same number of fighter, bomber and attack aircraft, according to data supplied by the service. The F-35 fleet saw the biggest increase while the B-1B bomber fleet saw the largest decline.