National Guard Bureau Chief Army Gen. Frank Grass said he wants to “buy in” to the cyber mission and stay “extremely close” to the Air Force’s and Army’s work in this domain. Addressing AFA’s 2013 Air and Space Conference in National Harbor, Md., on Sept. 18, Grass pointed out that the Air National Guard already has 12 squadrons involved in missions such as network warfare and information operations. Their support extends not just to the Air Force, but also US Cyber Command, he said. “Their civilian skills are hugely valuable,” said Grass.
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.