The Three Cs
Air Force Chief of Staff Mark Welsh said there are three keys to strengthening the Air Force team: common sense, communications, and caring. “We’ve got to make sure common sense is the first standard we apply,” he said in his...
The High-End Fight
Full-spectrum training has to be reconsidered, said Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh. Addressing AFA’s 2013 Air & Space Conference on Tuesday afternoon, Welsh said it “fell off the table” six or seven years ago but must be...
Sequestration is the Space Pearl Harbor
Budget sequestration, if left unaltered, will prove more devastating to US space capabilities than any threat an adversary could think up, warned Gen. William Shelton, head of Air Force Space Command, on Tuesday at AFA’s 2013 Air and Space Conference...
The Gap
There will be a growing gap in cyber needs going forward as the Defense Department struggles with the pressure from reduced budgets and sequestration, said Lt. Gen. Michael Basla, USAF’s chief information officer. Speaking to media Sept. 17 at AFA’s...
Concerns About Consolidations
Combining air staff directorates that oversee ISR operations and warfighting integration may “refocus the attention” of an office that has traditionally provided broad support Air Force wide, said Lt. Gen. Michael Basla, USAF’s chief information officer and head of its...
NATO May Be a Relic but It’s Still Relevant
“NATO is a relic that remains relevant,” said Dr. Hans Binnendijk, senior fellow at the SAIS Center for Trans-Atlantic Relations, speaking Sept. 17 at the Air Force Association’s 2013 Air & Space Conference in National Harbor, Md. The North Atlantic...
But NATO Still Needs a Lot of Work
Europe’s defense capability has “declined roughly 15 percent over the last decade,” said Dr. Hans Binnendijk, senior fellow at the SAIS Center, at AFA’s 2013 Air & Space Conference in National Harbor, Md. “Those cuts have [first come] horizontally, taking...
Nuclear Weapons and Strategy
As the United States reassesses its national military strategy and spending priorities during the Quadrennial Defense Review, it must take into account how nuclear weapons change the behavior and calculations of key allies and potential foes, said Andrew Krepinevich, Center...
Bomber Buying Power
The Pentagon’s new “Better Buying Power” initiative offers some clues on how the Air Force will buy the Long Range Strike Bomber, according to retired Lt. Gen. Mark Shackelford. Speaking at the long-range-strike panel at AFA’s 2013 Air and Space...
Beyond the Threshhold
Private investment could well be the key to winning the Long Range Strike Bomber competition, said retired Lt. Gen. Mark Shackelford, former Air Force military deputy for acquisition, Tuesday. Like the KC-46A tanker acquisition, there’s likely to be a large...
Fifth GPS IIF Satellite at Launch Site
The fifth GPS IIF satellite arrived at Cape Canaveral AFS, Fla., for its anticipated launch into orbit in October, announced Boeing on Tuesday. A C-17 carried GPS IIF-5 from Boeing’s satellite manufacturing facility in El Segundo, Calif., to the cape...
Total Force Standards
Air National Guard Director Lt. Gen. Stanley Clarke—who has served on Active Duty, in the Air Guard, and in the Air Force Reserve–said there are four pillars to a successful Total Force. Addressing AFA’s 2013 Air and Space Conference on...
No One is Immune to Sequestration
Although the Air National Guard did not have to stand down any of its combat squadrons like Air Combat Command following the implementation of budget sequestration, it’s still feeling some effects, said ANG Director Lt. Gen. Stanley Clarke in his...
Gradual Ramp Up at BMT
Manning among the military training instructor corps is at a “low point,” but Air Education and Training Command boss Gen. Edward Rice said he expects those numbers to “rapidly increase” every month from here on out. Speaking with reporters on...
The Future Belongs to Airpower
In his opening address on Monday at AFA’s 2013 Air and Space Conference in National Harbor, Md., Acting Secretary Eric Fanning provided a full-throated defense of airpower and its importance to the joint force. Before the Wright Brothers achieved manned...
Putting It All on the Table for 2015
As the Air Force runs through its Fiscal 2015 program objective memorandum build, Air Staff officials are taking a broad look at entire fleets of aircraft, specifically “single-mission” platforms, Air Force Acting Secretary Eric Fanning told reporters on Monday at...
Total Force Scrub not Informing Fiscal 2015, Mostly
Eric Fanning, Air Force acting secretary, said the Air Force is mending from the hard lessons of last year’s budget battle between the Active Duty and reserve components. However, most of the work undertaken by the commission studying the Air...
Medal of Honor for Former Army Captain
President Obama on Oct. 15 will award the Medal of Honor to William D. Swenson, a former Army captain, for his conspicuous gallantry in Afghanistan in 2009, announced the White House on Monday. Swenson will receive the MOH for his...
Save Science and Technology
The science and technology topline in the Air Force’s coming program objective memorandum—the service’s five-year spending forecast—will be “fairly constant” with what it has been for the past few years, said Air Force Materiel Command chief Gen. Janet Wolfenbarger on...
Evolving Workforce
The budget sequester has stunted Air Force Materiel Command’s hopes to build a more seasoned and knowledgeable workforce, AFMC boss Gen. Janet Wolfenbarger told the Daily Report on Monday. “We have not been able to bring on the numbers of...
Broadening the Vertical Cuts
If the Air Force is compelled to make vertical cuts to live within a continuing budget sequester—such as taking out the whole A-10 or B-1 fleet, for example—Air Force Materiel Command won’t simply get rid of everyone currently working on...
Clear and Convincing Evidence
The United Nations team dispatched to Syria to investigate the alleged use of chemical weapons found “clear and convincing evidence” that sarin gas, a deadly nerve agent, was used “on a relatively large scale” on Aug. 21 in the outskirts...
AETC Considers Generalized Pilot Training
Air Education and Training Command is considering switching from specialized pilot training back to generalized pilot training, Gen. Edward Rice, AETC boss, told reporters on Monday at AFA’s 2013 Air & Space Conference in National Harbor, Md. “We are building...
A Good Place to Be, Sort Of
Air Education and Training Command boss Gen. Edward Rice said “everyone understands the need” for a new trainer, but it’s still not clear when the Air Force will be able to scrounge up the money to buy one. “I’m not...
Selecting Future Leaders
The Air Force’s developmental special duties initiative is a significant change for the enlisted corps, said CMSgt. Richard Parsons, Air Combat Command’s command chief, on Monday. “Developmental special duties is about who we select to develop our future leaders,” said...
F-35 Test Case
It was just a year ago, at AFA’s 2012 Air & Space Conference, that then-newly-minted F-35 program manager Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan said the working relationship between stakeholders on the F-35 was the “worst he’s seen.” Bogdan is expected to...
How Do They Do That?
The price of the F-35 strike fighter came down four percent in both Lot 6 and Lot 7 production. How? Lorraine Martin, Lockheed Martin’s F-35 general manager, said in an interview on Monday the company and the Pentagon “spent a...
What is the Air Force Reserve?
Lt. Gen. James Jackson, Air Force Reserve chief, said on Monday he is trying to answer the question: What is the Air Force Reserve? “There are a lot of mission areas that the Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard...
Not Worth the Risk
The Air Force must make sure it continues to properly fund legacy aircraft programs even as it builds to the F-35’s initial operational capability, said Air Force Reserve Chief Lt. Gen. James Jackson on Monday during AFA’s 2013 Air and...
Partial Assessment
The Total Force Task Force—established by the Air Force to determine the appropriate mix of Active Duty, Air National Guard, and Air Force Reserve—only had time to look at 50 percent of the mission areas within the Air Force, said...
Eliminating Waste
If the Defense Department doesn’t get its overhead “in shape,” it will not have any resources for force structure and modernization, said Daniel Ginsberg, assistant secretary of the Air Force for manpower and reserve affairs. That’s why Defense Secretary Chuck...
Cox Tapped for Air Staff’s A1 Office
President Obama nominated Maj. Gen. Samuel Cox for promotion to the rank of lieutenant general to join the Air Staff as deputy chief of staff for manpower, personnel, and services, announced the Pentagon on Monday. Cox, who has been US...
Fine Tuning the Air Commando Osprey
Members of Air Force Special Operations Command are innovating at the unit level and achieving new capabilities, such as pioneering casualty evacuation at sea using CV-22s, said Brig. Gen. Buck Elton, AFSOC’s head of plans, programs, requirements, and assessments. Speaking...
Invention, not Just Perfection
There’s an insidious creep in the world of Air Force technology away from risky pursuits with a huge potential payoff toward simply building what’s already proven, said Northrop Grumman’s CEO Wes Bush on Monday. There is “real cause for concern”...
For the Long Haul
Most people simply don’t understand that aerospace talent is not “fungible,” said Wes Bush, Northrop Grumman’s CEO. In answering questions from the audience during his talk at AFA’s 2013 Air and Space Conference on Monday, Bush said most industries can...
STEM the Tide
Spending on defense research and development has plummeted to a dangerous level, said Northrop Grumman CEO Wes Bush on Monday. Addressing AFA’s 2013 Air and Space Conference, Bush said pre-sequestration forecasts suggest that defense R&D will be just one-quarter of...
Textron AirLand Unveils Scorpion Light Attack Jet
Textron AirLand, a joint venture between Textron and AirLand Enterprises, on Monday unveiled the Scorpion, a new intelligence-gathering and light-attack jet, at AFA’s 2013 Air and Space Conference in National Harbor, Md. “We began development of the Scorpion in January...
Switching Focus
The emerging prevalence of cyber threats is but one “expression” of the new national security dilemma of globalization, said retired Gen. Mike Hayden, former NSA director and CIA head. “This era of globalization has pushed power down below the level...
Challenges to Future Air Defense
The world is on the verge of a future where skies will be crowded with manned and unmanned aircraft, said Lt. Gen. Carlo Magrassi, Italian air force chief of staff. Speaking on Monday at AFA’s 2013 Air and Space Conference...
Realize Your Value
Holly Petraeus, assistant director of service members’ affairs at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, gave audience members a brief lesson on financial security on Monday at AFA’s Air and Space Conference in National Harbor, Md. At the spouse and family...