Call the CAS Doctors

By Will Skowronski
Continuing the long-running debate, Air Force Chief of Staff nominee Gen. David Goldfein told the Senate Armed Services Committee the service should not retire the A-10 “in the near term.” But Goldfein, who currently serves as the vice chief of...

CAS or Credit?

By John A. Tirpak
The Air Force is looking for a new close air support platform that’s “essentially, overhead all the time,” and largely fulfills former chief of staff Gen. John Jumper’s concept for a “flying Coke machine” that dispenses whatever type munition ground...

Modernization Milestones

By Will Skowronski
The Air Force expects to move its Long-Range Standoff (LRSO) missile program into the technology maturation and risk reduction phase with a Milestone A decision within the next two weeks, Air Force Chief of Staff nominee Gen. David Goldfein told...

Silent Sabotage

By Will Skowronski
Air Force Chief of Staff nominee Gen. David Goldfein said Thursday he would push the development of directed-energy technology if confirmed. During his nomination before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Goldfein told lawmakers the technologies being researched at the service’s...

House Approves Defense Appropriations Bill

By Brian W. Everstine
The House on Thursday approved its $575.8 billion Fiscal 2017 defense appropriations bill, which includes $58.6 billion in overseas contingency operations funding for personnel and equipment investments. The bill, approved by a floor vote of 282-138, shifts $16 billion from...

End Runs Don’t Scare Me

By John A. Tirpak
The Navy’s ability to secure a “sea-based deterrent fund” to finance its Ohio-class nuclear ballistic missile submarine program isn’t a concern to the Air Force, service Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh said Wednesday. “I’m not scared of that thing...

Wolfenbarger to Lead Women in Services Committee

Retired Gen. Janet Wolfenbarger, the first female four star general in Air Force history, is the new chair of the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services. The Pentagon announced Wednesday that Wolfenbarger, who retired in 2015 as the...

Audit Readiness

By Will Skowronski
The first independent financial audits of the military services’ general funds did not produce clean opinions, the Pentagon’s comptroller told lawmakers Wednesday. Testifying before the House Armed Services Committee about the Financial Improvement and Audit Readiness plan, Michael McCord noted...