Air Force Secretary Michael Donley said the Total Force will continue to remain a priority even as the service moves into a contentious budget environment. Today, 58 percent of combat forces are on active duty, but 42 percent are Air Force reservists. The majority of mobility airmen—51 percent—are reservists, while 49 percent are active duty, said Donley at AFA’s Air & Space Conference at National Harbor near D.C., Monday. “I am proud of the way the Total Force is working together,” said Donley, who added that USAF needs to continue to improve the relationships between the active duty Air Force and its Air Reserve Components. “It’s all about balance,” 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…