Air Force Secretary Michael Donley thinks there will be some serious rethinking of service expenditures in the coming years, especially if the Budget Control Act’s sequester mechanism takes effect. However, he said he doubts that any solution would involve the services taking a blanket meat cleaver-style uniform cut without consideration of strategy and goals. Speaking at AFA’s Global Warfare Symposium last week in Los Angeles, Donley said USAF missions, such as space, airlift, and global intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance, have proven that they have a lasting place, not just in Southwest Asia, but wherever the nation’s national security strategy is headed. “As we reconsider where the strategy is going, I think there is much more appreciation for the value of those capabilities that enable global operations,” he said Nov. 18.
U.S. Air Force F-35s and F-22s regularly deploy deep into the Pacific region from Alaska, Utah, and Hawaii. In the future, though, the head of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command would like to see the Air Force permanently station fifth-generation aircraft west of the international date line—closer to China.