Pete Geren, the Acting Secretary of the Air Force, has some sobering news: The service’s recapitalizaton problem, he says, will still be around to haunt Air Force leaders 20 years from now. He believes the age of the service’s aircraft inventory is “particularly critical now” because USAF has not been able to recapitalize and modernize in such a long time. However, if the service buys the aircraft and upgrades planned over the next five years, the problem will still exist. In effect, “It will never go away,” Geren maintains. He adds, “There will never be a time” to be “complacent about the need for investment in new technology.”
Three of four congressional committees with influence over defense policy have voted to change the official name of the Department of Defense to the Department of War—but final approval of the Pentagon rebrand is months away and not yet assured.