Michael Wynne, the nominee to become the next Air Force Secretary, told the Senate he wants to “reinvigorate the Air Force relationship with the Air National Guard to try and put this behind us.” The word “this” refers to a virtually unprecedented rift between USAF leaders and some ANG officials. Wynne made the remark at last week’s confirmation hearing. He was responding to queries about the future relationship between the Air Force and the Air National Guard, since the present one is still affected by the acrimony of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure actions. Wynne assured members of the Senate Armed Services Committee that he would work to heal the breach.
The Air Force wants to pump more than $12 billion over the next five years into its new affordable long-range missiles program and recently asked industry to push the flights of some of those munitions beyond 1,200 miles.