William Arkin, the Washington Post’s online military blogger, has taken aim at AIR FORCE Magazine, citing articles in the April issue for specific criticism. Arkin’s point, evidently, is that the magazine has presented an exaggerated and overly dire portrait of world threats in general and China in particular. Arkin writes that the upshot of the Pentagon plan to reprogram money from the Air Force and Navy shows that “even inside the military, some are at war while others aren’t.” He believes the Air Force “feels starved for resources and overwhelmed by the potential threats” so has been talking up threats outside Iraq. He says of our April issue, it “reads to me like a catalog of post-Iraq disasters and threats: China, North Korea, Iran, and cyber-threats, even a resurgent and threatening Russia.” Arkin calls planning for a China threat “wasted energy and resources and the wrong course.” Read his entire column and comments here. Arkin is a usually well-informed analyst, though airpower is not considered his strength.
Gene Smith, Former POW and AFA Chair, Dies at 91
Jan. 19, 2026
Lt. Col. Richard “Gene” Smith, who overcame five and a half years as a prisoner of war in the notorious Hanoi Hilton from 1967 until 1973, died Jan. 16. He was one day short of his 91st birthday.
