Air Mobility Command has put together an 18-page white paper explaining the Air Force rationale for considering “floors and doors” in its KC-X tanker replacement program an essential requirement. The document—which just recently appeared unheralded on the AMC Web site—runs through the tanker/airlift discussion from the last Mobility Capabilities and offers a preview of the MCS-06 results, which “show that tankers are least in demand when airlift assets are stretched most thin during the early deployment phase of a conflict.” The white paper also provides a short history of the use of the service’s current tankers—the KC-135 and KC-10—in their alter ego roles as cargo haulers. A recent Government Accountability Office report criticized what analysts perceive as a lack of analysis behind the “doors and floors” key performance parameter. Some lawmakers, however, see the common sense side of seeking a dual mission aircraft.
President Donald Trump’s nominee for Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff touted his highly unusual background for the job as an asset and reaffirmed his commitment to stay apolitical during a confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee on April 1.