The Air Force’s chief information officer, Lt. Gen. Michael Peterson, says that the service’s information technology personnel—active duty and civilian—will be some of the first to be cut as USAF begins to drawdown by 40,000 positions over the next five years. Federal Computer Week reports that Peterson said the IT professionals have adapted more quickly to technological efficiencies, meaning the Air Force can accomplish their tasks with fewer people. Peterson told attendees at USAF’s recent technology conference in Alabama that the service could eliminate nearly 3,500 jobs through IT modernization in Web management and financial systems. In Fiscal 2007, the Air Force plans to cut a total of 8,000 officers and 2,000 civilians.
House lawmakers are encouraging the Air Force and U.S. Special Operations Command to work together as each pursues long-range, long-endurance reconnaissance drones. Both entities are investing in unmanned assets that can slip into highly defended areas, loiter over a particularly valuable target for days at a time, and traverse multiple…