Stars and Stripes carries a report that the Air Force intends to rethink its ongoing cut of some 40,000 personnel, referring to Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne’s Sept. 19 remarks before a Washington think tank. The intent of Wynne’s comments about the personnel cut were not that the service plans to halt the 40,000-person slice, but that it alone is insufficient to support the service’s recapitalization efforts. At this week’s AFA Air & Space Conference, Wynne left no doubt that the Air Force intended to continue with the cuts, drawing down to an end strength of 316,000 in 2009. That said, there is a possibility that the service would add back some 2,000 airmen—but they probably would be the highly specialized battlefield airmen not the rank and file included in the ongoing cuts—to accommodate the growth in ground forces. Meanwhile, the service plans to ask Congress for more money to continue its vital recapitalization of systems.
US Space Command Should Always Be Led by a Guardian
Sept. 12, 2026
General Stephen Whiting took command of U.S. Space Command in January 2024, and if customary three-year tenures hold, his tour would end in January 2027. The question now before the President and Senate is who should follow him? Whoever they choose, it has to be a Guardian—and so should every successor…
