Lt. Gen. Roger Brady, USAF personnel chief, told the House Armed Services Military Personnel Subcommittee Thursday afternoon that “budgetary pressures” had forced the Air Force into trading personnel for aircraft recapitalization. It was not news to anyone, but the Air Force, in discussing the 2008 budget request, is hammering home that point and the fact that the service must readdress the number of personnel it plans to cut in light of the 92,000 troop increase for the Army and Marine Corps. Brady explained that USAF, faced with a too-small budget, undertook “a hard look at our processes and organizational structure” to make the right cuts to “ensure the survival and future success” of the force. He characterized the decision as “prudent,” because the service has “a rapidly aging fleet that we must recapitalize.”
When acting Air Force Secretary Gary A. Ashworth rescinded service-wide “Family Days” last week citing the need to build readiness, he left it up to commanders, directors, and supervisors to decide if they would still permit extra days off. Here’s how Air Force major commands are taking that guidance.