The Air Force’s top personnel officer told lawmakers Thursday that although the service plans to “reassess” where it ends up in terms of end strength, “we’re not asking for a change in the cycle.” Appearing before the House Armed Services military personnel panel, Lt. Gen. Roger Brady, explained that the 2008 budget proposal includes personnel cuts that will take the service to 316,000 active duty airmen. “We’re on the path to 316,” said Brady, adding that this summer service leaders will be “looking at where we go in ’09.”
The Air Force on March 12 awarded contract modifications worth a combined $2.4 billion to Boeing to procure an undisclosed number of E-7 Wedgetail as part of the program's engineering and manufacturing development phase and continue work on the airborne battle management aircraft’s radar.