According to the Macon Telegraph, the Air Force is poised to renege on an agreement reached last year with Georgia lawmakers that would have preserved civilian personnel classification and staffing functions at Air Force centers with large civilian workforces. Last year, the Georgia delegation protested USAF’s planned move of such key functions from Warner Robins Air Logistics Agency to the Air Force Personnel Center in Texas. Now, the Telegraph’s Gene Rector reports that responses to questions “indicate that Robins will likely lose direct control of its 12,500 civilian workers.” Rector does note that the Air Force says no decision has been made pending completion of a test of the new arrangement at Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center at Tinker AFB, Okla. However, Rector points out that the test site is under a “virtual hiring freeze,” so would hardly demonstrate representative personnel actions.
The rate of building B-21 bombers would speed up if the fiscal 2026 defense budget passes. But it remains unclear how much capacity would be added, and whether the Air Force would simply build the bombers faster, or buy more.