The National Governors’ Association met with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld over the weekend at their annual winter get together. The prime topic? Gubernatorial opposition to proposed DOD funding cuts for the National Guard. With the BRAC 2005 wound still festering for many governors, the latest Pentagon gambit must be déjà vu all over again. (We know of at least one that, at year’s end was still pursuing a lawsuit against Rumsfeld.) All the top state executives have signed a letter to President Bush, decrying the proposed cuts included in the 2007 defense budget request. The attention focuses mainly on the Army Guard, but the Air Force also plans to make cuts to the Air National Guard.
As Air Force leaders consider concepts of operations for Collaborative Combat Aircraft, sustainment in the field—and easing that support by using standard parts and limiting variants—should be a key consideration, according to a new study from AFA's Mitchell Institute of Aerospace Studies.