The Chief of the Air Force Reserve, Lt. Gen. John Bradley, told lawmakers at a Senate Armed Services subcommittee hearing that the reserve components do not have the force management tools in place to offset end strength reductions predicated by BRAC 2005 decisions. “In the ’90s when we went through base closure actions, we had some tools—Reserve Transition Assistance Programs—that helped us with people who had served us well and faithfully but just couldn’t move several thousands of miles, or hundreds of miles, to a new unit,” explained Bradley. He added, “We’ll try to accommodate them … but some people just can’t continue.”
The Pentagon’s fiscal 2026 defense budget, submitted to Congress last week, accelerates the downsizing of the U.S. Air Force. It proposes divesting 340 aircraft, while only acquiring 76. These cuts risk the Air Force’s ability to prevail.
