Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne writes in his latest Letter to Airmen that USAF has “no plans to extend our restructuring beyond the current 40,000 reduction.” The Air Force has been drawing down its personnel for the past two fiscal years under a planned 40,000 full time equivalent cut that would take the force to around 316,000 by 2009 as a means to pay for weapons system recapitalization. However, Wynne notes that the service still is reconsidering whether it can continue toward a full cut of 40,000 because of Administration plans to increase the size of the Army and Marine Corps. Wynne writes, “Land component growth may require our Total Force drawdown to level off, while the size of specific elements within our Air Force might actually need to grow as well.”
An important U.S. Air Force E-3 Sentry AWACS command and control plane was among the aircraft damaged in a March 27 Iranian missile and drone attack on Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia, people familiar with the matter told Air & Space Forces Magazine.