The Lexington Institute’s Loren Thompson believes the Air Force simply “has become so politically correct that nobody can figure out what it’s saying.” Thompson complains about the C-17 snafu, among other things, writing that although USAF only cited a need for two additional airlifters, it was, in fact, “formulating plans to seek dozens more” but left “outsiders” to “read its mind.” Although Thompson maintains that Chief of Staff Gen. Michael Moseley is actually “more articulate than any of his recent predecessors,” he says the Air Force culture is more committed to “secrecy” than it is to gaining support for its mission.
The Air Force wants to pump more than $12 billion over the next five years into its new affordable long-range missiles program and recently asked industry to push the flights of some of those munitions beyond 1,200 miles.