The Air Force now believes it should only reduce the service by 20,000 people, rather than 40,000. However, a senior service official speaking on background Friday said that the reduction number depends on getting additional funding (see above)—without that the Air Force will have to stick with the 40,000 cut. If service leaders succeed in gaining extra funding, the new 2009 end strength number would be 328,000. If not, the bottom will be around 316,000. (This must be what Gen. Tom Hobbins was talking about in December.)
With key members of Congress wavering on the possibility of a $350 billion defense reconciliation bill, defense experts told Air & Space Forces Magazine that the Pentagon is likely drawing up budget backup plans—but such plans would face hard choices between high-end weapons and low-cost drones and other programs in…