New airmen are not surprised to find themselves driving trucks in the desert or in a firefight in Iraq, Moseley said at the AEI conference. He explained that “40 percent” of the people in the Air Force today came in after 9/11, so have no recollection of a different time. “They know exactly what they’re getting into,” Moseley asserted. He added that 80 percent of today’s Air Force personnel are post-Cold War airmen so they only know an expeditionary style of service. “This is what we do,” he said.
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.