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.
The Air Force just got its hands on its first operational T-7A trainer jet, and officials are already thinking about adding a slew of upgrades—including some that could help the service use the Red Hawk to train less experienced pilots.