The Government Accountability Office in a new report has identified a key weakness in the Air Force plan to implement its new mission plan for the Air National Guard: There is no clear strategy to address challenges such as no room in schools to train Air Guardsmen in their new missions and a dearth of bridge missions for those units that have to wait for either new aircraft or training in a different role. And, then there is the matter of how to pay for it all. GAO believes the Air Force has underestimated the cost. There’s also some disagreement between GAO and the Air Force about whether the funds for replacement missions should be identified in BRAC dollars. The GAO believes they should be.
The U.S., South Korea, and Japan flew an unusual trilateral flight with two U.S. B-52H Stratofortress bombers escorted by two Japan Air Self-Defense Force F-2s, and two ROK Air Force KF-16 fighters—both countries’ respective variants of the F-16—July 11. That same weekend, the top military officers of the three nations…