Hank Polk, an Air Education and Training Command communications and information planner and project manager, has signed up to deploy with Air and Space Expeditionary Force 1/2 destined for Al Udeid AB, Qatar, in May. Officials say that Polk is the first Air Force communications and information civilian to volunteer for an assignment normally filled by a military member. Polk told Air Force journalist Megan Orton, he was just being part of the Air Force team. “If we can get civil servants into some of those positions to give military members a break from deployment, why not,” Polk said.
House, Senate Unveil Competing Proposals for 2026 Budget
July 11, 2025
Lawmakers from the House and Senate laid out competing versions of the annual defense policy bill on July 11, with vastly different potential outcomes for some of the Air Force’s most embattled programs.