Fourteen Air Force leaders from Africa met at Ramstein AB, Germany, last week for the first African Air Chiefs Conference, reports Capt. Joel Harper. Gen. Tom Hobbins, head of US Air Forces in Europe, said the goal of the conference was to “explore ways in which strategic partnerships and regional cooperation can improve air safety and security across the continent.” According to Brig. Gen. Michael Snodgrass, USAFE’s director of plans, programs, and analysis, the conference produced “professional, vigorous debate” on airman-to-airman issues. Snodgrass also said that the African Air Chiefs seemed particularly interested in engendering training opportunities since “they recognize that the United States has a great breadth and depth of training capabilities, across the board, for their air forces.”
A new report from the Government Accountability Office calls for the Pentagon’s Chief Technology Officer to have budget certification authority over the military services’ research and development accounts—a move the services say would add a burdensome and unnecessary layer of bureaucracy.
