The Air Force has tapped 87 officers out of more than 400 who applied to undergo training as international affairs specialists—“globally skilled airmen.” The 87 officers will enter training this summer to become either political-military affairs strategists or regional affairs strategists. The RAS group will go through foreign language training at the Defense Language Institute and earn a Naval Postgraduate School master’s degree focused on a particular region of the world. PAS candidates will undergo specialized study in political-military affairs or an Air Force political advisor internship. Col. Robert Sarnoski, the Air Force international airmen division chief, says, “Fielding these skills is just as important as fielding new weapon systems.”
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.
