In a new Letter to Airmen, Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne writes that Air Force, Air National Guard, and Air Force Reserve Command “training and operations make it impossible to differentiate between the three components.” He goes on to note that the days of the “strategic reserve” are gone and adds, “our total force sacrifices daily through extended deployments in the most challenging missions we have.” Wynne’s bottom line: “Total Force has moved from a future concept to today’s reality.”
The Air Force wants to pump more than $12 billion over the next five years into its new affordable long-range missiles program and recently asked industry to push the flights of some of those munitions beyond 1,200 miles.