Brig. Gen. Stephen L. Hoog, leader of the Air Force’s Air and Space Expeditionary Force Center, claims there is no better place to see the AEF in action than in Southwest and Central Asia. He recently paid a visit to elements of US Central Command Air Forces in the field to see the results of his outfit’s efforts to bring predictability to the deployment process. Why? He knows that “other than first-line supervisors and commanders, the AEF center has one of the greatest amounts of influence in every airman’s life.”
The rate of building B-21 bombers would speed up if the fiscal 2026 defense budget passes. But it remains unclear how much capacity would be added, and whether the Air Force would simply build the bombers faster, or buy more.