According to the Pentagon data, the Air and Army National Guard and Army and Navy Reserve fell below their recruiting goals for February. ANG recruiters only found 92 percent of their goal, ending a run of strong recruiting months in the first part of the fiscal year. All of the active forces achieved or bettered their February recruiting goals and are maintaining good retention numbers. Air Guard retention slipped somewhat, to 97 percent of its cumulative goal. Still, ANG stands at 99 percent of its authorized end strength.
When Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Air Force Gen. Dan Caine described the 150 aircraft used in Operation Absolute Resolve, the mission to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, he referenced many by name, including the F-35 and F-22 fighters and B-1 bomber. Not specified, however, were “remotely piloted drones,” among them a secretive aircraft spotted and photographed returning to Puerto…

