US Joint Forces Command sees great value in its new Joint Public Affairs Support Element, or JPASE, which it sent forth on three occasions over the past five months. A JPASE team covered task force commander needs for Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in the US and the earthquake in Pakistan. In the past, PA support has been ad hoc, according to JPASE director Army Col. Steve Campbell. The new approach provides a “seasoned team on call” tailored to the job at hand that can “manage a task force’s PA processes while the combatant command evaluates the long-term outlook,” says Campbell. The JPASE team serves as an initial responder that turns over a “functioning public affairs apparatus to follow-on forces.”
The Air Force is seeking funding to let its pilots fly a little more than 1.1 million hours in fiscal 2027, which would be the most in about four years. But even if Airmen actually do fly all 1.1 million hours, it would still be short of the 1.3 million…