The Air Force announced a new and improved communications department—one it believes will lead to better rapport with the American public. The service plans to install a two-star general to lead the communications directorate, which will subsume the office of public affairs. The communications deputy director—a one-star general—will serve as head of public affairs. USAF named Brig. Gen. Erwin F. Lessel III and Col. Michelle D. Johnson to fill the new positions. Lessel is currently the director of plans and programs at Air Force Materiel Command. Johnson is director of personnel at Air Mobility Command. Gen. Michael Moseley, USAF Chief of Staff, says the new organization will ensure PAOs “have an active role in all significant operational planning, decision, and assessment points.”
The Chinese spy balloon may have popped, but funding to protect against similar threats is inflating, according to the Department of Defense. The high-attitude surveillance balloon that traversed the U.S. in late January and early February prompted last-minute additions to the Pentagon's budget of around $90 million for measures to…