DOD last week put out data on its recruiting and retention figures for the month of October, covering the active, Guard, and Reserve components of all services. In the active forces, all four services exceeded their recruiting goals. Ditto for four of the six Guard/Reserve components. One that didn’t do very well was the Air National Guard. It signed up only 588 of the 1,010 new airmen it sought, or about 58 percent. On the other hand, ANG retention was about 110 percent of its goal of 986. It’s just a single data point, and a mushy one at that, but it’s something worth watching.
Congress should direct the Pentagon to break out the F-35’s propulsion upgrade from the rest of the program to better to track its scope, schedule, and cost, the Government Accountability Office urged in a new May 30 report. Meanwhile, engine-maker Pratt & Whitney added its own suggestion that the F-35…