To attack its over-strength junior officer force, the Air Force plans to institute a new annual “force-shaping” board that will “evaluate officers at their three-year point” to determine their potential for continued service, states the Air Force Personnel Center. The first board will meet at AFPC headquarters at Randolph AFB, Tex., on April 3, 2006. The Air Force has some 4,000 officers—primarily from the 2000 to 2004 commissioning years—too many on its rolls for Fiscal 2006. Officials say that officers in these year groups may apply for voluntary separation until March 1, 2006, but, beyond that date, the board will decide who will stay and who will go. Read here for more information.
House lawmakers are encouraging the Air Force and U.S. Special Operations Command to work together as each pursues long-range, long-endurance reconnaissance drones. Both entities are investing in unmanned assets that can slip into highly defended areas, loiter over a particularly valuable target for days at a time, and traverse multiple…