We Need the Raptor for China: Speaking at an AEI forum, Michael Vickers of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments says the Air Force’s “job one” is “hedging against the rise of China.” He also had a simple prescription for carrying out this mission: Save the F/A-22. According to Vickers, the way to accomplish this feat is to scale back the F/A-22 program or kill “the big sucking chest wound” known as the Joint Strike Fighter.
Trainees in Basic Military Training and technical school no longer have the option to try alternate PT drills if they fail an initial assessment, according to a policy change the Air Force made in April. The move is part of a larger shift out of the classroom and into hands-on,…