Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne’s latest letter to airmen praises their work and support for the service’s recapitalization efforts, which, he writes, “are bearing fruit, but not at a rate that satisfies me.” Wynne notes that the goal of recapitalizing the aging fleet while maintaining a suitable quality of life for airmen, winning the war on terror, and sustaining Air Force air and space power remains at the mercy of “a future we cannot always control.” Taking a swipe at budgeteers, he points out that it takes “the national will to have a well-equipped Air Force,” and he reminds Congress that USAF “must be allowed to acquire and retire our equipment whether in air, space, missiles, or cyberspace.”
The U.S. military is maintaining a beefed-up presence in the Middle East, including fighters and air defense assets, following the U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities June 22 and subsequent retaliation by the Iranians against Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.