Air Force Gen. Craig McKinley, the director of the National Guard Bureau, says there is no going back for the nation’s reserve forces, returning to a strategic reserve vice the operational reserve it has become. According to an Aug. 13 NGB report in a speech to the Enlisted Association of the National Guard of the United States earlier this month, McKinley said: “We can’t be relegated to obsolete and incompatible equipment like we were during the Cold War. We have proven that that old way of doing business does not work in today’s environment.” Maintaining this new reserve force, he said, requires that it “modernize at a proportional rate to the active component.” And that goes for training, too. McKinley explained, “In an era of persistent conflict, we need a predictable rotational model, and we must maintain proficiency and interoperability with the rest of the force.” (NGB report by Lt. Col. Ellen Krenke)
A recent seven-day exercise sent Air Force F-22s—along with other USAF aircraft—to austere, challenging environments across Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands. Agile Reaper, taking place for the second time after its inaugural edition last year, featured 800 Airmen and 29 aircraft across five different locations from April 10-16, training…