Airpower offers one of the most flexible and appropriate capabilities to cope with rising world threats, David Ochmanek, deputy assistant secretary of defense for force development, said Monday during a panel discussion at AFA’s Air & Space Conference at National Harbor, Md. Long-term trends of rising powers and non-state actors with access to high technology “will require the qualities of airpower, namely speed, range, and precision, he said. Potential adversaries have been “paying attention” to the successes of US airpower and are busily modeling their own capabilities on those of the US, he said, and US systems need to be “sustained and modernized” to stay ahead. A new penetrating aircraft and standoff missiles that could give legacy aircraft more reach and punch are essential capabilities, he added. However, he said that in advocating such systems, they need to be justified in terms of their contribution to the whole of the US defense enterprise, not just any particular service’s traditional roles and missions. He noted that after taking a shellacking in a particular round of congressional hearings in the 1970s, a new Air Force analysis office was set up to explain the need for new systems. “Rule number one was that the name of the system did not appear on the first page of the paper,” Ochmanek said. USAF learned the hard way that “You don’t advocate for your service” by talking about stealth or superior technology, but by “advocating the needs of the nation and the commander.”
Pentagon Releases Cost of Living, BAH Rates for 2026
Dec. 30, 2025
The Pentagon will pay cost of living allowances to 127,000 service members in the continental U.S. in 2026, an increase of 66,000 members in 2025. Airmen and Guardians across the U.S. will also receive an average increase of 4.2 percent for their Basic Housing Allowance, compared to the 5.4 percent…
