The Air Force is risking the future of aircraft sustainment with a move to centralize management of its three air logistics centers and remove managers from the bases, according to Rep. Robert Bishop (R-Utah.) Air Force Materiel Command announced it would eliminate management at its Air Logistics Centers at Hill AFB, Utah., and Robins AFB, Ga., consolidating management at the Oklahoma City ALC at Tinker AFB, Okla., under cost cutting measures unveiled last week. “This is not a new idea. It’s been discounted in the past,” said Bishop, quoted by Salt Lake City’s Deseret News. “They have not done their Business Case Analysis to show us that this is the right thing,” he added. “Until they do that, I’m very skeptical of it.” Working with representatives from Georgia and Oklahoma, Bishop plans to press the Air Force to consider delaying consolidation to next year, to provide time to review its long term consequences.
Top experts and observers stressed the importance of air superiority in Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine during a Sept. 26 forum in Washington D.C.—and pushed hard for the U.S. to supply Ukraine with advanced weapons as quickly as possible.