The Air Force will not move to close down Air Force Reserve Command in 2015 despite a recommendation by the National Commission on the Structure of the Air Force to do so, Secretary Deborah Lee James told Senate legislators Tuesday. Speaking before the Senate Armed Services Committee, alongside Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh, James said AFRC is needed to organize the service’s 70,000 Reservists as they become more involved in Total Force Initiatives. Disestablishing AFRC before USAF is capable of integrating its infrastructure, duties, and oversight responsibilities would be premature, James said. “We are all for integration,” but USAF will not have a “good alternative” to take care of the AFRC role if the organization were to go away in 2015, she added. Still, both James and Welsh left the door open for disestablishing the command in the future. Welsh said the service must consider alternatives to the AFRC structure as it further integrates its Active and Air Reserve Components.
The U.S. continued to move a significant amount of airpower toward the Middle East in recent days as talks to forge a nuclear deal with Iran hung in the balance. Flight tracking data indicate there was unusually heavy movement of dozens of fighter jets and other assets that might be…
