Air Force Reservists provide 100 percent of USAF’s aerial spray capability and execute 100 percent of its weather reconnaissance mission, according to the new 2011 Air Force Reserve handbook. Reservists’ contributions to other Air Force missions are as follows: port mortuary affairs (75 percent), aeromedical evacuation (60 percent), aerial port (54 percent), flight inspection (50 percent), strategic airlift (46 percent), aerial firefighting (25 percent), personnel recovery (23 percent), tanker (23 percent), theater airlift (21 percent), intelligence (19 percent), flight training (19 percent), air operations center (15 percent), space (12 percent), AWACS (11 percent), special operations forces (10 percent), bomber (8 percent), remotely piloted aircraft (5 percent), and fighter (5 percent). Air Force Reserve’s authorized end strength is increasing from 69,500 in Fiscal 2010 to 71,200 in this fiscal year, according to the handbook. (Robins release with link to handbook; caution, handbook is large-sized file)
A new report from the Government Accountability Office calls for the Pentagon’s Chief Technology Officer to have budget certification authority over the military services’ research and development accounts—a move the services say would add a burdensome and unnecessary layer of bureaucracy.
