At
a Senate Appropriations defense panel hearing last week, Gen. Craig McKinley, National Guard Bureau Chief, acknowledged that increasing budgetary pressures over the next five years will lead to a “budgetary crisis” in equipping the National Guard. In fact, he declared, “We may already be there with the Air National Guard.” McKinley, was responding to questioning by Sen. Kit Bond (R-Mo.), co-chair of the National Guard Caucus, who himself called the Air Guard’s equipment situation “dire.” In Bond’s view, “If you call it the Air Guard, you ought to have aircraft.” A major concern is that most of ANG’s F-16s are Block 30 vintage, which, as McKinley noted, “are very capable today, but without a significant amount of modernization money, will become less relevant and potentially less safe to fly over a period of time.”
Space Force Adds Unit Tying Acquisition to Test and Training
Sept. 18, 2025
The Space Force has introduced a host of new and revamped deltas in recent months to tighten the ties between acquisition and operations. Now, a new unit is adding training to the mix.
