Secretary of Defense Ash Carter will visit Scott AFB, Ill., and Nellis AFB, Nev., this week, Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook announced Aug. 25. Carter will fly from Washington, D.C., to Scott for the ceremony in which Gen. Darren McDew will take the reigns of US Transportation Command. He will then travel to Nellis for a first-hand look at the Red Flag exercise, Cook said. Carter also plans to meet with airmen at Nellis before heading to California for a stop at a marine base and a visit to Silicon Valley. Gen. Carlton Everhart assumed command of Air Mobility Command from McDew earlier this month; outgoing TRANSCOM Commander Gen. Paul Selva in July was confirmed to be the new vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Though Nellis calls Red Flag the “Air Force’s premier air-to-air combat training exercise,” former Chief of Staff retired Gen. Michael Moseley in July said it does not have the resources to train airmen for modern, high-end conflict.
Depot-level maintenance took longer than expected for nearly three-quarters of Air Force aircraft from fiscal 2019-2024, according to a new report, as unplanned repairs rise across the aging fleet. The report, from the Government Accountability Office, also found that the extent of the delays has been masked because officials often revise their target timelines after unplanned work occurs.