Next: A Fighter Review

EnglandGordon England, the acting Deputy Defense Secretary, has ordered yet another review of US fighter programs. His Aug. 4 memo to top officials directed an independent review to “identify and develop, as appropriate, new operating concepts to optimize the employment of joint tactical aviation.” In other words, stand by for cuts to USAF’s F/A-22, the Navy’s F/A-18E/F, or the joint service F-35—or all three. As Navy Secretary in 2002, England also “reviewed” the daylights out of Navy and Marine Corps aviation, imposing major cuts on both.

Ready, Fire, Aim!

Not long ago, Donald Rumsfeld tried to kill the C-130J. Then the SECDEF reversed course when he learned it would cost more to cancel it that to complete it. (See our piece here.) Now, says a press item, he says...

Maybe We Do Need that Fighter Review….

During a recent cable TV interview program, Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) gave Rumsfeld an opportunity to speak highly of the F/A-22, but the SECDEF demurred. Rumsfeld faint-praised the Raptor, calling it “a fine airplane.” He said money will dictate the...

ANG Hearing BRACfires

BRAC commissioners left a special hearing without resolving the dispute over DOD plans to eliminate some ANG flying units around the country. In fact, Chairman Anthony Principi declared (according to the Washington Post) that the panel’s job had been made...

Justice Chimes In on ANG Dispute

Does the Pentagon have the right to shift Air National Guard units and missions without consulting individual states? “Yes, it does,” said the Justice Department in a special Aug. 10 opinion on the matter. The opinion, however, isn’t likely to cut much ice with the Guard and the Governors, given that Justice serves as the Pentagon’s lawyer in lawsuits filed by the states on this very issue.

Reading Otis Out of NORTHCOM’s Plans

According to the head of US Northern Command, the Pentagon’s BRAC recommendations pose “no unacceptable risk” to the homeland defense mission. Chairman Principi reminded Adm. Timothy Keating that previous BRAC rounds had closed three USAF bases in the northeast, that...

Mobility Study Gathers Moss, “Sort of”

Those eager to see the long-awaited Mobility Capabilities Study have to wait a while longer. The latest word from the Pentagon is to expect it “sort of between September and October.” That was the response Michael Wynne, DOD’s No. 2...

Pacific Jointness

Airmen from Mountain Home AFB, Idaho, joined fellow airmen at Kadena AB, Japan, and Navy and Marine Corps crews who gathered at Kadena on Aug. 7 for the third Joint Air and Sea Exercise 2005. Exercise participants include Kadena’s KC-135s,...

With Full Honors

Remains of four US and one Iraqi airmen killed in a May 30 airplane crash in Iraq were interred in a single mass grave at Arlington National Cemetery Aug. 11. The US airmen were: Maj. William Downs, Capt. Derek Argel,...

See: Vietnam, 1975

In an op-ed in Friday’s Washington Post, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger gave a personal take on recent official suggestions that the US might begin withdrawing troops from Iraq next year. The idea “revived poignant memories,” said K. He...

Fair Shake for Missile Defense

The latest missile defense update by Congressional Research Service analysts calls the development and deployment of missile defense both “elusive” and “divisive.” Among topics highlighted in the report: how the Bush Administration “sharply altered” the debate; why the Administration asserts the US deterrence theory is passé; why critics maintain the technology remains immature, and the whole thing is a “budget-buster.”

Air Sorties From the Global War on Terrorism:

August 11, 2005 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total ISR 11 4 – 15 CAS/Armed Recon 36 20 – 56 Airlift – – 150 150 Air refueling – – 32 32 Total 47 24 182 253 OIF=Operation Iraqi Freedom OEF=Operation...