One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

The Air Force Fiscal 2008 budget released today is $153.9 billion. Of that, after subtracting special funds for the war on terror and “pass through” monies that the Air Force doesn’t control—such as for national intelligence programs, defense healthcare, and...

The Defense Budget

President Bush has submitted a 2008 defense budget request amounting to $481.4 billion—just for the DOD baseline not the war—surpassing the 2007 enacted level by 11.3 percent. Per a DOD release, that equates to a “real growth” of 8.6 percent. The baseline budget request includes a three percent pay raise for military and civilian personnel, funding to support the growth of the Army and Marine Corps, and enough for 20 F-22A Raptors and 12 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters. The graph here shows the shares by major category. The table here indicates the budget shares by service and shows the Air Force and Navy have much lower increases than the Army. Caution: The amount shown for the Air Force—$136.6 billion—includes $25.9 billion in non-blue money the service doesn’t control.

Not So Fast

Rep. Ike Skelton (D-Mo.), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, already has issued a warning that the Bush Administration’s 2008 budget proposal will not fly easily through the Democratic Congress. He called the amount requested for defense “staggering.” However,...

Readiness Woes

Maj. Gen. Frank Faykes, USAF budget director, said that the Air Force cut back on readiness funding last year “to jumpstart our modernization.” However, he asserted the service “can’t do that for two years” in a row, so it has...

Matching the Army and Marine Corps

The Air Force plan to draw down some 40,000 personnel to free up funds for badly needed aircraft recapitalization programs is now about 18 months out of date, according to Maj. Gen. Frank Faykes, Air Force budget chief. Briefing reporters...

Tougher Recruiting Ahead

There is a flip side to the planned increases for the Army and Marine Corps that also has raised some concern within the Air Force. With the number of 18 to 20 year olds shrinking, said Maj. Gen. Frank Faykes,...

Combat Losses

The Air Force plans to spend $3.3 billion to buy six F-35s in Fiscal 2008, but that’s not the whole Joint Strike Fighter story. The so-called “spring supplemental” for 2007 includes money for two F-35s to replace F-16s lost to...

Long Range Strike Explained

The Air Force is funding long range strike in three phases. Phase one is to upgrade the existing bomber fleet’s capabilities and make them easier to operate. Phase two will be the 2018 platform that will reap today’s state of...

Not Again!:

In a release dated Feb. 2, Veterans Affairs announced that a Birmingham, Ala., VA Medical Center employee alerted supervisors Jan. 22 that an external hard drive was missing and possibly stolen. The drive served as a backup for the employee’s...

No Let Up:

The 379th Air Expeditionary Wing in Southwest Asia runs an around-the-clock operation to generate combat sorties for the war on terror, reports SrA. Erik Hofmeyer. Whether the work is building bombs or loading cargo aircraft, or maintaining the much-in-demand RC-135...

EOD Team Leader Awarded Bronze Star:

SSgt. Howie Loughran, an explosive ordnance disposal airmen assigned to the 31st Civil Engineer Squadron at Aviano AB, Italy, received a Bronze Star for his leadership during deployment to Iraq. His team diffused more than 80 improvised explosive devices and...

Gone by 2008, not 2010:

Air Force Reserve Command leaders intend to conduct a second reduction in force for reservists with the 939th Refueling Wing at Portland, Ore., to shut down the unit by June 2008 instead of the original closure date of September 2010....

By the Way:

Defense Secretary Robert Gates says that the Congressional Budget Office’s report estimating the cost of President Bush’s troop “surge” in Iraq “dramatically overstates” both the cost of the force increase and the number of personnel to be sent. According to...

Air Sorties in the Global War on Terrorism

Feb. 1-3, 2007 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total ISR 42 26 68 CAS/Armed Recon 121 60 181 Airlift 420 420 Air refueling 80 80 Total 163 86 500 749 OIF=Operation Iraqi Freedom OEF=Operation Enduring Freedom ISR=Intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance