Afghan Presidential Candidates Reach Power-Sharing Deal

Afghanistan’s two presidential candidates signed a power-sharing deal, brokered by Secretary of State John Kerry, over the weekend. The agreement marks an end to months of uncertainty following June’s hotly contested runoff vote. “Millions of Afghans braved insecurity and threats...

Nothing is Safe From Sequester

Not even the Air Force’s top three acquisition programs will be protected if sequester returns in Fiscal 2016, said industry experts during a wide-ranging panel discussion at AFA’s Air & Space Conference last week. James McAleese, founder of contracting consulting...

Chinese Military Hacked USTRANSCOM Contractors

The Senate Armed Services Committee included a provision in its markup of the Fiscal 2015 defense authorization bill that addresses communication lapses in cyber and tightens cybersecurity protocol. The move comes after the committee determined the Chinese government successfully hacked...

US Army Boxed in by Sequestration

Fiscal 2016 will be “a breaking point” if sequestration returns, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno told reporters Friday morning in Washington, D.C. “It will be very difficult for us to lead around the world,” added Odierno, who spent...

Unintended Consequences

With modern technology, communicating with loved ones has gotten so much easier, said Lt. Gen. Samuel Cox, deputy chief of staff for manpower, personnel, and services. However, one of the unintended consequences is that “whatever happens out on the road...

USAF’s Got Cyber Game

The Air Force’s space and cyber capabilities in combat are so lethal that it’s not safe to practice with them in wargames, said Air Combat Command chief Gen. Mike Hostage. Speaking at AFA’s Air & Space Conference last week, Hostage...

Family Business

Sixty-two airmen have committed suicide so far this year, said Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh in his opening remarks at the Spouse and Family Forum at AFA’s Air & Space Forum last week. The number is not much different...

Refocus Command and Control

The speed of modern operations and today’s threats are combining to put pressure on how the US military conducts command and control, according to speakers at AFA’s Air & Space Conference last week. The Combined Air and Space Operations Center,...

Mitchell Institute Launches C2 Study Effort

The Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies launched a second major study effort that will examine how to adapt and evolve command and control of air, space, and cyberspace operations. The effort, which kicked off on Sept. 18, will result in...

Coming Together in the Combat Cloud

Information fusion and dissemination is critical to effective combat operations, but it’s still a challenge to ensure the other services and international partners also are working together in this realm, said participants of the combat cloud panel at AFA’s Air...

Defending Cyberspace the Right Way

Air Force Space Command recently made a huge step towards integrating onto the joint information environment “and nobody noticed,” said Gen. John Hyten, commander of Air Force Space Command, at AFA’s Air & Space Conference in National Harbor, Md., Sept....