The Pentagon is asking Congress to move $3.8 billion, including nearly $1.5 billion in Air Force funding, from weapons programs to the border wall project. The Feb. 13 reprogramming request would shift $2.2 billion from already appropriated base budget funds for fiscal 2020 plus another $1.62 billion in appropriated overseas contingency operations funds. The cuts include funding for four C-130Js, eight MQ-9s, $180 million for USAF's light attack experiment, and $156 million in advanced procurement funding for F-35s, among others.
The Air Force’s decision to cut a major upgrade to the B-2 bomber’s defenses shows the military is accepting near-term risk to free up funding for future capabilities, the head of U.S. Strategic Command told lawmakers Feb. 13. The Air Force’s budget proposal winds down the $3 billion defense management system upgrade, which included the largest software and hardware changes to the bomber since the aircraft went through initial engineering development, saving $327.9 million in fiscal 2021.
Chief of Space Operations Gen. Jay Raymond has tapped Chief Master Sgt. Roger Towberman to become the Space Force’s first senior enlisted advisor. In the coming weeks, Towberman will transition from serving as U.S. Space Command’s senior enlisted leader and Air Force Space Command’s command chief to advising Raymond and Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett on all matters related to “the welfare, readiness, morale, proper utilization, and progress of Space Force members and their families,” according to a Feb. 13 release.
NATO has agreed “in principle” to send additional personnel to Iraq, potentially freeing up the U.S. to bring some of its training personnel home, Defense Secretary Mark Esper announced Feb. 13. NATO member states agreed to send more train, advise, and assist personnel to the country, through Esper would not identify the nations. U.S. officials have been pressing the alliance to carry more of the load, especially as tensions rise in the region. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said he has “started the process” of increasing the alliance’s presence in the country at the invitation of the Iraqi government.
The U.S. and Taliban are negotiating a seven-day “reduction in violence” so peace talks can move forward, though the specifics of the proposal aren’t being released as American officials discuss the proposal with allies, Defense Secretary Mark Esper said. Speaking at the conclusion of a NATO defense ministerial conference in Belgium on Feb. 13, Esper said he has been consulting with allies on the “path forward” in Afghanistan. As these discussions occur, U.S. aircraft are continuing a busy pace of airstrikes in the country, with new statistics from Air Forces Central Command showing 415 bombs dropped in the first month of the year.
U.S. Northern Command is focused on mitigating a further outbreak of the new coronavirus, as it helps the Department of Health and Human Services quarantine and treat those who could have been exposed to the virus. NORTHCOM has virtual meetings every day with combatant commands around the world "to ensure we are able to respond,” USAF Gen. Terrence O’Shaughnessy said during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing Feb. 13. So far, the command has helped HHS quarantine more than 600 individuals at military facilities across the country, and there are 11 facilities near major airports on standby for additional support if needed, O’Shaughnessy said.
