Nearly two dozen House Armed Services Committee members wrote to the Federal Communications Commission on May 7 to jump into the spectrum dispute that pits the FCC and Ligado Networks against several federal agencies and national security stakeholders. “The national security community was unanimous in the judgement that approval of the use of certain portions of the L-band spectrum could pose an unacceptable risk to the use of the Global Positioning System (GPS) in the United States,” the bipartisan group of lawmakers wrote. “Other federal and nonfederal users of this spectrum have raised serious concerns, including satellite communications providers and airlines."

The Air Force’s Acquisition COVID-19 Task Force recently executed a new, $126 million contract to 3M to ramp up production of N95 masks to increase the supply chain for the in-demand masks and resupply the Strategic National Stockpile. The contract uses funding from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act to expand the supply chain to produce 26 million more masks per month beginning in October, with about 312 million masks produced over the next 12 months, according to an Air Force release. “Our past initiatives to empower our acquisition workforce and to accelerate programs have put us in a good position to respond to the present crisis with speed and agility,” said Will Roper, the assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, who established the service’s COVID-19 Task Force, in the release. “We are proud to be an important part of the solution.”

Amazon Web Services filed another protest May 4 to again push back on the Pentagon’s premiere cloud infrastructure competition. Amazon is appealing directly to the Pentagon over a perceived lack of clarity as the Defense Department amends its requirements for the commercial Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure cloud. The company already pumped the brakes on the JEDI program by protesting DOD’s October 2019 contract award to Microsoft, leading a federal judge to order the Pentagon to make changes. The new protest is private. Now, AWS says the proposed changes do not meaningfully address the problems it raised in its protest.

The New Jersey Air National Guard’s 177th Fighter Wing has a “no fail” mission and must keep F-16s on alert to respond to threats to the country’s northeast, even though the local community has been hit hard by the new coronavirus. COVID-19 has created a “biologically contested environment right here, in our backyard” for the wing, which operates out of the Atlantic City International Airport. The wing has shut down most access to the base, screening all visitors, and even quarantining crews before they go on alert to ensure that the wing’s F-16s and pilots are ready, the wing’s commander Col. Bradford Everman said in an interview with Air Force Magazine. “The 177th Fighter Wing, like really the rest of the Department of Defense, we don't have that opportunity to take a knee, we can't just shut down for a week or for a month,” Everman said. “We don't have that option. We have to continue getting the job done, because we have to continue defending America, our states, and our communities.”

One Airman’s grassroots initiative to lift up Air Force basic trainees during an unprecedented moment in history has grown into a global movement. Airman 1st Class Cailey Brislin, who works in the 434th Squadron Aviation Resource Management at Laughlin Air Force Base, Texas, was inspired to start the “Letters to Lackland” initiative last month after rediscovering encouraging notes she’d received while completing Basic Military Training at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas, according to a 47th Flying Training Wing release. Air Force Magazine reached out to the 37th Training Wing to find out how other Airmen and civilians can get in on the letter-writing action and help encourage potential future Airmen.

On March 23, the Air Force Association's Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies will host a virtual Nuclear Deterrence Series event featuring Scowcroft Group Principal Frank Miller. At a time when nuclear modernization programs are accelerating around the world, proposals to recapitalize the U.S. nuclear arsenal are at the forefront of debates over defense spending. Miller will share his insights into the prospects for U.S. nuclear modernization programs and the value of nuclear deterrence in today's competitive security environment. The think tank will post event video on its website and YouTube page after the live event.