The United States on May 22 will start the six-month process of withdrawing from the 1992 Open Skies Treaty over objections that Russia isn’t complying with the arms-control pact. “I think we have a very good relationship with Russia, but Russia didn't adhere to the treaty, and so until they adhere to the treaty, we will pull out,” President Donald Trump told reporters. “There's a very good chance we'll make a new agreement or do something to put that agreement back together.” Open Skies allows countries to monitor each other’s domestic military activity through routine aircraft flyovers.

While the COVID-19 pandemic is forcing the nation and military to learn how to operate in a strange new world, it hasn’t diminished the force’s readiness, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Air Force Gen. John Hyten said on May 21. According to Hyten, who also heads up the Defense Department’s COVID-19 Task Force, the respiratory illness caused by the new coronavirus is hitting the U.S. military less intensely than the rest of the population. And though COVID-19 might be making Americans nostalgic for pre-pandemic life, Hyten said the nation and Defense Department must prioritize figuring out how to function in "the new normal” it’s created. For the military, he said, that means learning how to train and operate differently, as well as figuring out how to stay safe, since the pandemic could persist past 2020.

Air Force Global Strike Command is preparing to launch its "STRIKEWERX" innovation center in Bossier City, La., aimed at getting local companies and academia to propose and partner on quick-turn projects that can help the command be more efficient and effective. The center, which is located in the nearby technology park, will focus chiefly on software and other information technology projects, but it will be open to others. AFGSC Chief Scientist Donna Senft told Air Force Magazine the command "needed a storefront" that could reach out to potential partners the same way AFWERX does for the larger Air Force. Technology "is moving faster in the private sector," she said, and AFGSC is hoping the innovation will help it tap into that.

The Air Force Association and the Association of the United States Army are urging President Donald Trump to extend Title 32 deployment orders for Guardsmen activated in the fight against the new coronavirus. “As a number of state governors are now advising, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic clearly suggests our nation will need our National Guard to continue the fight well beyond June 24,” write AFA President retired Lt. Gen. Bruce “Orville” Wright and AUSA President and CEO retired Army Gen. Carter F. Ham in the May 21 letter to Trump and Defense Secretary Mark Esper.

Military medical facilities across the globe can resume elective procedures as long as their communities meet criteria outlined in new guidance released May 20. The Pentagon in March directed a restriction on elective procedures as the COVID-19 outbreak spread and threatened to overwhelm the military health infrastructure. But as the curve of infection flattens in many areas, officials are easing up on those restrictions as long as the procedures can be safely performed, are needed to maintain the deployability and readiness of service members, or delaying a procedure could increase the risk to the patient, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs Tom McCaffery wrote in a May 19 memorandum.

Gold Star families visiting their fallen loved ones at Arlington National Cemetery and local veterans cemeteries across the country this Memorial Day will receive flowers as part of a nationwide charitable effort. The Memorial Day Flowers Foundation is giving away 6,000 flowers at Arlington, along with 64,000 flowers to individuals visiting local, state, and national veterans cemeteries. “Even with the COVID-19 pandemic, Memorial Day is not canceled,” said Ramiro Peñaherrera, the foundation’s co-founder and executive director, in a release. “We can still honor our fallen troops and their sacrifices this year but we have to do it in a safe way.”

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.