Air Combat Command boss Gen. James M. Holmes is traveling to flying wings to speak with commanders about safety and training in response to a recent pattern of accidents across the Air Force's fighter fleet, a command spokesperson told Air Force Magazine. “The recent incidents involve multiple aircraft types from multiple commands,” ACC spokesperson Leah Garton wrote in an email. “Gen. [James] Mike Holmes, ACC Commander, is assessing current and historical data and looking for common trends or issues. He is also discussing the incidents with other MAJCOM commanders.” The service saw two F-16 crashes in two weeks, and three fighter crashes in a month. Two Airmen were killed in the crashes, and one successfully ejected with only minor injuries.

16th Air Force achieved full operational capability July 13, less than a year after the former 24th and 26th Air Forces were combined into a single number air force headquartered in San Antonio. It combines intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, cyber, electronic warfare, and information operations. Speaking during an AFA Mitchell Institute event, Lt. Gen. Timothy D. Haugh, the 16th AF commander, described a contentious information environment in which the U.S. must become a more aggressive competitor by using the truth as a weapon to breakdown adversaries’ disinformation campaigns.

The Pentagon convened a board, to be led by Air Force Secretary Barbara M. Barrett, that will focus on diversity and inclusion initiatives, while Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper issued a new memorandum outlining immediate steps to address bias within the military. The Defense Department Board on Diversity and Inclusion, which met for the first time July 15, will direct the department’s steps forward on addressing diversity, inclusion, and equal opportunity, according to a DOD release. The same day, Esper released his directive to make immediate changes, including removing photographs from promotion board documents, updating equal opportunity and diversity inclusion policies, collecting new data on prejudice and bias in the military, and adding bias awareness and bystander intervention to the violence prevention framework, among others.

An Air Force special tactics combat controller died when his improperly packed reserve parachute inadvertently deployed into the wind stream outside an MC-130H before a training jump, pulling him from the aircraft, according to an Air Force investigation. Staff Sgt. Cole Condiff, 29, a special tactics combat controller from the 23rd Special Tactics Squadron at Hurlburt Field, Fla., was declared dead following a 17-day search in the Gulf of Mexico that failed to recover his remains. An Air Force Accident Investigation Board report determined that Condiff’s parachute was improperly configured, a “direct result of the participating jumpmasters’ insufficient procedural knowledge.” Following the incident, and another special tactics training death, AFSOC paused all dive, parachute, and mountaineering training for a safety review, which found problems with in-garrison training practices and standards.

The Air Force will have the first two F-15EXs in hand for testing in about six months, Boeing's F-15 Vice President and Program Manager Pratyush Kumar said. His comments come just two days after the Air Force officially launched the program with a contract worth up to $22.9 billion. Everything about the program has been done with speed of delivery in mind, and the EX exploits the digital approach championed by Air Force acquisition chief Will Roper, he said. The EX contract will keep the F-15 line humming for at least a decade, he added.

The newly formed Space Force is looking at future launches to bring on allied payloads or other ways to collaborate with the United Kingdom as a way to strengthen international cooperation in space, the head of the new service said. U.S. Space Force Chief of Space Operations Gen. John W. “Jay” Raymond, speaking July 15 at the virtual Air and Space Power Conference hosted by the United Kingdom Royal Air Force, said his service and the U.S. Air Force are looking at its future plans to find ways to bring in UK influence because of “mutual needs” of increased communications bandwidth and a more resilient architecture.

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.