The Space Force on July 24 made major organizational changes, including inactivating wings and activating new commands, while selection boards are meeting to bring in thousands of new uniformed personnel. During a livestreamed ceremony, the Space Force inactivated three space wings and eight lower echelon commands previously part of Air Force Space Command, and activated its new Space Training and Readiness Delta Provisional, two garrison commands, and eight mission deltas—the service’s term for the command level known in the Air Force as a wing. “Today we take action, an important and significant step, towards the development of a 21st century service purpose-built to achieve speed, agility, and unity of effort,” Gen. John W. “Jay” Raymond, Chief of Space Operations, said during the ceremony. “This ceremony highlights the most significant restructure of space units since the establishment of the Air Force Space Command in 1982.”
Boeing, General Atomics, Kratos, and Northrop Grumman received indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contracts that allow them to compete for Skyborg Vanguard Program delivery orders, the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center announced on July 23. Skyborg is an affordable unmanned system that will partner with fighter jets and utilize artificial intelligence to conduct strike and intelligence-collection missions that are too dangerous for manned aircraft. “We have the opportunity to transform our warfighting capabilities and change the way we fight and the way we employ air power," Brig. Gen. Dale R. White, program executive officer for fighters and advanced aircraft, said of the Skyborg program.
The Senate on July 20 confirmed a series of Air Force leaders, including the next commanders of Air Mobility Command and Air Combat Command. Lt. Gen. Jacqueline D. Van Ovost will receive her fourth star, and take over as leader of AMC from retiring Gen. Maryanne Miller, while Lt. Gen. Mark D. Kelly also will receive his fourth star and to take the reins of ACC from retiring Gen. James M. Holmes.
Russian private military contractors have expanded their presence in Libya, bringing in additional aircraft and air defense systems, U.S. Africa Command alleges through newly released surveillance photographs. The private Wagner Group deployed to Libya to support military commander Khalifa Haftar’s offensive against the United Nations-backed Government of National Accord. New photographs show Il-76 cargo aircraft, Su-24 Fencer fighter jets, SA-22 air defense systems, armored vehicles, and formations of personnel at Al Khadim Airfield. This deployment is addition to the May movement of Su-24s and MiG-29s to Al Jufra Airfield. “Russia continues to play an unhelpful role in Libya by delivering supplies and equipment to the Wagner group,” U.S. Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Bradford J. Gering, AFRICOM’s director of operations, said in a release.
The severity of military spouse unemployment and underemployment differs by zip code, and job droughts in communities surrounding some U.S. military bases may be making it harder for spouses to find work, even if they’re armed with college degrees, a new report from The Deloitte Center for Government Insights suggests. “Well over half of all military spouses live in areas with below-average availability of work,” the report states. “In fact, our research indicates that of the military spouses who live on or near the largest bases, 44 percent live in labor markets with negative availability of jobs, that is, there are fewer jobs available than there are job seekers.” And even though military spouses are more likely to hold a bachelor’s degree or higher than the general U.S. population, the report notes, “in hotter labor markets," they still might fall short of their competition for jobs.
In its latest round of recommendations to Congress formalized July 21, the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence suggests ways to get high-tech employees trained and then locked into federal service commitments—ideas modeled after the military service academies and ROTC programs. The NSCAI proposes a new degree-granting university to create a pipeline of security-cleared federal employees, plus a reserve component whose members would get much of their tuition covered at other universities in exchange for part-time service. The recommendations include a seven-year plan to get the proposed United States Digital Service Academy up and running, with its first class of 500 students enrolled by Year 3 of the plan.
