Airmen, from basic military training to graduate studies at Air University, need to increase their study and understanding of potential adversaries, such as China and Russia, to better understand the Air Force’s place in the world and the risk of potential conflicts, the service’s senior uniformed leaders said. All leaders need to be able to talk to their Airmen “and go here’s what you’re doing, and why it’s important,” Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. said Sept. 16 during the Air Force Association’s virtual Air, Space & Cyber Conference. “You start talking about great power competition, we need to understand how our adversary thinks. We can count the number of platforms, [but] we need to understand how they think. What makes them tick? What drives their intent?”

The Air Force has more to do to lead by example, and to create a culture where people feel comfortable discussing sexual assault and other forms of violence with their superiors, service leadership said. The death of Army Spc. Vanessa Guillén, a 20-year-old Soldier who disappeared from Fort Hood, Texas, in April, has reverberated across the Pentagon. A motive is still unknown, though the 3rd Cavalry Regiment launched an investigation into claims that Guillén was sexually harassed before her death. “Empowering leaders at every level to be able to help create a culture and a climate where Airmen are willing to talk and share what is going on in their lives, maybe that would have helped the Vanessa Guillén situation,” Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force JoAnne S. Bass said at the Air Force Association’s virtual Air, Space & Cyber Conference.

A new 867th Cyberspace Operations Group stood up at Joint Base San Antonio, Texas, on Sept. 18 to streamline the Air Force’s cyber offense and defense, as well as its intelligence collection in the digital realm. “We now have the ability to focus on two distinct mission sets,” Col. Lauren Courchaine, commander of the parallel 67th Cyberspace Operations Group, told Air Force Magazine Sept. 17. “While they're still both focusing on offensive cyberspace operations, [group Commander Col. Travis Howell] ... has the ability to truly focus on the cyber national mission force and the prosecution of malicious cyber actors.” While Howell handles those units, Courchaine can focus on what combatant commands around the world need, like protecting air defense systems from electronic attack.

Military researchers are eyeing multiple projects that could become the next Space Force “vanguard” programs, the high-profile ventures that receive extra money and attention from across the Department of the Air Force. The “Precise” initiative and the Cislunar Highway Patrol System, which were recently selected in an internal competition for more attention, are top candidates, said Col. Eric J. Felt, who runs the Air Force Research Laboratory’s space vehicles directorate. More may emerge through avenues like the new WARTECH planning summit, which scopes out the most promising research projects for further investment. The final selection is slated for January 2021.

Airmen from Aviano Air Base, Italy, and Ramstein Air Base, Germany, will train with their counterparts from Bulgaria, Greece, and Romania as part of exercise Thracian Viper 20, the 31st Fighter Wing said Sept. 18. The exercise, which is being held Sept. 18-25 at Graf Ignatievo Air Base, Bulgaria, looks to boost participating air forces’ “operational capacity, capability, and interoperability” with its host country, a wing release stated. “During the exercise, U.S. and Bulgarian air forces will conduct training enhancing our ability to rapidly deploy to remote locations and take command and control of the region,” U.S. Air Forces in Europe-Air Forces Africa wrote in a release issued the same day.

The Department of the Air Force recently beefed up its support for its uniformed and civilian USAF and Space Force personnel who breastfeed. A recent memo, which updates USAF’s lactation policy introduced last year, immediately requires unit commanders to set aside “a private area” where nursing mothers can pump and properly store breast milk, a Sept. 17 release about the measure said. The updated guidance also requires commanders and bosses to ensure these women are given lactation breaks that are actually long enough for them to get the job done.

Nearly two years after Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla., was slammed by Hurricane Michael, leaders there are working not just to rebuild that base, but to create a “base of the future” with a focus on resiliency, sustainability, and smart technology that can serve as a model for the entire Department of Defense. “Innovation is at the very core of what we’re doing, not only in the smart technologies that we’ve implemented, but in the agile process, the ‘how’ of building the base we need, not the base we had,” Brig. Gen. Patrice A. Melancon, executive director of the Tyndall Program Management Office, said during a panel discussion as part of AFA’s virtual Air, Space & Cyber Conference.

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.