Airmen will have more predictability about deployments under the new force presentation model the Air Force is developing, but the application will make USAF less predictable to adversaries, Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. said Feb. 24. He also explained what he considers "legacy" systems, to be divested to make room for new capabilities and technologies.
The Air Force’s next generation tanker is starting to go operational, but in a very limited way, with the goal of freeing up older planes for combat missions. Air Mobility Command announced Feb. 24 it is phasing the KC-46 into operations, by making it available to U.S. Transportation Command for taskings that would otherwise be filled by KC-135s and KC-10s based on what the Pegasus has been cleared to do. This, for example, would be state-based refueling of certain aircraft and possible overseas “coronet” missions to deploy fighters that use its centerline drogue system, such as F/A-18s. AMC boss Gen. Jacqueline D. Van Ovost said during the Air Force Association’s virtual Aerospace Warfare Symposium that the goal is to relieve stress on the other tankers, which have been in high demand for both overseas combat deployments and to support exercises and training at home.
Former Air Force acquisition chief Will Roper's transformational ideas on how to buy new systems will stay on track without him, senior service officials said Feb. 24. Digital engineering, agile software development, and open architectures will play a part in all new systems. But sticking to Roper's rapid-refresh ideas about tactical aircraft will take some courage, Lt. Gen. Duke Richardson said.
The Joint Staff on Feb. 25 will unveil a new vision for developing enlisted leaders, shaping military education to develop noncommissioned officers who can lead joint service members to be better prepared for future wars, the military’s top enlisted leader announced at the Air Force Association’s virtual Aerospace Warfare Symposium. “No fight has been unilateral. It has taken a joint effort, a multinational effort to get after the mission at hand. And that is the model we have to follow from now on,” said Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chairman Ramón Colón-López, the first Air Force member to serve in the role. “So, the joint perspective is critical to the success of future missions.”
Last week, NASA’s Perseverance rover thrilled citizens of Earth when it landed on Mars with the promise of a new chapter in red planet exploration. But the military could also learn a thing or two from the spacecraft’s trip for future research and development efforts, Space Force Chief Scientist Joel B. Mozer said Feb. 24 during AFA’s virtual Aerospace Warfare Symposium. NASA “took a very advanced machine with tons of advanced sensors to a distant, hostile place without real-time communication or [positioning, navigation, and timing] infrastructure,” Mozer said. “They put their package right on target, using automated decision-making and terrain-relative navigation. These are exactly the technologies that we will need to fight wars in the future.”
The head of Pacific Air Forces is calling for new aircraft in his theater to meet the need for air superiority, including a quick short-term replacement for aging airborne warning and control aircraft and, in the future, the service’s next generation fighter. PACAF boss Gen. Kenneth S. Wilsbach told reporters during the Air Force Association’s virtual Aerospace Warfare Symposium he is advocating for the Air Force to quickly procure the E-7 Wedgetail airborne early warning and control aircraft, the Boeing 737-based aircraft already in use by Australia and South Korea to replace aging E-3 Sentrys that have struggled to get in the air. “The fact is, we actually need something relatively quick because of the reliability of the E-3,” Wilsbach said. “It gets harder and harder to get airborne.”
AFWERX expects to formally launch SpaceWERX—a center for military-space-centric innovation intended to support Space Force acquisition—this summer, AFWERX director Col. Nathan Diller told reporters at the Air Force Association’s virtual Aerospace Warfare Symposium on Feb. 24. “We are expecting very soon—in the coming months—to actually narrow down that space topic into what would be our space prime,” Diller said. “That will be the first prime that will be moving forward under our current plan.”
The Department of the Air Force’s new Office of Diversity and Inclusion is using the findings of the Air Force Inspector General’s 2020 Independent Racial Disparity Review and the framework the office used during its time as a task force to mold its future efforts, the office's boss and Acting Senior Advisor on Diversity and Inclusion Tawanda R. Rooney said at the Air Force Association’s 2021 virtual Aerospace Warfare Symposium. She said her office, which was formally established on Jan. 11, is taking a three-pronged approach to its mission, focusing on how to improve culture, increase diversity, and quantify its progress on both fronts.
The creation and growth of the U.S. Space Force comes as Russia and China have recognized the importance of a military presence in space, and the U.S. and NATO need to ensure they have access to the best “indications and warnings” in that domain, the head of U.S. forces in Europe said. USAF Gen. Tod D. Wolters, commander of U.S. European Command and NATO Supreme Allied Commander-Europe, said during the Air Force Association’s virtual Aerospace Warfare Symposium that the U.S. military still needs to improve its presence in space to ensure it can stay ahead of these potential adversaries.
Since individual readiness is the key to ensuring overall Air Force Reserve Command readiness, Air Force Reserve Chief Lt. Gen. Richard W. Scobee said AFRC is being mindful of how troops’ civilian job descriptions and uniformed taskings line up, and taking a strategic, tiered approach to training them.
In commemoration of the 30th Anniversary of Operation Desert Storm, Air Force Magazine is posting daily recollections from the six-week war, which expelled Iraq from occupied Kuwait.
