The Air Force canceled its Pacific-based Advanced Battle Management System on-ramp later this year after it already cut back the scope of its most recent event in Europe because of Congressionally mandated budget cuts. Congress, in the fiscal 2021 defense policy bill, questioned the need for the wide-ranging exercises and claimed the Air Force does not have clear priorities for the effort. Because of these restrictions, the U.S. Air Forces in Europe-led event last month was smaller than originally planned, with the command contributing some of its own funding.
A Pentagon declaration that the F-35's initial development is complete is still months away, but even when it comes, it won't trigger a surge in production of the fighter. “I don’t think you’ll see a large deviation” in production when full-rate is declared, according to the F-35 Joint Program Office. “When we finally cross the line on Milestone C, we’re not suddenly going to get additional manufacturing capability.”
When Department of the Air Force leaders in December ordered comprehensive reviews of all organizational heraldry, symbology, awards, mottos, and more, to identify issues that might impede their drive toward increased diversity and inclusion, they gave commanders 60 days to make any necessary changes. Anything deemed “derogatory to any race, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, religion, age, or disability status”—including callsigns, if commanders chose—was fair game, spokesperson Maj. Holly Hess told Air Force Magazine. But the findings of these commander-led inquiries won’t be compiled into a comprehensive report, said department spokesperson Ann M. Stefanek. Rather than spot checks for compliance, the reviews were intended to focus commanders’ attention on inclusion and review heraldry with that in mind, she said.
Two B-2 Spirits and two B-1B Lancers linked up near Iceland for a training mission March 16, highlighting the importance the Air Force is placing on the Arctic region. The four bombers flew a “long-range integration” in the high north, flying together off the coast of Iceland during the night to “refine the skills necessary” to operate in that environment, U.S. Air Forces in Europe said in a press release.
President Joe Biden cautioned it will be “tough” to the meet the May 1 deadline to withdraw all forces from Afghanistan, telling ABC News he's “in the process of making that decision now.” Under the deal with the Taliban, announced in February 2020, the U.S. would draw down to 2,500 forces by January 2021 and completely withdraw by May 1. Biden said his administration is working with allies, “as well as the government,” as it reviews its options.
The U.S. pays the bulk of costs to keep U.S. troops in Japan and South Korea, but the expenditure is shared with the host nations and provides substantial strategic benefits in the Indo-Pacific, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office.
