Air Force Global Strike Command chief Gen. Timothy M. Ray offered a blunt assessment of the Army’s plan to take over some of the Air Force’s long-range strike mission. “It’s a stupid idea,” he said during an AFA Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies podcast. The Army’s plan would rob resources not only from the Air Force’s global strike forces, but also from the Army’s core competencies in air defense, said retired Lt. Gen. David A. Deptula, dean of the Mitchell Institute.
John T. Correll, who helmed Air Force Magazine for 18 years, served as an advisor to senior Air Force leaders for decades, and was a recipient of AFA's Lifetime Achievement Award, died April 5 at age 81.
The Air Force has long faced a silent crisis: It can’t train and retain enough pilots. And now, challenged to confront peer adversaries, rather than the insurgents it’s been engaging for the last 20 years, even the pilots the service can train aren’t getting the quantity or quality of hours in mock combat they need to hone their skills, according to former USAF leaders. A transformative new technology, which combines live training with virtual simulation, can help address that problem, its proponents say. Augmented reality training is “a game changer,” promised Will Roper, who previously served as the Air Force’s assistant secretary for acquisition, technology, and logistics.
Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., is the preferred location for the Ground Based Strategic Deterrent Formal Training Unit, Acting Air Force Secretary John P. Roth announced on April 1. “The Minuteman III weapon system has been a bedrock of U.S. national security for more than five decades, but if one looks ahead to the next 50 years, the question of investing in nuclear modernization is as relevant as ever,” Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. said in a release. “We are fully committed to the GBSD program of record, which will ensure our nation’s nuclear force is ready to meet the warfighting needs of today and tomorrow.”
The Civil Air Patrol on March 24 marked a full year of continuous support for COVID-19 pandemic relief, delivering thousands of vaccine vials, thousands of test samples, and millions of meals across the United States. CAP, the Air Force’s auxiliary, aligned with First Air Force for Defense Support of Civil Authorities missions to help domestic missions. COVID-19 relief is the CAP’s biggest mission in more than 70 years. “These missions are making a big difference in our local communities, our states, and our nation,” said Maj. Gen. Mark Smith, CAP’s national commander and chief executive officer, in a release.
