Last US Troops Leave Bagram After Nearly 20 Years, Full Afghanistan Withdrawal Slated for August

By Abraham Mahshie and Brian W. Everstine
Looters were left to enter and take what remained of Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan after U.S. forces withdrew July 1 without fanfare or an official announcement. As American forces vacated Bagram, so, too, did close air support to the Afghan forces fighting the Taliban. In recent weeks, security experts have said the loss of U.S. air support has allowed the Taliban to make advances across the country. The full drawdown in Afghanistan is expected to be complete by the end of August, while counterterrorism will be conducted from “over the horizon.”

McGuire Squadron Says Goodbye to KC-10, Prepares for KC-46

By Brian W. Everstine
A KC-10 Extender took off into the dark and rainy New Jersey sky on June 30 to link up with F-22s flying over the Atlantic Ocean. Marking the end of an era for the 2nd Airlift Squadron—the Air Force’s second-oldest squadron—it was the last time a KC-10 assigned to the 2nd ARS would fly. The 305th Mobility Wing has already sent five of the tankers to the “boneyard” at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., in preparation for the KC-46's arrival in November. “Today, we’re officially a KC-46 squadron,” 2nd ARS Commander Lt. Col. Nicholas Arthur said in a July 1 interview.

CQ Brown Says Air Force Must Match Changing Character of War

By Abraham Mahshie
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. is fashioning a fighting force to match what he describes as the “changing character of war,” one where all domains are contested and capabilities matter more than numbers. As the United States moves away from the Middle East theater and focuses on meeting the challenges of great power competition with China and Russia, Brown questions the mainstream thinking that America needs to win with quantity of fighter aircraft. Rather, he focused on the mix of capabilities required to overcome a technologically advanced adversary. He also called for a willingness to experiment in the digital realm while staying vigilant to counter rising cyber threats.

Radar Sweep

The Space Development Agency Now Has Demo Satellites in Orbit. Here’s What They’ll Do.

C4ISRnet

The Space Development Agency has launched a handful of demonstration satellites into orbit, which will be used to test critical technologies for a new military-owned proliferated constellation. The satellites hitched a ride on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket as part of the Transporter-2 rideshare mission that took place June 29. That mission carried 85 satellites into orbit.

Death Toll Rises in Philippine Air Force C-130 Crash

CNN

Fifty people were killed when a Philippine Air Force plane crashed in the southern Philippines on Sunday, the country's worst military air disaster in decades. The C-130 military plane was transporting troops from Cagayan de Oro, in Mindanao, to Sulu province when it missed the runway on the island of Jolo, CNN affiliate CNN Philippines reported, citing Armed Forces Chief Cirilito Sobejana.

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Air Force Asks for Reconsideration of $4B Protest That Went Against It

Washington Technology

The Air Force has asked the Government Accountability Office to rethink a decision to sustain a protest filed by ManTech International involving a highly classified, $4 billion contract, despite the fact that ManTech was one of three winners alongside General Dynamics and Northrop Grumman. The unanswered question remains why would a company that was a winner protest? ManTech has declined to comment.

SPONSORED: Cloud One: Enabling Cloud For Almost Any Department of Defense Use Case

SAIC

The Department of Defense embraced the concept of cloud computing almost a decade ago, but the practical realities of contracts and implementation slowed adoption. Uncertainty about cost and the lack of cloud engineering talent proved challenging to the same commands that were eager to leverage cloud’s benefits in speed and flexibility. “Security and compliance concerns added to the reticence,” says Joanne Akhavan, SAIC’s deputy program manager for Cloud One.

China Likely Outed Soon For Exchange Hacks

Breaking Defense

The Biden administration will formally say “in coming weeks” who initiated the widespread Microsoft Exchange server hacks that swept the country earlier this year, Deputy National Security Advisor for Cyber and Emerging Tech Anne Neuberger said. China is the leading suspect. The attribution is likely to further strain US relations with China, which military and government officials consistently refer to as the US’s “pacing threat.”

US-UK Warn Of New Worldwide Russian Cyberespionage

Breaking Defense

The U.S. and U.K. governments on July 1 revealed a cyberespionage campaign conducted by Russia that is targeting “hundreds of organizations” worldwide, with a focus on US and European governments, militaries, and defense contractors. The advisory names the Department of Defense as a known target. “These efforts are almost certainly still going on,” warns the joint adversary issued by the NSA, CISA, and the FBI in the US, as well as the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre.

OPINION: What's All the Fuss Over the Air Force's ‘Pass-Through’ Funding?

The Hill

“Why are some members of Congress grousing about the Department of the Air Force’s budget and its so-called ‘pass-through” funding? It’s because they are questioning a Cold War-era practice that misrepresents the Air Force’s annual budget as to the total amount of taxpayer dollars it receives for its now two armed services, the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Space Force. It’s time to end this cloudy budgeting practice and restore a clear view to Congress and the American public of the Department of Defense’s (DOD) funding allocation among the military services,” writes Matthew Donovan, director of the Mitchell Institute Spacepower Advantage Research Center and former Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness and Under Secretary of the Air Force.

Goodbye, Coffee? Service Members Might Soon be Fueled by a Jolt to the Brain

Air Force Times

Thanks to a study performed by the Air Force Research Laboratory, coffee will perhaps someday be replaced ... with a jolt to the brain. Forty active-duty military personnel from Wright-Patterson Air Force Base participated in the study, one funded by NASA, in an attempt to analyze the efficacy of transcutaneous cervical vagus nerve stimulation in treating migraines and the impacts of sleeplessness.

One More Thing

Israeli Camouflage Tech Makes Soldiers ‘Invisible’

Jerusalem Post

Israeli survivability products company Polaris Solutions has developed a camouflage technology that renders soldiers on the battlefield virtually undetectable. In cooperation with the Defense Ministry, the company recently unveiled Kit 300, an innovative camouflage sheet made out of a material that provides multispectral concealment.