For decades, Air Force gray-tailed aircraft have displayed their home base and heritage with a small graphic on the plane’s tail, but that tradition will come to an end for much of the Air Force’s next-generation tanker fleet. Air Mobility Command has ended the policy of allowing tail flashes on the Active-duty KC-46s, a step that will make it easier for the command to manage its fleet of tankers from base to base. This means the KC-46s based at McConnell Air Force Base, Kan., will not have the white-and-black “MCCONNELL” graphic that the KC-135s had at the base. AMC’s governing document for the policy states that “only mandatory markings are approved and all markings will stay as manufacturer produced. Waivers, changes, or optional marking requests will not be approved.” The only approved markings are the U.S. flag, the National Star, Radio Call Numbers, and “U.S. Air Force” on the fuselage.

U.S. aircraft are increasing the pace of airstrikes targeting the Taliban in Afghanistan after nearly all American troops have left the country, as the level of violence continues to rise. More than 95 percent of the U.S. withdrawal process is complete—a number that has stayed steady over the past several weeks, according to U.S. Central Command's latest update. CENTCOM boss Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr., during a July 25 visit to Kabul, said the U.S. military’s assistance to Afghan forces will remain steady as the Aug. 31 deadline for the full withdrawal approaches. “The United States has increased airstrikes in the support of Afghan forces over the last several days, and we're prepared to continue this heightened level of support in the coming weeks if the Taliban continue their attacks,” McKenzie said in a CENTCOM release.

U.S. Space Command boss Army Gen. James H. Dickinson said his work is inseparable from that of U.S. Cyber Command but that policy must change to keep up with evolving threats in the cyber domain. A former senior Pentagon official in national security space told Air Force Magazine that the space and cyber domains are the most likely areas for a conflict with a great power adversary like China. “We’ve got to be able to protect what’s important to us,” Dickinson said.

The Air Force spends around $6 billion a year on systems and priorities focused on the Arctic, a number that is expected to grow as the region’s importance rises and the Department of the Air Force’s first-ever Arctic Strategy hits its one-year anniversary. While the exact number is difficult to determine, because USAF is a “global Air Force, … our latest estimates are that we’re spending a pretty decent amount, certainly, out of the Department of the Air Force’s budget on things that are clearly related to Arctic security, Arctic operations,” said Lt. Gen. S. Clinton Hinote said July 27. Recent wargames have shown that “we’re not nearly as secure and safe as we may be thinking we are, especially in the avenues of approaches over the Arctic,” Hinote added. The region is the shortest route for competitors, and “our views of the Arctic as a strategic buffer is eroding,” because of military actions by Russia and China and the impacts of climate change.

Air Force Lt. Gen. John F. Thompson retired July 27 as the longest-serving commander of the Space and Missile Systems Center ahead of its redesignation as Space Force’s Space Systems Command later this summer. Thompson paved the way for the standup of the Space Force field command, but he will not hand over the reins.