AFRICAN AIR CHIEFS SYMPOSIUM, KIGALI, Rwanda—The tyranny of distance is the oft-spoken biggest challenge for African air forces in a continent more than three times the size of the United States. But Air Forces Africa hopes a conference with 30 partner nations will shrink the distance by building trust to work together in areas such as shared airlift. U.S. Air Forces in Europe-Air Forces Africa chief Gen. Jeffrey L. Harrigian flew over the verdant mountains of the richly vegetated East African lake region to touch down in the Rwandan capital of Kigali on Jan. 24 ahead of the 11th African Air Chiefs Symposium. “In the U.S., we get down to business. In Africa, you have to have a relationship with the person that you're trying to do business with first,” Air Force Col. Beth Lane, a C-17 pilot who in July became the first female secretary general of the African Air Chiefs Association, told Air Force Magazine in the cool summer air of the 5,000-foot-elevation Southern Hemisphere capital.

The U.S. military told 8,500 troops in the continental U.S. to prepare to deploy to Europe for a potential Ukraine contingency within five days, Pentagon Press Secretary John F. Kirby announced Jan. 24. These troops would be the U.S. contribution to a 40,000-member NATO Response Force being organized in response to Russian aggression in Eastern Europe, Kirby said. There has been no decision to actually deploy that force—and the troops now on alert may not go to Europe at all, Kirby said. The bulk of the units being alerted are Active-duty ground troops, he added.

The fiscal year 2022 budget will enter its fifth month under a continuing resolution in February, the product of a record-setting latest ever budget release by the Biden administration in May 2021. Meanwhile, the president’s fiscal year 2023 budget request is unlikely to meet a Feb. 7 deadline, hampering the start of new Defense Department programs and locking money in the wrong accounts. It could be March 7 before lawmakers have a chance to look at the new budget and begin the deliberation process, a budget expert told Air Force Magazine. One reason may be that the Pentagon was asked by the White House to revise its budget needs.

The one-star taking over data and artificial intelligence for the Department of the Air Force knows what to prioritize in his new Pentagon job in part thanks to his experience outside the military. In the business world, “the ability to make decisions is the critical advantage—that’s what separates the winners from the losers,” said Brig. Gen. John M. Olson, who returned to Active duty after working in the aerospace industry and serving in the Reserve. Olson first plans on “driving toward operationalization of data” as a co-lead of the team working on the Advanced Battle Management System, which is the department’s envisioned share of the military’s joint all-domain command and control concept.

The Defense Department now says military members can indeed attend conferences in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, correcting a statement made last week by Pentagon Press Secretary John F. Kirby. The Air Force Association continues to plan a full, in-person 2022 AFA Warfare Symposium in Orlando, Fla., March 2-4. “To ensure a safe and successful event, proof of vaccination or negative test results are a prerequisite for symposium attendance,” AFA Executive Vice President Douglas L. Raaberg said. “While it is impossible to predict the future, we are encouraged by the most recent data and will continue coordinating closely with Air Force and Space Force leadership, supporting our mutual objectives for a safe and productive professional development gathering.”