Senate lawmakers in the next few days will move ahead with confirmation votes on key leadership spots for the Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps, and Democratic leaders are eyeing ways soon after to force through hundreds of other senior officer promotions which have been held up for months.
Lt. Col. Bob “Legend” Volpe occupies rarified air. On Oct. 25, Volpe, an Air Force Reserve instructor pilot at the 5th Flying Training Squadron at Vance Air Force Base, Okla., reached a milestone the service says is very uncommon: 10,000 hours in the cockpit. That’s more than double the hours logged by many four-star generals and higher than the past two Air Force chiefs of staff combined.
Taiwan said Oct. 31 that China sent 43 military aircraft and seven ships near the self-ruled island, the latest sign that Beijing plans no let-up in its campaign of harassment, threats and intimidation. Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said the figure was current for the 24 hours up to 6:00 a.m. Oct. 31 and that 37 of the aircraft had crossed the median line in the Taiwan Strait, which China no longer recognizes as an informal divider between the sides.
When Air Force trainees step off the bus for basic training at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, they undergo a rigorous introduction to military life, where they learn about principles like discipline, physical fitness and teamwork. It’s a stressful transition by design. Trainees lose access to their cell phones and social networks, receive uniforms and basic supplies, and move into dorms with little privacy. But the Air Force also wants to make sure they have the tools to cope.
Rocket Lab, a launch services company and space hardware manufacturer, announced Nov. 1 that retired U.S. Space Force Lt. Gen. Nina Armagno has joined the company’s board of directors. Armagno retired from active duty in July 2023. Her most recent assignment was director of staff in the Office of the Chief of Space Operations at the Pentagon. She was the first female U.S. Air Force general officer to transfer to the U.S. Space Force in August 2020.
For years, military officials had been dismissing calls for greater action against efforts by groups to radicalize either those in uniform or who had recently jettisoned their camis despite examples like the Klu Klux Klan operating, sometimes openly, on military bases. A constant drumbeat of arrests of individuals harboring extremist ideals has lingered for years, with many experts pointing to Army veteran Timothy McVeigh who killed 168 people in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing as the forefather of a troubling community. Experts worry that the current environment of political violence is increasing the risk.
Lockheed Martin on Nov. 1 announced the completion of a successful demonstration of its Hybrid 5G-Tactical Mesh Network, noting new collaboration with leading commercial technology companies like Microsoft, Verizon and Intel, partnerships Lockheed's CEO recently told House lawmakers will be vital for the future of the defense industry.
Special operations forces have long held the primary responsibility for irregular warfare within the U.S. military, but other Department of Defense components should now take on a larger role, according to a senior official. “I actually push back on the notion that that [U.S. Special Operations Command] should be the lead for irregular warfare. I think we need the rest of the department to embrace it as well,” Chris Maier, assistant secretary of defense for special operations and low-intensity conflict, said at the NDAI SO/LIC Symposium on Oct. 30.
The head of the 8th Fighter Wing at Kunsan Air Base will relinquish command due to personal reasons after less than half a year on the job. Col. Timothy Murphy will retire “earlier than planned” on Feb. 1 “solely due to family reasons,” said a news release from 7th Air Force at Osan Air Base, roughly 75 miles north of Kunsan.
A report on the controversial close air support-focused flyoff between the A-10C Warthog and F-35A Joint Strike Fighter that took place between 2018 and 2019 has finally emerged. The declassified review, which was only completed last year and has been essentially buried until now, is heavily redacted and raises more questions than it provides answers in many areas. However, it does still offer valuable details that have not previously been made public even as the U.S. Air Force looks to retire the last of the Warthogs no later than the end of the decade.
The Defense Intelligence Agency’s ambitious effort to develop a massive, cloud-based database to ingest all-source intelligence—as well as bots to analyze and make sense of that data—is expected to come online as of this coming spring, according to the agency’s director. The Machine-Assisted Analytic Rapid-Repository System (MARS) will reach initial operational capability in the spring of 2024, and will hit full operational capability in 2025, Lt. Gen. Scott Berrier told the Center for Strategic and International Security (CSIS) on Nov. 1.
When Air Force recruiter Greg Butler arrived at a recent event in Springfield, Mo., he found that the space reserved for his recruiting booth was right next to a display from a local gym. And it had an open challenge: how many times can you bench press your own weight? “Even though I was in my blues I had to try it,” Butler told Task & Purpose.