Retired Lt. Gen. Dave Deptula, former Air Force intelligence chief, is joining AFA’s staff as the dean of the Mitchell Institute for Airpower Studies. “We are excited to welcome Dave Deptula to our team as a top expert on national security issues,” said AFA’s Board Chairman George Muellner in the association’s Aug. 5 release. Deptula retired from the Air Force in October 2010 after 34 years in uniform. He has remained an active voice on national security issues, penning papers and serving as an advisor to various organizations. “I look forward to leading AFA’s Mitchell Institute in a quest to help the public, the policy community, and the nation’s leaders better understand the key options airpower affords the nation,” said Deptula. “The pairing of an increasingly complex security environment with a decline in resources for defense makes General Mitchell’s tradition of promoting innovation in exploiting the advantages of operating in the third dimension especially important today,” he said. The Mitchell Institute publishes special reports and hosts defense seminars and expert-based discussions to educate the public on the need for robust aerospace power.
Amid a high-profile recruiting crisis, Air Force leaders and experts have increasingly noted the challenging long-term trends the service will face in enticing young Americans to sign up—decreasing eligibility to serve, less propensity to do so, and less familiarity with the military. But while those same leaders say there’s no “silver…