The decision to freeze all cuts to the Air National Guard in Fiscal 2013 may make life more difficult for Congress in Fiscal 2014, but that’s no reason to go along with the Air Force’s proposed force structure plan, said Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), Senate Armed Services Committee chairman. “What [the Air Force] did was not at all thought out; there was no case made for it,” Levin told defense reporters in Washington, D.C., June 14. “It was so disproportionate to what the other services were doing.” The Air Force has proposed cutting 5,100 Air Guard positions, 900 Air Force Reservists, and 3,900 Active Duty billets next fiscal year, saying further cuts to the Active force would negatively impact readiness. Levin remained hopeful that the national commission that the SASC called for in its budget mark-up would provide recommendations on the proper active component-reserve component mix and outline a path forward.
The Space Force's first planned satellite launch to begin a new missile warning constellation in medium-Earth orbit has slipped from late 2026 to spring 2027 as a key component remains unproven. But the service is making progress and moving forward with plans for new batches of satellites, the Guardian in charge…
