It’s well established that the Air National Guard operates some of the oldest airplanes in the Air Force’s inventory and faces hardware challenges ahead to maintain its capabilities in mission areas like air sovereignty alert. However, equally important, if not more so, is maintaining the vast wealth of knowledge and experience resident among the Air Guard ranks, said Lt. Gen. Bud Wyatt, Air National Guard director. “We have a tendency to focus on the equipment. But I think our real focus should be on our people,” Wyatt told the Senate Appropriations Committee’s defense panel during a recent oversight hearing. He added, “If we don’t focus on our people, we’ll find out one of these days that we have allowed our capabilities to atrophy.” (See also Wyatt’s prepared testimony.)
Defense experts say the drone threat represents only part of a larger, looming problem: U.S. air bases in the Pacific are increasingly vulnerable to air attacks.