Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England, frequent critic of the Air Force’s desire to gain more than 183 F-22 Raptors, on Dec. 2 announced his plan to leave his post at the Pentagon rather than remain on with Defense Secretary Robert Gates under the new Administration. England said he had expected to serve only two to four years, but he wound up still on the job “after almost eight years.” He plans to stay past the Jan. 20 inauguration of President Obama to aid in the transition but gave no firm date.
In Part 2 of a series exploring the Software Acquisition Pathway that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth recently made mandatory, we look back at how the acquisition reform has its origins in problems with the F-35.