The Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday considered the nomination of Eric Fanning to be the Air Force’s undersecretary—the service’s second highest civilian position. If confirmed, Fanning said combating sexual assaults, acquisition reform, continued funding and direction for science and technology, and maintaining a balanced Total Force would be among his top priorities. Fanning is currently the Navy’s deputy undersecretary for business operations and transformation. “I have been immensely proud to serve these four years the men and women of the Navy and Marine Corps. And, if confirmed, I very much look forward to becoming a part of the Air Force family,” he said. “It would be my honor to play a role in making sure that the best men and women our country has to offer get all the support they need in undertaking the mission of defending our country, a mission for which they freely volunteered,” he added. (Fanning’s responses to advance policy questions)
The Space Force on April 15 released two highly anticipated future-casting documents that describe what the service expects the space environment will look like in the year 2040 and lay out the force structure it thinks it will need to operate in that environment.