There’s no denying the difficult challenges that the Air National Guard faces in moving beyond performing just traditional missions like flying fighters and broadening out to embrace new roles like operating remotely piloted aircraft, Air Force Gen. Craig McKinley, National Guard Bureau chief, told defense reporters Tuesday. “The Air Force writ large is transforming itself,” he said. He continued, “Where we are going to end up, I wish I knew, but we are going to another place.” Reaching that destination is admittedly a “gut-wrenching” process for Air Guardsmen in units that have flown fighters for many decades and who are used to a large, platform-based Air Force, he acknowledged. But he supports the course set by the Air Force leadership because “on the other side of this is going to be a transformed United States Air Force with a Guard and Reserve that can operate with it.”
Pentagon Releases Cost of Living, BAH Rates for 2026
Dec. 30, 2025
The Pentagon will pay cost of living allowances to 127,000 service members in the continental U.S. in 2026, an increase of 66,000 members in 2025. Airmen and Guardians across the U.S. will also receive an average increase of 4.2 percent for their Basic Housing Allowance, compared to the 5.4 percent…
