The Air Force will re-evaluate personnel and programmatic cuts as it begins to put together its Fiscal 2014 budget request, said Lt. Gen. Christopher Miller, deputy chief of staff for strategic plans and programs. “We know that there’s been a lot of turmoil in the force . . . so one of the things we are going to focus on is to try to understand where we may not have gotten things exactly right,” said Miller during an AFA-sponsored Air Force Breakfast Program event in Arlington, Va., Tuesday. He added, “That is important—people, programs, missions. They are things that we need to make sure that we understand as well as we possibly can.” The Air Force has proposed cutting its Total Force end strength by 9,900 personnel over the next five fiscal years, including 3,900 active duty airmen, 5,100 Air National Guardsmen, and 900 Air Force Reservists. Its Fiscal 2013 budget request also looks to cut nearly 300 aircraft, the majority of which would come from the Air Guard.
The U.K. and the U.S. will continue to enjoy access to the ports, airfield, and workshops at Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean for at least another century, under a deal inked between the U.K. and Mauritius May 22.