The Air National Guard has been “clearly … overused,” Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee said Tuesday. Speaking with the Defense Writers Group in Washington, D. C., Levin said he hasn’t had a chance to give the future shape of the Air Guard “the rethinking it deserves,” if indeed it does need a fresh look. However, if the Air Guard is to continue to be used in the way it has been—as an operational force rather than as a strategic reserve—then “it’s got to be recapitalized,” Levin said. “If for whatever reason a decision is made to continue to rely on it to the extent that we have, then we’ve got to provide it with the equipment that [has] been a necessary part of that use,” he said. Air Guard chief Lt. Gen. Harry Wyatt told the Senate Appropriation defense subcommittee last week that buying new generation 4.5 fighters—rather than F-22s or F-35s—to keep the Air Guard in the air sovereignty mission is an option on the table. The Government Accountability Office recently released a report saying the Air Guard will have to give up its F-16s to retirement before replacements in the form of F-35s begin arriving.
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…
