Defense Secretary Robert Gates has made it no secret that he is rebalancing the Pentagon’s budget and policy to address better the current wars and future irregular conflicts. Along those lines, the 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review shows that the Air Force’s irregular capabilities will expand significantly. The review explicitly calls for expanding training and assistance activities in both USAF’s general purpose and special operations forces. In addition to adding new personnel for these purposes, the service is tasked to expand its regionally oriented contingency response groups, or CRGs, so that they “can sustain” their specialized regional and country-specific expertise and “regularly detach experts” to accompany training units deploying abroad. The Air Force will also field “light mobility and light attack aircraft” in general purpose units to increase partnership activities with a wider range of allied militaries, states the document. (QDR 2010)
Since President Donald Trump first unveiled his “Golden Dome” missile defense initiative in late January, much of the focus for it has been focused on space—how the Pentagon may deploy dozens, if not hundreds, of sensors and interceptors into orbit to protect the continental U.S. from missile barrages. But the Air…