Orlando, Fla. Lt. Gen. JJ Jackson, commander of Air Force Reserve Command, said disbanding or eliminating AFRC and the organizational structure below it, including the total integration of Reserve squadrons, wings, groups, and numbered air forces into the Active Duty portion of the Air Force should not even be on the table. However, he said the other 40 recommendations put forth by the congressionally mandated commission on the structure of the Air Force are worth discussing. Jackson, who testified before the national commission on three separate occasions, said he had no idea the commission was leaning in that direction, noting commissioners did not even visit AFRC as they pieced together their report. “This was a complete surprise to me,” he told reporters at AFA’s Air Warfare Symposium here Thursday. Jackson said there are other ways to achieve similar levels of integration and efficiency, such as expanding Air Force associations. In addition, eliminating the command would have a devastating impact on morale in the existing Reserve force as well as negatively affect recruiting in the future, he added. “The commission did great work with the task they were given in the timeline they were given,” said Jackson. “The bottom line is, though, that there are some good pieces in [the report] that I can agree with and some I cannot.”
Top Lawmakers Want 15 Percent Pay Raise for Enlisted Troops
April 19, 2024
A new law introduced by Congress would raise the pay rate 15 percent for junior enlisted troops and seek improvements on a range of quality of life issues, such as pay and compensation, child care, housing, health care access, and military spouse employment.