Making Peace in the Total Force: Things are strained between the Air Force’s Active, Guard, and Reserve components, Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh said Tuesday, but the differences aren’t irreconcilable, and the Total Force “is not broken.” In a speech at AFA’s Air & Space Conference, he said that the situation is “nobody’s fault,” and the arguments between the three in terms of force structure and size are being made because “everybody’s trying to do what they think is best.” But the three elements are still “within visual range” of each other, he said. Along with the Guard and Reserve leadership, “we’ll do it as quickly and smoothly as possible … we’ll figure it out, I promise you,” Welsh insisted.
The Air Force could conduct an operation like Israel's successful air campaign against Iran's nuclear sites, military leadership and air defenses, but readiness issues would make it risky, airpower experts said. Limited spare parts and training, low mission capable rates and few flying hours would put a drag on USAF's…