The Air Force’s civilian workforce is so crucial to the service’s day-to-day functioning that it can’t be separated out when discussing readiness issues, Air Force Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Larry Spencer told lawmakers. “I don’t [make] a distinction between civilian airmen and readiness because they are so key to readiness,” he told the Senate Armed Services Committee’s readiness panel on April 18. Spencer noted that some 80 percent to 90 percent of the service’s civilian employees “don’t work in the Pentagon.” Instead, “They work out in the field. And I’m not sure everybody quite understands that,” he said. He cited the critical role of civilian mechanics in Air Force pilot training. At Laughlin AFB, Tex., for example, civilians perform “100 percent of the maintenance” on the airplanes there, he said. Thus, a furlough of Defense Department civilians—which the Pentagon is facing due to the budget sequester—would mean “a direct cut to the amount of airplanes” available for that training and “the amount of pilots we can train,” said Spencer. (Spencer’s prepared statement)
US Space Command Should Always Be Led by a Guardian
Sept. 12, 2026
General Stephen Whiting took command of U.S. Space Command in January 2024, and if customary three-year tenures hold, his tour would end in January 2027. The question now before the President and Senate is who should follow him? Whoever they choose, it has to be a Guardian—and so should every successor…
