The Air Force and Army National Guard have built a strong partnership since the Air Force became an independent service 64 years ago, but the age of flat-lining and maybe even declining budgets is likely to “create tension” between the two services over resource allocation, said Gen. Craig McKinley, National Guard Bureau chief. That’s something the nation cannot afford to let happen, McKinley said Friday at AFA’s Air Warfare Symposium in Orlando, Fla. “As we move into leaner times, our partnership will be tested,” he said. He added, “It has to be our goal to create one team that will emerge through these challenges more efficient and better suited to meet the needs of tomorrow.”
House lawmakers are encouraging the Air Force and U.S. Special Operations Command to work together as each pursues long-range, long-endurance reconnaissance drones. Both entities are investing in unmanned assets that can slip into highly defended areas, loiter over a particularly valuable target for days at a time, and traverse multiple…