Responding to questions from House lawmakers Tuesday on Capitol Hill, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz expressed some concern over the timing of the Obama Administration’s push to repeal the Pentagon’s “don’t ask-don’t tell” policy. “This is not the time to perturb the force that is, at the moment, stretched by demands in Iraq and Afghanistan and elsewhere without careful deliberation,” he said. There is also a lack of scholarship and dearth of feedback from airmen and their families on this issue, Schwartz said. That’s why he said he supports the Pentagon’s recently launched efforts to study this issue extensively to minimize the disruption to readiness and unit cohesion should Congress grant the change. Schwartz emphasized that USAF’s standards of conduct “will continue to apply to all airmen,” if there is a repeal. (For more background, see AFPS’s Feb. 10 report and Jan. 27 report.)
U.S. Air Force F-15C Eagles have roared out of Barnes Air National Guard Base, Mass., for the last time. The 104th Fighter Wing’s last three F-15Cs departed the base Oct. 23 for the “Boneyard” at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., ending the aircraft's era on the frontlines of homeland defense.
