The Air Force has been struggling with acquisition for the past few years, but part of the problem may be a lack of leaders. Defense Secretary Robert Gates yesterday told the Senate Armed Services Committee that over the past eight years, there has been “difficulty in bringing in qualified senior acquisition officials” and that during that time, the average vacancies in key service acquisition slots has ranged “from 13 percent in the Army to 43 percent in the Air Force.” On the flip side, Gates also said that defense acquisition policies have changed with every Defense Secretary and Congress, making “a long-term procurement strategy on which we can base costs next to impossible.” Other factors hobbling acquisition include “a risk-averse culture, a litigious process, parochial interests, and sometimes adversarial relationships” both within the Pentagon and between the Defense department and other agencies, stated Gates. (Gates’ written testimony)
The total number of reported sexual assaults in the Department of the Air Force ticked up about two percent in 2024 while still trailing the total from 2022, as Pentagon officials say a hiring freeze on federal government civilian employees limits their ability to fill critical sexual assault prevention and…