While the Air Force has not gone into great depth for planning what it would do if there is a budgetary sequester of another half-trillion dollars from the defense budget over the next 10 fiscal years, top leaders hope that briefings on the Fiscal 2013 spending request are already illustrating for Congress how damaging a sequester would be. So said Air Force Secretary Michael Donley in a press conference Friday at AFA’s Air Warfare Symposium in Orlando Fla. “Congress can see the details of how difficult it was to get to the $487 billion” in cuts, said Donley. (That’s the amount already stripped from the defense budget through Fiscal 2021 under the Budget Control Act.) “We haven’t gone into detail about what’s next,” said Donley, adding that the Air Force would have to go back to the drawing board on the national defense strategy if the sequester does kick in next January.
Air Force Academy Leaders Ousted in Shake Up
Feb. 6, 2026
The U.S. Air Force Academy is getting a leadership refresh after a tumultuous year, with Superintendent Lt. Gen. Tony Bauernfeind and Commandant of Cadets Brig. Gen. Gavin Marks both set to retire this year and Col. James Valpiani set to come on as the new Dean of the Faculty.

