Airmen can make a “big impact” on the service’s overall budget just by making small changes to conserve energy, said the service leadership in a letter to airmen marking October as energy action month. The Air Force has adopted the theme “I am Air Force Energy” to emphasize the role of each airman in being a good energy steward, state Secretary Michael Donley, Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh, and CMSAF James Roy in the Sept. 28 missive. Airmen’s contributions can be in the form of “flying our aircraft at energy-efficient altitudes, not letting vehicles or equipment idle, or simply turning off the lights,” they write. This year, almost 10 percent—or roughly $10 billion—of the Air Force’s budget will be dedicated to energy, according to the letter. While the service “has made great progress” in operating more efficiently, “every airman must participate in order to achieve our vision of an assured energy advantage in air, space, and cyberspace,” states the letter. (See also Oct. 1 Washington, D.C., release.)
The Air Force awarded a $13.08 billion contract to the Sierra Nevada Corporation on April 26 for its Survivable Airborne Operations Center aircraft, the successor to the service’s E-4B “Doomsday” plane. Like the E-4B, officially called the National Airborne Operations Center, the SAOC will be meant to withstand a nuclear attack and keep…