According to the Air Force, enlisted airmen who serve in chronically short critical skills have a “greater opportunity for promotion” than airmen serving in other fields. For 2008 there are 37 specialties that are considered chronic critical skills because they are typically manned at only 85 percent of authorizations. In those 37 fields, the service has boosted promotion rates 1.2 times higher than normal, said CMSgt. Mark Long, USAF’s enlisted promotions and evaluations policy chief at the Pentagon. (Air Force report by SSgt. Julie Weckerlein)
U.S. Air Forces Central has awarded an indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract worth up to $270 million to a California-based company to provide an ultra-long range, solar-powered drone capable of 75 hours of flight.