Full-spectrum training has to be reconsidered, said Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh. Addressing AFA’s 2013 Air and Space Conference on Tuesday, Welsh said it “fell off the table” six or seven years ago but must be a focus. “Our job as an air force is to be ready to fight the high-end fight against the well-equipped, determined, well-trained foe,” he said. “I don’t know how big of a force we will have to do that, but whatever we have better be able to do that.” To maintain that readiness, exercises like Red Flag cannot continue to be canceled, he said, emphasizing the importance of figuring out how to fund them. “We need that training; our partners need that training,” he said. Welsh also referenced the negative effects of canceling classes at the Air Force Weapons School and how this leads to a “gap” in airmen’s education for the rest of their careers. “We can’t continue to allow that to happen,” he said.
Active-Duty Airmen only have a few days left to submit an official waist-to-height ratio into the Air Force’s new online application. But the service clarified July 23 that this first body composition measurement is not meant to be scored as part of the new Physical Fitness Readiness Assessment, or PFRA