Orlando, February 19, 2010—Readiness remains a big challenge for Reservists, Lt. Gen. Charles Stenner, Air Force Reserve chief, told attendees at AFA’s Air Warfare Symposium. Readiness in the sense of taking someone “from square zero” and maturing them from being a part timer to fully operational status, he said. “Part of that challenge comes with dollars and cents; part of that challenge comes with availability,” he explained. Part of the answer is a training program in place that takes airmen out of basic military training and tech school and, if assuming they have the availability, puts them on an extended-period tour that develops their skills to the point that they may deploy, he said. Such efforts get “them into the fight quicker,” Stenner said, noting that this initiative needs to be sustained.
A-10 Thunderbolt II attack planes in the Middle East are flying with fresh modifications as the Air Force looks to make the plane more versatile amid America’s ongoing blockade of Iranian ports and a tenuous ceasefire in the U.S. air war against Iran.