Air Force Magazine
Daily Report for Feb. 25, 2020
View in your Web Browser: [link removed]
Edited by Amy McCullough and Brian W. Everstine
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[ Advertisement ]
[link removed]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
USAF to Consider Nearby Schools, Military Family Support in Future Basing Decisions
By Brian W. Everstine
The Air Force on Feb. 24 announced it will consider public education support for
military children and a state’s policies for accepting professional licenses
as part of future basing decisions. The new policy is aimed at making sure an
area is ready to accommodate transferring military families before the service
plans to base a new mission or aircraft at a location. This means that if a
state wants to bring in an increased Air Force presence, it needs to strive to
meet the established criteria. “The communities where service members live and
work impact readiness, retention, and the satisfaction of families,” Air Force
Secretary Barbara Barrett said in a release.
[link removed]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TRANSCOM Asks Congress to Buy Back Tankers Targeted for Cuts
By Brian W. Everstine
The Air Force’s push to retire aging tankers to fund future capabilities will
significantly impact current operations and the ability to fly current wartime
missions, the head of U.S. Transportation Command wrote to lawmakers. In the
command’s Unfunded Priority List sent to Congress on Feb. 20, TRANSCOM boss
Army Gen. Stephen Lyons said aerial refueling is the service’s top unfunded
priority, requesting an additional $110 million to buy back 23 of the tankers
targeted for cuts in the Air Force's 2021 budget request.
[link removed]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[ Advertisement ]
Empowering Disaster Response and Recovery From Space
When a natural disaster or emergency occur, an immediate and seamless response is necessary to
save lives. Operational and situational awareness becomes increasingly important to responders.
If critical infrastructure is down in the disaster zone, then the systems and networks required for
powering the relief efforts are compromised. Ground operations must look to space to solve their
communication needs. Read the full story.
[link removed]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DOD Adopts Ethical Principles for AI Development, Use
By Amy McCullough
The Defense Department has adopted a series of ethical principles intended to
guide the development and use of artificial intelligence on and off the
battlefield, including taking “deliberate steps to minimize unintended bias”
and ensuring the ability to “deactivate” systems that aren’t behaving as
expected. The Joint Artificial Intelligence Center will coordinate the
implementation of these principles, which are based on the recommendations of
the Defense Innovation Board, across the department, according to a Feb. 24 DOD
release.
[link removed]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Air Force Overhauls Special Warfare Development, Training
By Brian W. Everstine
The Air Force is overhauling how it selects and trains special operators,
creating a single Air Force Specialty Code for prospective enlistees and
streamlining the basic military training process beginning in April. The Special
Warfare Operator Enlistment Vectoring program creates a single point of entry
into special warfare recruiting and initial training. Under the new program, a
possible combat controller, pararescuemen, tactical air control party airman, or
special reconnaissance Airman will enter the Air Force in the 9T500 AFSC. "It
represents a momentous change for the Air Force special warfare community," said
Col. Joseph Lopez, the Air Education and Training Command headquarters special
warfare division chief. "By removing constraints in the recruiting and
accessions process, we are expanding the talent pool while streamlining entry
into the service.”
[link removed]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[ Advertisement ]
[link removed]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[ Advertisement ]
[link removed]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Radar Sweep
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
US Air Force’s Top Officer Talks About the Budget and Why he Won’t Drop the 386 Squadron Goal
Before Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein retires this summer, he will
face an enormous challenge: Selling a fiscal year 2021 budget to Congress filled
with the forced retirements of beloved aircraft like the B-1 and A-10 in order
to make room for future priorities. Goldfein spoke to Defense News on Feb. 18,
ahead of the Air Force Association’s annual air warfare symposium.
[link removed]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Air Force Pushes Ahead On ‘Flying Car’ Challenge
The Air Force will release a request for proposals Feb. 25 for a ‘flying
car’ that could eventually transport soldiers and supplies to the battlefield,
says service acquisition head Will Roper. “Now is the perfect time to make
Jetson’s cars real,” with this program, Agility Prime. It “has come a long
way,” Roper told reporters.
[link removed]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Air Force Wants to Retire Aging Aircraft. It Will Have to Get Past Congress First
For some U.S. Air Force leaders, retiring the A-10 Warthog close-air support
aircraft was a simple decision. But the seemingly logical proposal launched a
years-long firestorm when lawmakers, led by former Air Force Col. Martha
McSally, rushed to save the beloved plane from mothballs. Years later, the fleet
is being refurbished with new wings instead of being sent to the boneyard. The
dramatic A-10 turnaround illustrates how Air Force plans can fail to survive
first contact with a Congress with other ideas. And, former officials and
experts who spoke with Military.com said, that may be about to happen again.
[link removed]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[ Advertisement ]
[link removed]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Should The U.S. Have a Secretary For Influence Operations?
Two former top special operations officials say their job was too junior and the
Pentagon isn’t taking information warfare seriously enough.
[link removed]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cancer-Linked Chemical Found Inside Kansas Aircraft Hangar
More than 50 personnel at McConnell Air Force Base in Kansas may have been
exposed to dangerous levels of a compound linked to cancer that was found inside
an aircraft hangar last year, according to internal memos.
[link removed]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
National Desert Storm War Memorial Association Receives $10 Million Pledge From Kuwait
The State of Kuwait’s donation will help build the Memorial at the National
Mall in Washington D.C.
[link removed]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
One More Thing...
Voting Open for Spark Tank 2020
Cast your vote for your favorite entry in the Air Force Spark Tank 2020
competition now through Feb. 28. Finalists will pitch their innovative ideas to
five Air Force senior leadership and industry experts at AFA’s Air Warfare
Symposium in Orlando, Fla. The public will serve as the sixth judge, and the
winner will have their project funded by the Air Force.
[link removed]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[ Advertisement ]
[link removed]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Daily Report: [link removed]
- Contact Us: [link removed]
- Advertise With Us: [link removed]
- Purchase/Reprint: [link removed]
- Air Force Association: [link removed]
- Join AFA: [link removed]
- AF Mag on Facebook: [link removed]
- AF Mag on Twitter: [link removed]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Published by the Air Force Association
All airforcemag.com material is under copyright of
the Air Force Association. All rights reserved.
The Air Force Association
1501 Lee Highway, Arlington, VA
22209-1198
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe or change your preferences, please visit the link below:
[link removed]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
