Wednesday, August 7, 2019

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NCO Enlistment Changes Planned; F-35 Basing Study Endorses Tyndall; Hiring Civilians Faster

— Rachel S. Cohen, Brian Everstine, and Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory
([link removed] 2019/August 7 2019/DR_08072019.jpg)

​CMSAF Kaleth Wright visited several units at Tinker AFB, Okla., and toured the 137th Special Operations Wing at Will Rogers ANGB, Okla., July 30-31. Air Force photo by Kelly White.

​USAF Deciding Soon on “Indefinite Enlistment,” Other NCO Changes
The Air Force is moving toward an “indefinite enlistment” process, capping at 15 years the requirement for senior enlisted personnel to regularly re-enlist. Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force Kaleth Wright has also suggested going further and ending the requirement at 12 years of service. Air Force officials expect to decide whether to approve the 15-year change this fall, Wright told airmen in recent base visits. Read the full story by Brian Everstine. ([link removed])

Pence, Donovan Formally Announce F-35s Can Come to Tyndall
and on Aug. 6 announced the Air Force completed a basing study that greenlights F-35s to operate from Tyndall AFB, Fla., beginning in 2023. The service has said since last winter ([link removed]) that the F-35s would fly from the base after F-22s left. In October 2018, Tyndall suffered a direct hit by Category 5 Hurricane Michael, which damaged nearly all of the installation’s buildings. Base officials are working on a plan to design a flexible installation that can welcome the F-35 as well as the MQ-9 and possibly other aircraft without major modifications. —Brian Everstine


Air Force Sustainment Center Website Aims to Streamline Civilian Hiring
The Air Force Sustainment Center launched a new website that aims to streamline civilian recruitment for jobs that are available through expedited hiring authorities, as the service tries to speed up its hiring process and attract more qualified candidates. ”We wanted a process that was seamless, user-friendly and transparent to our applicants,” Dana Crowe, the center’s personnel director, said in an Aug. 5 release ([link removed]). The website makes it easier for people outside the military to find government jobs because job seekers don’t have to be on a base network to access it, added Sarah Walker, the branch chief for the personnel directorate. The site also offers information on various hiring paths ([link removed]) and job-application advice ([link removed]). The Air Force is pushing faster hiring practices in places like the Air Force Research Laboratory and in areas such as software development.—Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory

JB San Antonio-Lackland Wants to Hear About Your Mold
JB San Antonio-Lackland, Texas’s 502nd Air Base Wing created an online clearinghouse ([link removed]) to provide updates on the base’s mold remediation effort and resources for airmen whose property was damaged, according to an Aug. 2 release ([link removed]). Wing Commander Brig. Gen. Laura Lenderman called the health of all US military service members at the base “essential” and the presence of mold in their homes “unacceptable.” The base urges impacted residents to directly contact Lenderman directly if they feel that leaders haven’t sufficiently tackled their mold-related grievances. The Air Force is fixing about 4,700 issues ([link removed]) reported in military housing, including mold, as a result of a survey that reached nearly 57,500 Active-Duty members who live on a base. —Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory
Correction

The article Boeing Gets $55.5 Million for KC-46 Boom Work ([link removed]) that ran in the Aug. 6 Daily Report misstated the aircraft that can be refueled by the KC-46. The Pegasus has been cleared to refuel more than a dozen USAF aircraft, but is not refueling the A-10.
–––––––––– RADAR SWEEP

Air Force Alerts Airmen to Mystery Pay Raise Problem
Airmen expecting July pay raises may not see them until mid-August, according to an alert from Air Force personnel. The alert, posted on the front page of myPers.af.mil, a secure personnel site, states that an unspecified issue at the Defense Information Systems Agency caused a delay in updates being sent to the Defense Finance and Accounting Services. Stars and Stripes ([link removed]) (paywall)

Jon Huntsman Resigns as US Ambassador to Russia to Return to Utah for Possible Run for Governor
US Ambassador to Russia Jon Huntsman is returning home to Utah, where he is reportedly weighing another run for governor. Huntsman sent President Donald Trump a resignation letter Aug. 6 and plans to move back to the Beehive State in October. The Salt Lake Tribune ([link removed])

Lingering Pentagon Vacancies Seen Affecting Strategy, Arms Buys
The Senate’s confirmation of the Pentagon’s two top leaders before the August recess ended the longest period without a permanent defense secretary, but vacancies in 15 other top civilian positions may pose risks. Bloomberg Government ([link removed])

Air Force Space Modernization Starts from the Ground Up
Fair or not, rockets and satellites generally overshadow the ground systems they need to do their missions. But as the US military looks for faster and cheaper ways to get data from satellites, ground systems are attracting growing attention. Space News ([link removed])

Collins Aerospace to Help Sustain Air Force E-8C Training System
United Technologies Corp.'s Collins Aerospace business has secured a $40.2M indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract to sustain training devices for the US Air Force’s E-8 Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System aircraft. GovConWire ([link removed])

Speed Wins: MacDill AFB Contracting Awards 100K in Swift Fashion
In order to compete in the future, innovative ideas to improve fleet readiness must reach the warfighter quickly. In order to do just that, the 6th Contracting Squadron hosted its first-ever Pitch Day Aug. 1 at MacDill Air Force Base, where local small businesses proposed innovative ideas to help increase overall base efficiency and mission effectiveness. USAF release ([link removed])

The Small Sat Solution to Hypersonic Weapons, Explained
With speeds surpassing Mach 5 and the ability to maneuver mid-flight, hypersonic weapons defy the missile defense status quo, potentially making the United States’ current defenses obsolete. China and Russia are vigorously pursuing hypersonic weapons, and the United States is desperate to neutralize them. C4ISRNET ([link removed])

New Pentagon Program Aims to Capture Serial Sex Offenders with Victims' Confidential Help
The Pentagon is targeting serial sex offenders with a new program that tracks confidential information provided by victims. The Pentagon, which has long struggled with sexual assault in its ranks, is hoping that victims who have been reluctant to file formal complaints will do so if they know their assailant has assaulted another victim. USA TODAY ([link removed])

Pentagon Finally Has an Assistant Secretary for Health Affairs
The Senate last week confirmed Thomas McCaffery as assistant secretary of defense for health affairs—the first permanent appointee to the post in more than three years. McCaffery has been serving as principal deputy assistant secretary for health affairs since 2017 and has been performing the duties of primary advisor to the Secretary of Defense on health care, but without the official Senate stamp of approval. Military.com ([link removed])

Military Children Have More Health Care Needs, But Less Access and Lower Quality, Study Finds
Children in military families insured by Tricare are more likely to have special health care needs, and more likely to have a behavioral health diagnosis compared to their civilian peers, according to a new study. And Tricare-insured families are more likely to report lower health care quality and more problems with access to health care for their children, compared to other families who are commercially insured, publicly insured, or uninsured, according to the study, published in the August edition of the journal Health Affairs. Military Times ([link removed])

One More Thing…

Pentagon Testing Mass Surveillance Balloons Across the US
The US military is conducting wide-area surveillance tests across six midwest states using experimental high-altitude balloons, documents filed with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) reveal. Up to 25 unmanned solar-powered balloons are being launched from rural South Dakota and drifting 250 miles through an area spanning portions of Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin and Missouri, before concluding in central Illinois. The Guardian ([link removed])



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