Air Force Magazine
Daily Report for March 23, 2020

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Edited by Amy McCullough with Rachel S. Cohen, Brian W. Everstine, Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory and John A. Tirpak

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Hurlburt Combat Controller Dies During Training Swim
By Brian W. Everstine

A special tactics combat controller from the 24th Special Operations Wing at
Hurlburt Field, Fla., died March 19 during a training swim in Panama City. The
Airman has been identified as A1C Keigan Baker, 24, of Longview, Washington.
Baker enlisted in the Air Force in 2018, and was in training as a Special
Tactics combat controller apprentice.

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CENTCOM Stops Flow of Troops to Counter COVID-19
By Brian W. Everstine

U.S. Central Command has ordered a stop movement for all forces deploying to the
Middle East to allow for a 14-day quarantine to counter the spread of the new
coronavirus.
Under the order, announced March 20, forces deploying to U.S.
commands or coalitions in the area of responsibility will be quarantined for two
weeks at their point of embarkation prior to the deployment “so that they will
be cleared for duty upon arrival as a prudent precaution to maintain critical
combat and combat support functions," CENTCOM said in a release. This will
extend the deployments of some personnel while they wait for their replacements
to clear quarantine.

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GI Bill Fix Will Keep Funds Flowing During Pandemic
By Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory

President Donald Trump on March 21 signed a bill into law that will ensure GI
Bill benefits aren’t suspended for college programs forced to switch to
distance learning because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Lawmakers Considering Remote Markup of NDAA Bill
By Rachel S. Cohen

The House and Senate Armed Services Committees are scrambling to learn more
about how the coronavirus pandemic could affect the U.S. military, while also
trying to keep the major annual defense policy bill on track. “The committee
is in constant contact with DOD about its response to coronavirus and how it can
most effectively support the national COVID-19 response efforts,” SASC
spokeswoman Marta Hernandez said. “We believe current authorities give the
department the latitude it needs to respond appropriately.” HASC is planning
an April 30 markup, typically a marathon session of debates over the core
provisions and added amendments with all committee members in the room.
Hernandez said SASC Chairman Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) still wants to mark up
the Senate’s draft National Defense Authorization Act by the end of May, but
the committee is considering running the markup remotely using teleworking
software.

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EUCOM Trying to Maintain Readiness Despite Exercise Cancellations
By Brian W. Everstine

U.S. European Command has about 2,600 personnel in self-isolation and has
curtailed its exercises because of the ongoing new coronavirus outbreak, but the
head of the military in Europe says readiness will remain high for the
foreseeable future. USAF Gen. Tod Wolters, EUCOM boss and NATO Supreme Allied
Commander-Europe, said March 20 his command has watched the coronavirus outbreak
spread throughout the continent for months now and is evolving its tactics,
techniques, and procedures to try to counter the spread. “This is serious,
serious business and for months we have embraced precautionary measures to
safeguard the health of not only our personnel, but also of our communities and
the mission,” Wolters said.

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Air Force Depots Not Slowing Down
By John A. Tirpak

The Air Force’s depot maintenance activities continue unabated during the
COVID-19 crisis, but Air Force Materiel Command is staying alert for supply
chain issues that could affect throughput. “To date, no mission requirements
have been impacted, and aircraft are still being inducted into the depots,” an
AFMC spokeswoman said March 19. “Although we are monitoring for slowing of
supply chain operations, we are not aware of any supply or material disruptions
at this time,” she said.

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B-2s Fly With Dutch F-35s For First Time
By Brian W. Everstine

Two B-2s that are deployed to Europe as part of a bomber task force rotation
flew alongside Royal Netherlands Air Force F-35As on March 18, marking the first
time the stealth bomber flew alongside Dutch fifth-generation fighters. The
bombers, deployed from Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo., to RAF Fairford, England,
linked up with the F-35As for a familiarization flight over the North Sea.

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Army, Navy Hypersonic Test Clears Way for Weapon Development
By John A. Tirpak

The Army and Navy jointly conducted a test of the Common Hypersonic Glide Body
on March 19 over the Pacific Ocean. The test clears the way for design of an
operational system to be ready by 2023. The Missile Defense Agency used the test
to gather data it will use in its efforts to build defenses against hypersonic
vehicles.

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Farnborough, RIAT Airshows Canceled Indicating Long-Term Impact of COVID-19
By Amy McCullough

England's Farnborough International Airshow and Royal International Air Tattoo,
both originally slated to take place in July, have been canceled due to the new
coronavirus pandemic, indicating the outbreak may have a long-term impact on the
global defense industry. “After very careful consideration, the unprecedented
impact of the global coronavirus pandemic has forced this decision in the
interests of the health and safety of our exhibitors, visitors, contractors, and
staff,” wrote the Farnborough International Board of Directors in a March 20
letter posted to its website.

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Radar Sweep

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Snapshot: DOD and COVID-19

Here's a look at how the Defense Department is being impacted by and responding
to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Returning Troops Denied Water, Bathrooms Under Quarantine

It wasn’t the welcome home that U.S. soldiers expected when they returned from
war zones in the Middle East this past week. When their planes landed at Fort
Bliss, Texas, they were herded into buses, denied water and the use of
bathrooms, then quarantined in packed barracks, with little food or access to
the outdoors.

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Senator Pushes Pentagon for Personnel Guidance Amid Pandemic

Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) continued his pressure campaign on executive branch
agencies to release guidance and response plans to the COVID-19 pandemic on
March 19, this time directing questions to Defense Secretary Mark Esper. In a
letter, Warner, vice chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence,
requested the Defense Department issue guidance for uniformed, civilian, and
contractor personnel and to clarify their options for paid leave and telework
options during the pandemic.

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Defense Contractors Can Go to Work Amid State & Local Lockdowns, Pentagon Says

The U.S. government declared defense companies and their suppliers part of the
country’s “critical infrastructure sector,” a designation that will allow
employees to continue reporting to work even if local and state governments
order citizens to stay home amid the COVID-19 outbreak.

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Navy, Air Force Chaplains Must End in-Person Worship Like Army Did, Advocacy Group Says

An advocacy group is complaining about the lack of strict orders from the Navy
and Air Force to end in-person worship services during the coronavirus pandemic,
but officials from those services say the decision to do so rests with local
commanders and not their chiefs of chaplains. The Navy and Air Force stances are
in contrast to the Army, which closed all chapels in the United States and
Europe this past weekend, according to a memo signed by the Navy chief of
chaplains and provided to Military Times.

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NDIA Appeals to Top House, Senate Authorizers

The National Defense Industrial Association is calling on the leaders of the
House and Senate Armed Services committees to address the consequences of the
COVID-19 pandemic on the defense industrial base. In March 19 letters, retired
USAF Gen. Hawk Carlisle, NDIA's chief executive, said contractors are working
without protections for loss of pay due to delays and without help if their
supply chain is affected.

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Lawmakers Submit Nearly 50 Questions to VA Over Its COVID-19 Response

House Veterans Affairs Committee members are demanding daily and weekly updates
from the Department of Veterans Affairs on its response to the novel coronavirus
outbreak, along with the answers to 49 questions. In a bipartisan letter to VA
Secretary Robert Wilkie released March 18, 27 lawmakers said they are concerned
about staying up-to-date as the number of COVID-19 cases rapidly increases
across the country.

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NASA Leadership Assessing Mission Impacts of Coronavirus

To protect the health and safety of the NASA workforce as the nation responds to
coronavirus (COVID-19), agency leadership recently completed the first
assessment of work underway across all missions, projects, and programs. The
goal was to identify tasks that can be done remotely by employees at home,
mission-essential work that must be performed on-site, and on-site work that
will be paused.

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PRSM: Lockheed Long-Range Missile Passes Short-Range Stress Test

The Precision Strike Missile’s rocket booster is so powerful that short-range
shots actually put more stress on the weapon than letting it loose to fly its
full distance, Lockheed Martin told Breaking Defense.

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Bids Sought for $12 Billion Space Enterprise Consortium Contract

The consortium manager will oversee up to $12 billion worth of projects over the
next decade.

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U.S. Naval Officer Sues Over Military Transgender Ban

A U.S. naval officer who is facing involuntary discharge because of a policy
restricting transgender people from military service has filed a lawsuit that
aims to force defense officials to allow her to continue serving. The federal
lawsuit, filed March 17, is the first legal challenge to the policy since rules
went into effect in April 2019 stripping transgender troops of rights they
secured under the Obama administration to serve openly and to have their medical
transitions covered in their health benefits, lawyers said.

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One More Thing...
Navy, DOD Networks Strained under Telework Demand; Leaders Ask ‘Limit Use of REPLY TO ALL’

The Defense Department’s mandatory and voluntary work-from-home push this week
to protect the workforce from the COVID-19 virus is straining IT systems, even
as the government is asking employees to make modifications to limit their
consumption of network resources.

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