Air Force Magazine
Daily Report for April 2, 2020

View in your Web Browser: [link removed]
Edited by Amy McCullough with Rachel S. Cohen, Brian W. Everstine, Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory and John A. Tirpak

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[ Advertisement ]
[link removed]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

USAF Looking to Pare Down Non-Mission Essential Tasks During Pandemic
By Brian W. Everstine

The Air Force and its major commands are “resetting”—deciding the
mission-essential tasks it must accomplish, while finding way to pare down or
completely stop other tasks as the coronavirus outbreak and its corresponding
impact spreads. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein ordered all major
command bosses to report back to him by April 1 on what they deem to be mission
essential, with the goal to determine the best way to accomplish those missions
while keeping the service safe, he said. Those reports are the beginning of a
discussion and planning that will play out in the near future.

[link removed]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Goldfein: Pandemic May Help Retention, Pilot Shortage
By John A. Tirpak

One upside of the COVID-19 pandemic is that Air Force retention, particularly of
pilots and maintainers, will likely improve as the global downturn in the
airline business reduces the commercial appetite for people in those
specialties, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein said April 1. The Air
National Guard seems to have everything it needs for its civilian disaster
response mission, he said, and the focus now is to make sure those who get
called up get full access to health and family support benefits.

[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 Should Re-Evaluate Who Owns Long-Range Strike as Budgets Flatten
By John A. Tirpak

As the defense budget flattens, the other services may have to rethink their
pursuit of long-range fires, purely because duplication is only a good thing
when it's affordable, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein said during
an online Mitchell Institute event April 1. He also noted that exhaustive
wargaming has shown that future wars will only be won with a "hybrid" approach
of stand-off and stand-in weapons, and can't be won staying "outside" enemy
defensive zones.

[link removed]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

USAFA Class of ’20 to Graduate Early
By Tobias Naegele

The Air Force will graduate the U.S. Air Force Academy class of 2020 on April
18, more than a month ahead of schedule, and loosen restrictions on the senior
class, which has been on virtual lockdown because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“When the class of 2020 entered USAFA we were a nation at war,” Academy
Superintendent Lt. Gen. Jay Silveria said. “You have all signed up to serve in
a time of war—to make a difference. We still battle terrorism and extremism
around the world, but today we are at war with another enemy, a global pandemic,
and that fight is unconventional. … We must make unconventional decisions and
take what some would consider extreme measures. We must make bold choices, and
we will.”

[link removed]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[ Advertisement ]
[link removed]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Goldfein: New KC-46 Deficiency Normal Part of Testing
By Brian W. Everstine

The newest Category One deficiency on the KC-46 is the type of flaw that can be
expected when a new aircraft is evaluated, and is not expected to impact the
timeline, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein said. The service
announced this week that fuel leaks between the primary and secondary fuel
protection barriers within the aircraft. The problem was first discovered in
July 2019, but was recently upgraded to the most serious classification, meaning
it could impact flight safety. Goldfein said April 1 that he is not “hearing
anything right now that indicates to me that it will cause a delay,” though it
is still early, because engineers are working on the issue.

[link removed]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

USAF Wants Algorithms, Chemistry to Help Fight Coronavirus
By Rachel S. Cohen

The Air Force wants to hear from small businesses with big ideas to combat the
spread of the new coronavirus. AFVentures, a new group started to improve
outreach to small companies that do not traditionally work with the Pentagon,
published a solicitation March 30 that focuses on six areas related to the
ongoing pandemic: decision support, personnel needs, readiness, logistics,
medical needs, and other ideas that do not fall under those topics. The work is
intended to help the Air Force accomplish its various missions, but could be
applicable to others in the military and in broader society. Proposals are due
April 30. USAF will take about a month to choose the winners.

[link removed]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lockheed Gets Nearly $5 Billion in F-35 Contracts
By Amy McCullough

Lockheed Martin was awarded a $4.7 billion contract modification for 78 F-35
combat aircraft, including 48 F-35As for the U.S. Air Force, 14 F-35Bs for the
Marine Corps, and 16 F-35Cs for the U.S. Navy and “associated red gear,”
according to a March 31 contract announcement. The company also was awarded a
$202.8 million cost-plus incentive fee contract to “develop, sustain, and
produce software builds as well as carryout developmental flight tests in
support of the Joint Strike Fighter aircraft,” according to the contract
announcement.

[link removed]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

F. Clifton Berry Jr.: 1931-2020
By John A. Tirpak

F. Clifton Berry Jr., former editor-in-chief of Air Force Magazine, as well as
several other prominent defense journals, died March 13 at the age of 88. Berry,
who received a bronze star for actions under fire in Vietnam, wrote or
co-authored 11 books about U.S. military or aviation history and edited 14 more.

[link removed]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[ Advertisement ]
[link removed]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Radar Sweep

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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.

[link removed]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

China Concealed Extent of Virus Outbreak, U.S. Intelligence Says

China has concealed the extent of the coronavirus outbreak in its country,
under-reporting both total cases and deaths it’s suffered from the disease,
the U.S. intelligence community concluded in a classified report to the White
House, according to three U.S. officials.

[link removed]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sailors from Aircraft Carrier Hit by Coronavirus Outbreak to Quarantine in Guam Hotels

Some of the sailors from the USS Theodore Roosevelt will be quarantined in hotel
rooms in Guam as the number of coronavirus cases aboard the aircraft carrier
approaches 100, a deteriorating situation that led the ship's commanding officer
to issue a stark warning to top Navy leadership about the need to get sailors
off the ship.

[link removed]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Defense Department Halts Health Records Rollout During COVID-19

The Defense Department has temporarily suspended the deployment of its new
commercial electronic health records system. According to an official from the
Defense Healthcare Management System, the decision will allow military health
care providers to better focus on the COVID-19 outbreak.

[link removed]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ohio Lawmakers Want Better COVID-19 Guidance for Defense Industrial Base

Several Ohio lawmakers, led by Republican Rep. Mike Turner, have sent a letter
to the Defense Department requesting better COVID-19 guidance be provided to the
defense industrial base, especially those working at the Air Force Research
Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. The lawmakers say they have
been contacted by 13 small businesses in Ohio that have research and development
contracts with AFRL.

[link removed]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[ Advertisement ]
[link removed]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If Space Startups Fail, the Pentagon’s Going to Need Some New Plans

Literally and figuratively, there’s no area of military activity that’s
further away from the coronavirus than U.S. military assets in space. But the
economic effects of the counter-virus lockdown are causing potentially fatal
problems for some young space companies and that could threaten the Defense
Department’s plans.

[link removed]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Attorneys Want Court to Fast-Track GI Bill Legal Case Because of Coronavirus Financial Impact

Attorneys behind a lawsuit which could open up an extra year of GI Bill
education benefits to hundreds of thousands of veterans this week asked an
appeals court to fast-track their case because of the potential windfall it
could bring to families facing financial problems related to the coronavirus
outbreak.

[link removed]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Madison City Council Takes Stand Against F-35 Fighter Jets

Despite not being able to hear from many residents who wanted to speak, the
Madison City Council on April 1 took a clear stand against placing F-35 jets at
Madison’s Truax Field.

[link removed]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Panel Wants to Double Federal Spending on AI

A Congressionally mandated panel of technology experts has issued its first set
of recommendations for the government, including doubling the amount of money
spent on artificial intelligence outside the Defense Department and elevating a
key Pentagon office to report directly to the Defense Secretary.

[link removed]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pentagon Turns to New Buying Tools 10 Times More Often

The amount of funding for defense research awarded through other transaction
authorities have increased nearly tenfold in five years, according to a new
analysis seen exclusively by Defense News. The report, by data and analytics
firm Govini, shows the use of OTAs and small business innovation research
contracts has expanded to the point that, in 2019, the two methods accounted for
$9.6 billion, or 10 percent of the Defense Department’s research, development,
test, and evaluation spending.

[link removed]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

One More Thing...
Coronavirus May Have Caused the Earth to Stop Vibrating So Much

Coronavirus may have inadvertently caused Earth to vibrate less, with lockdown
measures leading to a huge drop in the use of industrial machinery and
transportation around the world. Seismologists have said that since measures to
curb the spread of the virus were put in place, there has been a noticeable drop
in the planet's "seismic noise." This is the persistent vibration of the ground
as a result of a multitude of factors, including human activity.

[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]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------