Air Force Magazine
Daily Report for May 1, 2020

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

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‘Pass-Through’ Reform, Modernization Among Aerospace Priorities in 2021 NDAA
By Rachel S. Cohen

Lawmakers are preparing their aerospace priorities for the fiscal 2021 defense
policy bill, in which the Air Force hopes to see an endorsement of its
modernization-heavy, $154.6 billion budget request. One provision that could
have big ripple effects for the service is a push to remove “pass-through”
funding from the Air Force’s budget, which critics say makes it seem larger in
comparison to the other services. After the 2020 National Defense Authorization
Act green-lit USAF priorities, like creating a Space Force and starting the
F-15EX program, some lawmakers have a similar set of interests for this year’s
legislation.

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USAF Sees Highest Number of Sexual Assault Reports in 14 Years
By Amy McCullough

The number of sexual assault reports in the Air Force increased 9 percent in
fiscal 2019 from the year before—the “greatest number of
reports” received
since the service’s Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Program launched 14
years ago. The Air Force received a total of 1,683 reports in 2019, including
1,161 unrestricted and 522 restricted reports. "The increase in reports could be
for multiple reasons, but ultimately it demonstrates that victims trust the Air
Force's processes enough to feel comfortable enough to report," states the
executive summary to the Air Force addendum of the 2019 Department of Defense
Annual Report on Sexual Assault in the Military.


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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.
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RAND Study Forecasts Shrinking Market for U.S. Heavy Rocket Providers
By Rachel S. Cohen

A new report by RAND Corp. argues the national security space enterprise would
benefit from having three launch providers offering heavy lift services over the
next few years, before downsizing to two to meet the Space Force’s long-term
needs. RAND believes that as the United States makes up a smaller share of the
global heavy lift market, commercial companies will turn to other countries with
new rockets better suited to heavy launch. American launch providers would then
need to turn to the Space Force’s National Security Space Launch program for
work.

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Lord: DOD’s Ability to Shift Funds for COVID-19 Response Limited
By Brian W. Everstine

The Defense Department will look at ways to shift funding toward COVID-19
response, though the Pentagon’s head of acquisition said the department’s
flexibility is limited without action from Capitol Hill. Some lawmakers have
called on the Pentagon to use its budget for coronavirus response, and not seek
additional relief in future recovery stimulus funding. While there is potential
for the department to shift operations and maintenance funding for COVID-19
response, Congress is already strict about authorizing money for military
missions, Ellen Lord, the under secretary for acquisition, told reporters April
30. “We do have significant needs in terms of readiness and modernization in
order to perform our primary mission, which is national security,” Lord said.
“So we will look at that.”

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Air Force Creates New AFSC for Special Warfare Officers
By Brian W. Everstine

The Air Force has consolidated three special warfare officer jobs into one
specialty code in an effort to streamline resourcing, talent management, and
deployments, the service announced April 30. Special tactics, tactical air
control party officers, and combat rescue officers will now be assigned the Air
Force Special Warfare AFSC 19ZXX, effective immediately. Previously, the
officers were under the command and control AFSC. “The creation of a cadre of
officers steeped in joint leadership and trained to lead the full spectrum of
AFSPECWAR conventional and special operations missions will streamline
accession, selection, and common skills training,” said Col. Thomas Palenske,
director of the AFSPECWAR directorate at the Pentagon.

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‘Military Makeover with Montel’ Searching for Next Home-Renovation Winner
By Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory

“Military Makeover with Montel,” a television series that airs on both the
Lifetime channel and the American Forces Network, has partnered with World
Wrestling Entertainment to search for a deserving service member or veteran to
receive a home-renovation and appear on the show in 2021. Now through May 31,
individuals may nominate qualifying troops or vets—including themselves—by
visiting the <a href="[link removed]">“Tag a Hero”
campaign homepage</a> and filling out an application.

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Radar Sweep

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OPINION: 8 Steps to Fully Funding Our Air and Space Forces

“The Air Force and our new Space Force provide the airlift, strike capability,
combat air patrols, unmanned aircraft, GPS, communications connectivity, and
air- and space-based intelligence and surveillance for the joint force,” write
retired USAF Lt. Gen. Bruce “Orville” Wright, Air Force Association
president, and retired USAF Col. Keith Zuegel, AFA’s senior director of
government relations. “The Air Force provides two-thirds of the nuclear triad,
and the Space Force provides the nation’s missile warning capabilities.
Without substantial investments, these forces will be hard-pressed to deter or
defeat a peer enemy in the next decade.”

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Strategic Deterrence Forum with General Ray

Gen. Timothy Ray, commander of Global Strike Command and the Air Force Strategic
component commander for STRATCOM, joined retired USAF Lt. Gen. David Deptula,
dean of AFA's Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, for a virtual discussion
about everything from the effects of COVID-19 on strategic deterrence to the
future of the Continuous Bomber Presence mission in an April 29 online
installment of the think tank’s Strategic Deterrence Forum.

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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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Acting Navy Secretary Orders Reinvestigation of Carrier Roosevelt COVID-19 Outbreak

According to Acting Secretary of the Navy James McPherson, the Navy will conduct
another investigation into Crozier’s ouster and the spread of COVID-19 aboard
the carrier—a move that comes after Navy leadership reportedly backed
reinstating Crozier to his command following the results of an initial review.

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Key Lawmaker Opposed to Giving Pentagon Additional Stimulus Funding

As the federal government considers another stimulus package to address the
economic ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic, the chairman of the House Armed
Services Committee said he doesn’t see a need for the Defense Department to
receive extra funds.

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Space Agencies Working on a ‘Unified Message’ on Industry Stimulus

The Space Acquisition Council, which includes senior leaders from the Pentagon
and the National Reconnaissance Office, has made it a priority to assist space
industry suppliers that are financially stressed by the new coronavirus crisis.
But exactly what type of assistance will be offered is still to be determined,
said the Department of the Air Force’s top procurement official Will Roper.

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DOD Spending $75M to Boost Test Swab Production

The Pentagon, using its authorities under Defense Production Act Title III,
intends to award $75.5 million to Puritan Medical Products to increase
production of medical swabs by 20 million per month starting in May.

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Air Force Logistics Commander in Korea Fired Due to Loss of Confidence

A commander of the logistics readiness squadron at Osan Air Base, South Korea,
has been removed from his post due to a loss of confidence in his ability to
lead. Lt. Col. Michael Kearney, commander of the 51st Logistics Readiness
Squadron, was removed from his post by Col. John Gonzales, 51st Fighter Wing
commander, on April 28, according to a spokesperson from the 51st Fighter Wing.

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China Says PLA Scrambled Aircraft, Ships to ‘Expel’ U.S. Warship from South China Sea Island Chain

Chinese authorities said they sortied ships and aircraft to “track, monitor,
verify, identify, and expel” a U.S. warship from the Paracel Island chain in
the South China Sea on April 28, People’s Liberation Army officials said on
Chinese social media. Navy officials confirmed to USNI News that guided-missile
destroyer USS Barry (DDG-52) conducted a freedom of navigation operation in the
vicinity of the island chain off Vietnam.

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Pentagon Pulls Money from Overseas Projects to Pay for Border Wall

Defense Secretary Mark Esper is restoring more than half a billion dollars in
funding for military construction projects in the U.S. that were put on hold to
help fund President Donald Trump's border wall, and instead will take money from
projects that are primarily overseas. The move, which is laid out in a memo
dated April 27 and obtained by POLITICO, drew an angry response from Democrats,
who say the administration is "trampling" on Congress' power of the purse.

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Pentagon’s Testing for $12.6 Billion in Hypersonics under Review

The Pentagon's inspector general is evaluating whether the Defense Department
and military services have adequate ground testing, evaluation facilities, and
specialized chambers to support the nation’s spending surge on hypersonic
weapons that fly faster than five times the speed of sound. The review, begun
this month, is focused on the existing infrastructure for ground testing of the
new weapons, not on their capabilities or on eventual flight tests on outdoor
ranges.

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Faster Acquisition

The Air Force is leveraging emerging technologies and new legislation to
accelerate acquisition decisions and streamline sustainment. Read more here.

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One More Thing...
Artificial Intelligence Outperforms Human Intel Analysts in a Key Area

An experiment from the Defense Intelligence Agency shows that artificial
intelligence and humans have different risk tolerances when data is scarce.

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