Air Force Magazine
Daily Report for May 22, 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]

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

Editor’s Note

In honor of Memorial Day, the Daily Report will not publish on Monday, May 25.
We will resume publication Tuesday, May 26.

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

U.S. to Leave Open Skies Treaty
By Rachel S. Cohen

The United States on May 22 will start the six-month process of withdrawing from
the 1992 Open Skies Treaty over objections that Russia isn’t complying with
the arms-control pact. “I think we have a very good relationship with Russia,
but Russia didn't adhere to the treaty, and so until they adhere to the treaty,
we will pull out,” President Donald Trump told reporters. “There's a very
good chance we'll make a new agreement or do something to put that agreement
back together.” Open Skies allows countries to monitor each other’s domestic
military activity through routine aircraft flyovers.

[link removed]

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

Hyten: Despite COVID-19, U.S. Military ‘Ready for Every Threat’
By Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory

While the COVID-19 pandemic is forcing the nation and military to learn how to
operate in a strange new world, it hasn’t diminished the force’s readiness,
Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Air Force Gen. John Hyten said on May
21. According to Hyten, who also heads up the Defense Department’s COVID-19
Task Force, the respiratory illness caused by the new coronavirus is hitting the
U.S. military less intensely than the rest of the population. And though
COVID-19 might be making Americans nostalgic for pre-pandemic life, Hyten said
the nation and Defense Department must prioritize figuring out how to function
in "the new normal” it’s created. For the military, he said, that means
learning how to train and operate differently, as well as figuring out how to
stay safe, since the pandemic could persist past 2020.

[link removed]

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

STRIKEWERX Aimed at Quick-Turn Fixes to Global Strike Problems
By John A. Tirpak

Air Force Global Strike Command is preparing to launch its "STRIKEWERX"
innovation center in Bossier City, La., aimed at getting local companies and
academia to propose and partner on quick-turn projects that can help the command
be more efficient and effective. The center, which is located in the nearby
technology park, will focus chiefly on software and other information technology
projects, but it will be open to others. AFGSC Chief Scientist Donna Senft told
Air Force Magazine the command "needed a storefront" that could reach out to
potential partners the same way AFWERX does for the larger Air Force. Technology
"is moving faster in the private sector," she said, and AFGSC is hoping the
innovation will help it tap into that.

[link removed]

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

Guard Deserves Benefits for COVID-19 Duty, Advocates Say
By Amy McCullough

The Air Force Association and the Association of the United States Army are
urging President Donald Trump to extend Title 32 deployment orders for Guardsmen
activated in the fight against the new coronavirus. “As a number of state
governors are now advising, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic clearly suggests our
nation will need our National Guard to continue the fight well beyond June
24,” write AFA President retired Lt. Gen. Bruce “Orville” Wright and AUSA
President and CEO retired Army Gen. Carter F. Ham in the May 21 letter to Trump
and Defense Secretary Mark Esper.

[link removed]

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

[ Advertisement ]
[link removed]

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

Military Medical Facilities to Begin Offering Elective Procedures Again
By Brian W. Everstine

Military medical facilities across the globe can resume elective procedures as
long as their communities meet criteria outlined in new guidance released May
20. The Pentagon in March directed a restriction on elective procedures as the
COVID-19 outbreak spread and threatened to overwhelm the military health
infrastructure. But as the curve of infection flattens in many areas, officials
are easing up on those restrictions as long as the procedures can be safely
performed, are needed to maintain the deployability and readiness of service
members, or delaying a procedure could increase the risk to the patient,
Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs Tom McCaffery wrote in a May
19 memorandum.

[link removed]

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

Volunteers to Give Gold Star Families Flowers at Cemeteries on Memorial Day
By Brian W. Everstine

Gold Star families visiting their fallen loved ones at Arlington National
Cemetery and local veterans cemeteries across the country this Memorial Day will
receive flowers as part of a nationwide charitable effort. The Memorial Day
Flowers Foundation is giving away 6,000 flowers at Arlington, along with 64,000
flowers to individuals visiting local, state, and national veterans cemeteries.
“Even with the COVID-19 pandemic, Memorial Day is not canceled,” said Ramiro
Peñaherrera, the foundation’s co-founder and executive director, in a
release. “We can still honor our fallen troops and their sacrifices this year
but we have to do it in a safe way.”

[link removed]

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

Virtual Events: Schneider, Blank on Mitchell’s Nuclear Deterrence Forum
By Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory

Today, Mark Schneider, senior analyst with the National Institute for Public
Policy, and Stephen Blank, senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research
Institute, will speak at a virtual installment of the Nuclear Deterrence Forum
hosted by AFA's Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies. The event will
tentatively be posted on the think tank's <a
href="[link removed]">website</a> and <a
href="[link removed]">YouTube page</a>
later in the day.

[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]

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

1 Sailor Injured, Active Shooter 'Neutralized' at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi

A gunman was "neutralized" after security personnel responded to reports of an
active shooter near the north gate at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi on the
morning of May 21, Navy officials said. One sailor assigned to the air station's
security forces was injured in the incident. The sailor is in good condition and
is expected to be released later today, a Navy spokesman said.

[link removed]

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

Air Force Begins Early Acquisition Work for Multiyear JDAM Award in 2023

The contractor will provide JDAM guidance systems starting with Lot 28 and
potentially ending with Lot 37 for the Air Force, Navy, and foreign military
sales customers, according to a sources-sought notice published May 12.

[link removed]

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

USSPACECOM Releases First Formal Order to Execute Multinational Space Operations

Gen. Jay Raymond, U.S. Space Command boss and U.S. Space Force Chief of Space
Operations, signed the first USSPACECOM operations order under Operation OLYMPIC
DEFENDER. OOD is a key multinational effort intended to optimize space
operations, improve mission assurance, enhance resilience and synchronize U.S.
efforts with some of its closest allies.

[link removed]

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

U.S. Space Command Signs Space Data Sharing Agreement with Peru

The agreement was signed last week between Maj. Gen. Javier Tuesta Marquez, of
Peru's space agency, and Rear Adm. Marcus Hitchcock of U.S. Space Command.

[link removed]

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

[ Advertisement ]
[link removed]

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

At Least Seven Separate Petitions Will Call on FCC to Reverse Ligado Order

The petitioners argue the Federal Communication Commission’s Order ignored or
improperly disregarded the great majority of evidence, including technical
analyses submitted by parties, showing harmful interference and relied instead
on easily disproven claims that Ligado will provide a so-called 5G service. The
L-band is not included in any internationally-recognized 5G standard, the
spectrum is not harmonized regionally or globally for 5G, FCC’s 5G FAST Plan
does not include Ligado or L-Band spectrum, nor does the company have enough
contiguous spectrum.

[link removed]

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

OPINION: The Air Base: The Air Force’s Achilles Heel?

"Air Force doctrine and most treatments of Air Force airpower make a serious
mistake by giving surprisingly little attention to the key role air bases play
in the employment of airpower at the operational level of war," writes Price
Bingham, a retired USAF lieutenant colonel, for The Mitchell Forum.

[link removed]

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

What Google’s New Contract Reveals About the Pentagon’s Evolving Clouds

Google will build security-and app-management tools for the Pentagon’s Defense
Innovation Unit, deepening the Silicon Valley giant’s military ties and
illuminating the challenges facing the Defense Department’s drive to a
multi-cloud environment.

[link removed]

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

Critical Update: Why the Pentagon’s Cybersecurity Certification Program Inspires Hope and Fear

The Defense Department’s Katie Arrington and representatives from across the
federal contracting community share perspectives on a new era dawning in U.S.
cybersecurity policy.

[link removed]

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

F-117 Stealth Jets Flew Directly over Los Angeles on Another Mission Off the California Coast

It's the second mission of its kind this week and this time they made the trip
in clear skies right over the most populated area on the west coast.

[link removed]

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

One More Thing...
Air Force Recruiting, NASCAR to Honor Fallen Tuskegee Airman Memorial Day Weekend

The Air Force Recruiting Service and Richard Petty Motorsports will pay tribute
to an American hero and fallen Tuskegee Airman, Capt. Lawrence Dickson, as part
of NASCAR’s Coca Cola 600 Memorial Day tribute at the Charlotte Motor Speedway
on May 25, 2020. Dickson’s name will be displayed above the windshield of
driver Bubba Wallace’s No. 43 race car. The car will also be painted to
resemble the iconic A-10 Thunderbolt II, right down to the tiger shark teeth on
the grill.

[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]

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