U.S. to Exit Open Skies Treaty | Hyten Touts Military Readiness

May 22, 2020

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

An OC-135 Open Skies aircraft parked on a ramp at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb., on Sept. 14, 2018. Air Force photo by Charles J. Haymond.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.”

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 website and YouTube page later in the day.

Radar Sweep

Snapshot: DOD and COVID-19

Air Force Magazine

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

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

Military.com

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.

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

Inside Defense

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.

USSPACECOM Releases First Formal Order to Execute Multinational Space Operations

U.S. Space Command release

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.

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

Space News

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.

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

Satellite Safety Alliance release

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.

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

The Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies

"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.

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

Defense One

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.

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

Nextgov

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.

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

The Drive

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.

One More Thing

Air Force Recruiting, NASCAR to Honor Fallen Tuskegee Airman Memorial Day Weekend

USAF release

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.