Air Force Magazine
Daily Report for June 2, 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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Wright Promises Military Justice Review, Urges ‘Fight for Understanding’ Amid Unrest
By Brian W. Everstine

The Air Force will conduct a “full and independent review” of its military
justice system, looking at racial disparities in discipline and ways to improve
the diversity of the service’s highest ranks as civil unrest continues to
spread across the country. Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force Kaleth Wright,
in a lengthy, personal letter posted to his Facebook page, said he, and “so
many others in our ranks” reacted with outrage watching George Floyd, a black
man, die at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer on Memorial Day. “What
happens all too often in this country to Black men who are subjected to police
brutality that ends in death … could happen to me,” Wright wrote. “As
shocking as that may sound to some of you … I hope you realize that
racism/discrimination/exclusion does not care much about position, titles, or
stature … So yes, it could happen to you, or one of your friends, or your
Airmen, or your NCOIC, your Flight Chief, your Squadron Commander, or even your
Wing Commander. This, my friends, is my greatest fear, not that I will be killed
by a white police officer, … but that I will wake up to a report that one of
our Black Airmen has died at the hands of a white police officer.”

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Two Airmen Killed in Grand Forks Shooting
By Amy McCullough

Two Active-duty Airmen assigned to the 319th Reconnaissance Wing at Grand Forks
Air Force Base, N.D., are dead following an early morning shooting at the base,
according to an Air Force statement.

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Leaders to Tackle Revamp of Air and Space Expeditionary Force at Corona
By John A. Tirpak

Top Air Force leaders will discuss an overhaul of the Air and Space
Expeditionary Force model at this week's Corona meeting, the first to be held
all virtually. The new AEF model, which may still get some revision before it is
rolled out, will seek to standardize the way forces are grouped and presented to
combatant commanders. It will have to dovetail with an emerging plan of flexible
deployment, where small forces will detach to austere operating locations to
operate for a time and then shift to new spot. The new AEF will probably roll
out during the tenure of USAF's new Chief of Staff.

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President to Governors: Deploy Guard, ‘Dominate the Streets’
By Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory

President Donald Trump announced June 1 that he would mobilize “all available
federal resources, civilian and military” to end the civil unrest sweeping the
country since the death of George Floyd, a black man who died after being
arrested by a white police officer in Minneapolis a week earlier. Trump said he
“strongly recommended” that governors deploy sufficient National Guard
forces to occupy the streets and stop violent protests. Earlier in the day, the
number of Guard troops called up to quell violence had swelled beyond 17,000 in
23 states and the District of Columbia. Among them are at least 375 Air Guard
members.

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Space Force Official Reflects on Crew Dragon Launch
By Rachel S. Cohen

A top space operations official outlined how America’s foray into commercial
space travel could shape the military’s work, on the heels of SpaceX’s
successful Crew Dragon launch to the International Space Station on May 30. NASA
and SpaceX launched two astronauts into orbit from U.S. soil for the first time
since 2011, but Maj. Gen. John Shaw, the Space Force’s space operations
commander, noted three significant differences from the space shuttle era: the
bureaucracy, spacecraft, and technology.

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Airmen Protected Airspace, Stood Alert as Crew Dragon Launched into Space
By Brian W. Everstine

As the SpaceX Crew Dragon rocketed into orbit carrying American astronauts on
May 30, a team of USAF aircraft circled the airspace to ensure it was safe and
rescue crews stood alert in case the mission did not go safely. “We all
recognized the historical significance of the mission,” said Capt. Nathan
Foltz, an instructor pilot with the 50th Aerial Refueling Squadron who flew a
KC-135 in support of the launch. “We were all pretty excited about the
opportunity to participate.” The Stratotanker refueled F-15s from the Florida
Air National Guard that protected the air space around NASA's Kennedy Space
Center. At the same time, Airmen with the 45th Operations Group-Detachment 3
stood alert in an operations center at Patrick Air Force Base, Fla.; along with
Airmen and aircraft standing by at Joint Base Charleston, S.C.; and Joint Base
Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii. The detachment’s pararescuemen, combat rescue
officers, aircrew flight equipment specialists, and HH-60 Pave Hawks, HC-130Js,
and C-17s were ready if the astronauts needed to be rescued.

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Hill F-35s Deploy to Al Dhafra
By Brian W. Everstine

F-35s and Airmen from Hill Air Force Base, Utah, deployed to the Middle East
recently for the third time in 12 months. The aircraft and Airmen from the 421st
Fighter Squadron touched down at Al Dhafra Air Base, United Arab Emirates, on
May 30, according to the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing. The deployed squadron
includes pilots and maintainers from both the Active-duty 421st and Reserve
466th Fighter Squadrons and Aircraft Maintenance Units. “The 421st Fighter
Squadron completed their stand up in December and now they’re our latest
squadron heading into the fight,” 388th Fighter Wing Commander Col. Steven
Behmer said in a release.

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Virtual Events: Flournoy Kicks Off CSIS’ Future Strategy Forum, and More
By Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory

Today, former Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Michèle Flournoy, the
co-founder and managing partner of WestExec Advisors, will deliver a keynote as
part of the Center for Strategic and International Studies' "Future Strategy
Forum: Cooperation and Conflict in the Time of Covid-19." Viewers can pose live
questions <a
href="[link removed]">here</a>,
and register for or watch a livestream of the event <a
href="[link removed]">here</a>.

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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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At Least 16 West Point Cadets Test COVID-19 Positive Before Grad Speech by President Trump

Sixteen West Point cadets have tested positive for COVID-19 after returning to
the campus for a commencement address by President Donald Trump scheduled for
June 13, according to sources on Capitol Hill. The affected cadets, a fraction
of the 850 who have returned to the campus since spring break in March, are
receiving treatment, but are not showing symptoms of the disease, Army Lt. Gen.
Darryl Williams, the West Point superintendent, said in an interview.

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Esper Encourages Governors to ‘Dominate the Battlespace’ to Put Down Nationwide Protests

Defense Secretary Mark Esper compared protests in cities across the country over
the weekend to “battlespace” in a White House call with governors on June 1,
urging leaders to overwhelm protestors to restore the peace.

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National Guard Involved in at Least Two Shootings, One Fatal, in Response to Protests throughout U.S.

A soldier with the Minnesota National Guard fired his weapon at a moving vehicle
on the night of May 31 in Minneapolis as street protests turned violent over the
death of a man in police custody, Army Maj. Gen. Jon Jensen, the state’s
adjutant general, said during a news briefing. The shooting in Minneapolis is at
least the second reported incident of a Guard member activated to help control
protests using a weapon. In Louisville, Ky., a National Guard member and a city
police officer were involved in a fatal shooting on June 1, Kentucky Gov. Andy
Beshear said in a statement.

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F-35 Costs Drop for Building Jets but Rise for Operating Them

The Pentagon’s costliest program, Lockheed Martin Corp.’s F-35, is starting
to look a little less expensive, with the latest estimate for development and
procurement down 7.1 percent to $397.8 billion.

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OPINION: Space Force Should Bring in Expertise from Other Military Services

“The Space Force should leverage the infrastructure and accessions pipeline
from the other services,” writes Maj. Joe Mroszczyk, president of the Army
Space Professionals Association, National Capital Region Chapter, who works at
U.S. Army Asymmetric Warfare Group.

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New Combat Rescue Helicopter Flies First Combined Test Mission with Army AH-64 Apache

The Air Force's HH-60W Combat Rescue Helicopter flew its first combined test
mission with the Army's AH-64 Apache aircraft on May 19, according to a notice
published June 1. The joint flight took place at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla.,
where the 413th Flight Test Squadron oversees developmental testing of the
Sikorsky-built CRH that's replacing the Air Force's legacy HH-60G Pave Hawk
fleet. The Army sent in the Apache combat helicopter for the event from Redstone
Army Test Center, Ala.

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Russian General Chafes at 'Provocative' NATO Drills

The Russian military on June 1 accused the U.S. and its NATO allies of
conducting “provocative” military drills near the nation's borders, a
statement that reflected simmering Russia-NATO tensions. Col.-Gen. Sergei
Rudskoi of the Russian General Staff said Russia has sent a formal letter to
NATO proposing to scale down each other's military activities for the period of
the coronavirus outbreak, but the alliance has stonewalled the offer.

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UN Report: Taliban, Al-Qaida 'Remain Close' Despite Deal with U.S.

The Taliban has maintained ties with al-Qaida despite signing an agreement with
the United States the Trump administration has touted as a commitment from the
insurgents to break from the terror group, according to a United Nations report
released June 1. The report, prepared by the U.N.’s Analytical Support and
Sanctions Monitoring Team, says the Taliban assured al-Qaida of continuing ties
even as it negotiated with the United States.

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One More Thing...
Moving the Museum: Local Huey Helicopter Group to Build New Museum Sooner Than Expected

The building that will house the National American Huey History Museum will
include space for a living history museum and maintenance and repair hangar for
the aircrafts, which first served during the Vietnam War. But construction on
the facility is happening much sooner than expected after its founding nonprofit
learned the home of their temporary museum facility will eventually be
demolished.

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