Air Force Magazine
Daily Report for June 9, 2020

View in your Web Browser: [link removed]
Edited by Amy McCullough and Rachel S. Cohen

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

[ Advertisement ]
[link removed]

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

DOD Rescinds Travel Restrictions in 44 Places in U.S., Overseas
By Rachel S. Cohen

The Defense Department is rescinding its travel restrictions for troops in
nearly four dozen places, though several appear to fall short of the
Pentagon’s requirements for freer movement. The directive allows some military
personnel to head to new jobs and temporary assignments, as well as for personal
travel outside of work. A stop-movement order was in place from mid-March
through May 26 to limit troops’ exposure to the coronavirus as it spread
around the world.

[link removed]

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

4 Injured When C-130 Overruns Runway in Iraq
By Amy McCullough

A C-130H caught fire after it overran a runway at Camp Taji, Iraq, on June 8 and
struck a wall. Four service members received "non-life-threatening injuries" and
are being treated at the base's medical facility, according to Combined Joint
Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve. The C-130 was deployed to the 386th Air
Expeditionary Wing at Ali Al Salem Air Base, Kuwait. Enemy activity is not
suspected, though the incident remains under investigation.

[link removed]

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

[ Advertisement ]
[link removed]

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

F-35A Landing Gear Malfunctions at Hill AFB
By Rachel S. Cohen

An F-35A fighter jet’s landing gear collapsed at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, on
June 8 when the aircraft was returning from a routine training flight, according
to a base spokesperson. The accident occurred at 10:45 a.m. local time. The
pilot, part of the 388th Fighter Wing, was able to exit the aircraft and is
undergoing a medical evaluation. Safety investigators will look into the
incident, Hill Public Affairs Director Thomas Mullican said in an email.
Training flights are paused until the runway reopens.

[link removed]

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

F-15E Proves Ready to Fly with New Nuclear Gravity Bomb
By Amy McCullough

The F-15E Strike Eagle is the first Air Force aircraft to prove it is compatible
with the refurbished B61-12 nuclear gravity bomb, Sandia National Laboratories
announced on June 8. “We were able to test the B61-12 through all operational
phases and we have extremely high confidence the B61-12 is compatible with the
F-15E Strike Eagle,” said Steven Samuels, a manager on the bomb program's team
at Sandia. Two flights at the Tonopah Test Range in Nevada marked the last of
six flight tests and wrapped up demonstrations with the full weapon system.

[link removed]

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

[ Advertisement ]
[link removed]

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

Unorthodox NDAA Season Begins in the Senate
By Rachel S. Cohen

Senators on June 8 started the monthslong process of crafting the annual defense
policy bill, trying to stick as close to their normal legislative duties as
possible despite the global coronavirus pandemic. House lawmakers will begin
their own markup sessions for the fiscal 2021 National Defense Authorization Act
on June 22. The NDAA will tackle the typical issues of what weapons and
platforms the armed forces should buy, emerging technology and policy areas to
study, and how to treat service members and their families fairly. Some language
will be more reactive to current events, such as a provision looking to ban live
nuclear testing that could be attached to the NDAA, or text to stop the military
from using force against Americans protesting under their First Amendment
rights.

[link removed]

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

Virtual Events: Roper on Mitchell Institute’s ‘Aerospace Nation,’ and More
By Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory

On June 9, Will Roper, assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition,
technology, and logistics, will appear on the "Aerospace Nation" series hosted
by AFA's Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies. Event video will tentatively
be posted on Mitchell's <a
href="[link removed]">website</a> and
<a href="[link removed]">YouTube
page</a> following the event.

[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]

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

OPINION: Acquiring the Air Force We Need

“Acquiring the Air Force We Need,” a new entry in the Mitchell Forum short
paper series by John "JV" Venable, assesses Air Force acquisition efforts based
on strategy, budget analysis, security threats, and historical lessons. Venable
asserts that after 28 years of downsizing, combat deployments, and funding
challenges the Air Force lacks the capacity to meet the challenges laid out in
the 2018 National Defense Strategy.

[link removed]

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

Space Development Agency to Deploy Hypersonic Missile Defense Satellites by 2022

The Space Development Agency is soliciting bids to integrate a missile-warning
sensor with a satellite bus and launch it to low Earth orbit by late 2021. The
June 5 solicitation is for a “tracking phenomenology experiment” to develop
sensor algorithms for a future missile detection network in space. Proposals are
due July 6.

[link removed]

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

‘We Came Right Up to the Edge.’ Military Says Active Duty Forces Almost Sent into D.C.

The almost 5,000 National Guard forces who were deployed to respond to protests
in the nation’s capital following the death of George Floyd will be heading
home, after their presence possibly avoided a constitutional crisis by
preventing the ordering of Active-duty troops to police the District of
Columbia.

[link removed]

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

House Democrats Reject Refusal of Esper and Milley to Testify

House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith (D-Wash.) and 30 fellow
Democrats say they “insist” Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Chairman of the
Joint Chiefs of Staff Army Gen. Mark Milley appear before their committee to
testify about the use of the U.S. military in quelling recent mass protests. The
committee says the Pentagon’s top officials do not plan to appear this week as
Smith had requested.

[link removed]

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

Air Force Should Consider New Combined ISR/Cyber/EW Command: Lt. Gen. Jack Shanahan

The Air Force should seriously consider standing up a new major command to
combine intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, electronic warfare, and
cyber operations for both the air and space domains, suggested the outgoing
director of the Defense Department’s Joint Artificial Intelligence Center, Lt.
Gen. Jack Shanahan, said during an AFA Mitchell Institute event.

[link removed]

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

AFWERX to Host JADC2 Demo Event for Government Users, Tech Scouts

AFWERX is scheduled to host a digital Joint All-Domain Command and Control
prototyping demonstration event during the weeks of June 15 and 22. The event,
stemming from the aforenamed “Multi-Domain Operations Challenge,” will bring
together 24 of the 30 invited companies with Air Force and government tech
scouts, end users, contracting officers, and leadership.

[link removed]

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

AFRL Targets Space Ops In New Orbits

The Air Force Research Laboratory’s next big space project will focus on
“nontraditional orbits,” says the lab’s head of the Space Vehicles
Directorate Col. Eric Felt, such as the area near the Moon and very low orbits
where satellites need constant boosting to keep from plummeting back to Earth.

[link removed]

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

Air Force Fleshes Out AFVentures Small Business Initiative

“AFVentures is our process to work with companies that — at least for now
— are mainly targeting commercial success,” Will Roper, the Air Force’s
assistant secretary for acquisition, technology, and logistics, said June 4
during a Dcode webinar. “It’s not perfect, but I think we’ve come a long
way.”

[link removed]

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

Rapid Acquisition & Sustainment

All the news and insight on the Air Force’s moves to streamline acquisition
and accelerate the future. Check out our comprehensive landing page for USAF
acquisition coverage.

[link removed]

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

Air Force to Host Virtual Industry Exchange for Tyndall

The 325th Fighter Wing and the Air Force Civil Engineer Center will host the
first Virtual Industry Exchange on June 12 to explore possible mixed-use
commercial development at Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla.

[link removed]

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

FBI Probes Possible Link between Air Force Sergeant Suspected in Ambush Killing of California Deputy and Officer's Murder

An Active-duty U.S. Air Force sergeant suspected of wielding a rifle and
improvised explosives in the ambush killing of a 38-year-old Northern California
sheriff's deputy is also being investigated for a possible connection to the
fatal shooting last month of a federal officer during a protest in Oakland,
Calif., multiple sources told ABC News on June 7.

[link removed]

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

One More Thing...
U.S. Military Could Lose Space Force Trademark to Netflix Series

Because of the common moniker, the United States Space Force's first battle
might be a trademark war—fought in court, rather than in space. Attorneys for
the U.S. military have done little to secure the Space Force name as a
registered trademark. Netflix, however, has been far more aggressive, and has
already locked down the rights to the name in several countries.

[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]

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