Air Force Magazine
Daily Report for June 24, 2020

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

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Pentagon’s Top 2 Technology Leaders Leaving for Private Sector
By John A. Tirpak

The DOD's top two research and engineering officials are leaving their posts
July 10 to pursue an opportunity in the private sector together, according to an
email the pair sent out to Pentagon colleagues June 23. Michael D. Griffin was
the first to occupy the newly re-minted post of director of research and
engineering, the fourth-highest Pentagon position, which was restructured by
Congress in 2016. His deputy, Lisa Porter, will be going with him, but they did
not disclose the nature of their new venture. It's not clear who will be the
acting USD/R&E until a replacement is nominated for the position, which requires
Senate confirmation.

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Lawmakers Seek Guardrails for RQ-4 Retirement
By Rachel S. Cohen

Congress is rekindling its fight with the Air Force over the fate of the RQ-4
Global Hawk fleet for fiscal 2021, as House lawmakers push back on plans to
retire some of the high-flying intelligence aircraft that could be vulnerable to
enemy fire. The Air Force wants to cut its Global Hawk fleet from 31 airframes
to 10, divesting mostly Block 30 variants and a few Block 20 airframes. It would
keep Block 40 drones, the most recent design. Members of the House Armed
Services tactical air and land forces subcommittee want to withhold half of the
funding for the Air Force’s future battle management network until certain
conditions are met for the RQ-4, according to the panel’s version of the 2021
defense policy bill that was approved June 23.

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House Panel Mostly Allows KC-10 Retirements, Blocks KC-135 Cuts
By Brian W. Everstine

A House panel plans to let the Air Force retire some of its KC-10s in a phased
approach while blocking cuts to the KC-135 fleet, with a caveat. The House Armed
Services seapower and projection forces subcommittee’s markup of the fiscal
2021 National Defense Authorization Act requires the Air Force to maintain a
minimum of 50 primary mission inventory KC-10 in 2021, 38 in 2022, and 26 in
2021. The bill also prohibits the service from retiring any KC-135s until at
least 2023. However, the markup says the ban on retirements does not apply to
“individual KC-135 aircraft that the Secretary of the Air Force determines, on
a case-by-case basis, to be no longer mission capable” because of mishaps,
damage, or “being uneconomical to repair.”

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House Committees Want Answers on F-35 Spare Parts, Sustainment
By Brian W. Everstine

Members of one House committee are calling for an investigation into Lockheed
Martin for its handling of F-35 spare parts, while another has crafted language
in its markup of the 2021 defense policy bill calling for an assessment of the
Joint Strike Fighter’s troubled sustainment system. Democratic members of the
House Oversight and Government Reform committee on June 23 announced they have
requested information from Lockheed on the company’s alleged “failure to
deliver spare parts” for the F-35 that were ready for installation.
Separately, the House Armed Services readiness subcommittee in its markup of the
fiscal 2021 defense policy bill is calling for an investigation into F-35
sustainment costs. Lockheed says it will work with the committees, and noted the
company has made several improvements aimed at reducing costs and improving
performance.

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Proposed NDAA Provision Would Protect Sexual Assault Survivors at USAFA
By Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory

A provision to the 2021 defense policy bill aims to create space between sexual
assault survivors and their alleged attackers at the U.S. Air Force Academy,
U.S. Military Academy, and the U.S. Naval Academy so the students can get the
chance to finish their studies. “Being able to complete your education without
fear of sexual assault is a basic civil right—one that has been denied to too
many military service academy cadets and midshipmen,” Rep. Jackie Speier
(D-Calif.), chair of the House Armed Services military personnel subcommittee,
told Air Force Magazine in a statement.

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House Legislators Push for More Detail in DOD Suicide Reporting
By Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory

The House Armed Services military personnel subcommittee wants to require the
Defense Department to include more detail in its annual military suicide reports
to Congress, including what steps military departments are taking to make it
feel less controversial for troops to ask for help if they're struggling with
issues of mental health or considering suicide.

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Congress Wants to Know SOCOM’s Plan to Counter New Threats, Reform Command Culture
By Alyk Russell Kenlan

Congress wants the Commander of U.S. Special Operations Command to provide a
plan on how to counter emerging threats from foreign countries while continuing
to fight terrorism and fix ethics and professionalism concerns in the Command.
While USSOCOM has grown to face new threats, Congress is concerned the command
is spread too thin and unable to maintain an advantage across all theaters.
USSOCOM needs to assess how many forces should shift from historical efforts
against terrorism to new operations regarding great power competition, according
to the House Armed Services intelligence and emerging threats subcommittee’s
version of the fiscal 2021 defense policy bill.

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Air Force Gets New Handgun
By Alyk Russell Kenlan

The Sig Sauer M18 handgun will replace the M9 pistol that has been in service
since 1985. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center’s Small Arms Program
Office purchased some 125,000 M18s from Sig Sauer for $22.1 million, and
delivery is slated to be complete by August 2022. The polymer M18s are lighter,
cheaper, and more repairable than the all-metal M9s, said Merrill Adkison, Small
Arms Program Office senior logistics manager, in an AFLCMC press release.

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Virtual Events: CNAS Hosts Fireside Chat with Raymond, and More
By Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory

On June 25, the Center for a New American Security will host a <a
href="[link removed]">fireside
chat</a> with Space Force Chief of Space Operations and U.S. Space Command boss
Gen. John W. Raymond, and the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments
will host a <a
href="[link removed]">virtual
rollout</a> for its new report entitled "Forging the Tools of 21st Century Great
Power Competition."

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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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Presidential Fleet to Receive Communication Upgrade

A team from the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center’s Presidential &
Executive Airlift Directorate has begun fleet-wide satellite communication
upgrades on aircraft supporting the President and other Executive Department
leaders.

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US Air Force Considers Ways to Recruit Commercial Pilots

The service’s Air Education and Training Command has not yet established new
career paths, but is exploring the idea of recruiting experienced commercial
pilots or civilians within commercial pilot training programmes, Air Combat
Command chief Gen. James M. Holmes said during an AFA Mitchell Institute
webinar.

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Air Force Surgeon General Authorizes 5-Year Shaving Waivers

In a memorandum dated June 18, 2020, Lt. Gen. Dorothy A. Hogg, Air Force Surgeon
General, authorized five-year shaving waivers for Air and Space professionals
diagnosed with Pseudofolliculitis Barbae, effective immediately. Driven by
feedback from the field, the change is intended to provide more time for skin to
heal and prevent a recurrence.

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Air Force Disputes Pentagon Report, Says No COVID-19 Cases in Space Force

The Pentagon announced June 22 that the newly launched Space Force had its first
handful of COVID-19 cases. But the Air Force is now disputing that report,
saying the number remains zero.

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Air Force Releases JADO Doctrine

The Department of the Air Force released the service’s first doctrine annex on
Joint All-Domain Operations June 1, outlining how the service expects to
maintain its competitive advantage. Annex 3-1, Department of the Air Force role
in JADO, builds on the doctrine note signed by Air Force Chief of Staff Gen.
David L. Goldfein in March, and the direction to deter and defeat adversaries
from the National Defense Strategy.

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Surge in Coronavirus Cases at Air Force Base on Guam Sparks Probe into Possible Violations

The Air Force is investigating whether any of the 35 airmen who tested positive
for coronavirus in less than two weeks at Guam's Andersen Air Force Base
violated mandatory protection measures, a general said June 22. All 35 belong to
the same unit whose members arrived on the island May 25, according to a
statement attributed to Brig. Gen. Gentry Boswell, commander of Andersen's 36th
Wing.

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Air Force to Take More Action at PFAS-Tainted Marsh, but Locals Skeptical

Clark's Marsh, a natural area near the former Wurtsmith Air Force Base in
Oscoda, Mich., so tainted with potentially harmful nonstick chemicals that
almost every living creature tested there shows excessive levels of them, will
get more attention from the U.S. Air Force. But area residents, frustrated by
years of inaction and slow results as Wurtsmith's legacy pollution has spread to
affect the surrounding community, aren't celebrating yet.

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U.S. Air Force to Support Counter Narcotics Operations In Caribbean

Two patrol aircraft, an E-3 Sentry (AWACS) and E-8 Joint STARS (JSTARS),
supported by two KC-135 Stratotanker aerial refueling aircraft, will fly
detection and monitoring missions in international airspace to help U.S. and
international law enforcement authorities disrupt and defeat transnational
criminal organizations trafficking illegal narcotics in the region.
Approximately 200 Airmen, including aircrews, maintenance technicians,
logisticians, and administrative personnel, will support the operation.

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One More Thing...
U.S. Repatriates Remains of Korean Service Members

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency conducted a repatriation ceremony with
South Korean officials at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, on June 23,
2020. The DPAA is turning over the remains of 140 South Korean service members
who died in the Korean War and have now been identified.

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