Air Force Magazine
Daily Report for July 13, 2020

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

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Most Air Force Recruits with COVID-19 Show No Symptoms
By Rachel S. Cohen

The Air Force is relying on testing early and often to curb the new
coronavirus's spread at Basic Military Training, even as the majority of
recruits who test positive are asymptomatic. About 200 Airmen in BMT have tested
positive for the coronavirus in the past four months, totaling around 2 percent
of the Air Force's BMT recruits, 2nd Air Force Commander Maj. Gen. Andrea D.
Tullos said. Sixty percent of those who tested positive showed no symptoms
while infected, a staggering number compared to the Army, which reported just
1.8 percent of asymptomatic cases among basic combat trainees. All infected
Airmen have returned to training without needing hospitalization.

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Air Force Academy Confirms New COVID-19 Cases
By Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory

An undisclosed number of Air Force Academy cadets who went back to campus over
the summer—including some from the class of 2024—have tested positive for
the new coronavirus, the school confirmed to Air Force Magazine on July 8. If
any cadets test positive for or show symptoms of COVID-19, or if they had
contact with someone carrying the virus, USAFA responds in accordance with the
academy's quarantine and isolation plan, “with guidance from our public health
professionals,” USAFA spokesperson Mike Slater said. “We expected positive
cases and are carrying out our plan,” he said. Details of the plan were not
releasable by press time. However, a request for proposals issued by the school
on July 6—which was first reported by the Colorado Springs Indy—suggests
that the plan may involve moving some Cadets to area hotels in order to create
more social distance within living spaces.

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Drug Busts Grow as More Aircraft Deploy to SOUTHCOM
By Brian W. Everstine

U.S. Southern Command has seized more than 122 tons of cocaine since April as
America uses more surveillance aircraft to crack down on regional
counternarcotics operations, Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper said July 10. The
federal government has deployed 75 percent more intelligence-collection and
target-tracking planes, like the Air Force E-3 AWACS, E-8C Joint STARS, and
MC-12 Liberty, to SOUTHCOM in the past three months than it has in typical drug
interdiction missions. They are accompanied by 65 percent more Navy and Coast
Guard ships than normally participate in drug busts, Esper said during a visit
to SOUTHCOM headquarters in Florida with President Donald J. Trump.

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Japan’s F-35 Buy Advances to Congress as Tokyo Presses Ahead with ‘F-X’
By John A. Tirpak

Japan has gotten a green light from the State Department to buy 105 more F-35s
in two variants, which will make that country the largest operator of the
Lightning II outside the U.S. The news comes the same week Japan's defense
ministry informed the country's legislature that it will move ahead with its own
“sixth generation” fighter, which bears a strong resemblance to the Air
Force F-22.

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General Electric’s F-15EX Engine Contract Includes 19 Powerplants
By John A. Tirpak

The Air Force's first batch of engines for the F-15EX will number 19
powerplants; 16 installs and three spares, Air Force Materiel Command said. The
number of engines was withheld when the engine contract to General Electric was
announced last month. The three spares constitute a 20 percent spare factor,
which is lower than in previous F-15 buys due to increasing engine reliability.

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Lewis to Perform Duties of Undersecretary for Research and Engineering
By John A. Tirpak

The Pentagon is expected to name the acting undersecretary of defense for
research and engineering as early as July 13, with the department’s current
director of defense, research, and engineering for modernization to perform the
duties in the interim. Michael D. Griffin, who held the position since December
2017, stepped down, with his last day in the Pentagon on July 10. For now, Mark
J. Lewis will be “performing the duties of” the undersecretary, but will not
be “acting,” a Pentagon spokesman said.

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Virtual Events: Rubin on Mitchell’s Nuclear Deterrence Forum, and More
By Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory

On July 14, the Air Force Association’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace
Studies will host a Nuclear Deterrence Forum featuring Uzi Rubin, former
director of the Israel Missile Defense Organization. Event video will
tentatively be posted on Mitchell’s <a
href="[link removed]">website</a>
and <a href="[link removed]">YouTube
page</a> after the event.

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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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17 Sailors, Four Others Injured in Three-Alarm Fire Aboard USS Bonhomme Richard at Naval Base San Diego

A three-alarm fire onboard the amphibious assault ship Bonhomme Richard injured
17 sailors and four civilians the morning of July 12 while multiple agencies
battled the blaze throughout the day. The cause and location of the blaze and
the extent of damage were not known as of the afternoon of July 12. The Navy
declined to discuss the fire’s origin pending an investigation.

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Walter Reed Scientists Use Artificial Intelligence to Screen Drugs to Potentially Treat COVID-19

The Experimental Therapeutics Branch accelerated its research by turning to
machine learning, artificial intelligence, and high-performance computing.

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Fewer Pilots Took Aviator Bonuses in 2019

According to statistics released by the Air Force Friday, 285 manned pilots last
year accepted aviation bonuses worth tens or even hundreds of thousands of
dollars, in exchange for service commitments of up to 12 years under the
Aviation Bonus Program. That is down from the 330 pilots of manned aircraft who
accepted the bonuses in fiscal 2018.

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After 110 Years of Aviation, Navy Get Its First Black Female Fighter Pilot

The milestone makes Lt. j.g. Madeline Swegle, a U.S. Naval Academy graduate, the
first known Black woman who has been certified for the TACAIR mission, and she
could go on to fly fighters such as the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, EA-18G Growler
or F-35C Joint Strike Fighter.

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Maj. Gen. Reed Assumes Command of Third Air Force

Maj. Gen. Randall Reed assumed command of 3rd Air Force in a June 24 ceremony at
Ramstein Air Base, Germany.

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The Defense Bill Could Rewrite How the US Does Cyber Defense

A proposed new office would help private entities and the government respond
together to major hacks.

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American Surveillance Aircraft Have Been Flooding into the Airspace South of Taiwan

For the past three weeks, there has been a big increase in U.S. military air
activity in the Bashi Channel between Taiwan and the Philippines.

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93rd Air Refueling Squadron Returns Home after 7-Month Deployment

Team Fairchild welcomed over 76 Airmen from the 92nd Maintenance Group and 92nd
Operations Group after returning from a seven-month deployment July 1, making
it one of the longest deployments the KC-135 Stratotanker has ever seen.

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US Air Force Considers Adopting the Army’s Future Vertical Lift Program

The U.S. Air Force is keeping an eye on the Army’s next-generation rotorcraft
program, which could fill a gap for agile airlift that might be needed in a
fight against Russia and China, an Air Force general said July 9.

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Long-Range All-Domain Prompts Roles & Missions Debate

"It's ridiculous, to be quite candid. It is encroachment on roles and missions,"
says retired USAF Lt. Gen. David Deptula, dean of AFA’s Mitchell Institute for
Aerospace Studies, about Army plans for super long-range weapons that rival the
capabilities of Air Force combat aircraft.

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DOD Knew K2 Troops Were Exposed to Cancer-Causing Toxins; VA Continues to Deny Care

Recently declassified Defense Department documents show the Pentagon knew troops
were exposed to multiple toxins and hazards that have led to hundreds of cancer
cases and dozens of dead veterans after deploying to Uzbekistan in the early
days of the War on Terror. The Veterans Affairs Department is denying most of
them care and disability.

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One More Thing...
721 AMXS, 305 MXS Restore C-17 after Lightning Strike

The 721st Aircraft Maintenance Squadron facilitated a maintenance recovery team
from the 305th Maintenance Squadron at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J.,
to remove and replace components of a C-17 Globemaster III that calls Joint Base
Charleston, S.C., home on July 7.

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