Air Force Magazine
Daily Report for Aug. 6, 2020

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

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Esper: Keeping Mildenhall Open Makes ‘Obvious Strategic Sense’
By Brian W. Everstine

RAF Mildenhall, U.K., will remain open and keep its American refueling and
special operations missions through the 2020s, reversing the Pentagon’s
original 2015 plan to consolidate bases and infrastructure across Europe. The
Pentagon last week announced broad plans to downsize the troop presence in
Germany, including keeping the 100th Air Refueling Wing and 352nd Special
Operations Wing at Mildenhall instead of moving them to Germany's Spangdahlem
Air Base in 2022. The 2015 European Infrastructure Consolidation plan was
unpopular and long targeted for change, Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper said
Aug. 5. He did not offer specifics on why it is strategically beneficial to
remain in the United Kingdom instead of Germany.

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Air Force Formalizes New Approach to SERE Training
By John A. Tirpak

Air Education and Training Command is officially moving forward with changes to
its survival, evasion, resistance, and escape course, after testing out new
approaches in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The Air Force wants to
sharply cut how long all students spend in the program, known as SERE, but
especially for those least likely to need the skills it teaches. Officials have
been discussing updates to SERE for more than a year. 19th Air Force commander
Maj. Gen. Craig D. Wills expects the changes will free up about 46,000 training
days and around $35 million each year. Fighter and bomber pilots will likely get
the 19-day course, flight attendants the five-day track, and mobility crews
about 12 days.

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Skirting Tradition: Air Force OKs Mess Dress Pants for Women
By Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory

Women serving in the Air Force and Space Force may now wear pants with their
mess dress uniforms, the Department of the Air Force announced Aug. 4.
Previously, these service members’ only option for mess dress bottoms was a
floor-length skirt. “We hear you,” Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force
Kaleth O. Wright said in a USAF release. “This is a bit of good news for some
of our teammates who’ve wanted this change for a while now. A small thing, but
one that I hope can go a long way to helping Airmen realize that we listen, we
hear, and we care.” These policy changes will be part of the next update to
the Air Force instruction that deals with dress and appearance.

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Loh Takes Over as Air National Guard Director
By Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory

Lt. Gen. Michael A. Loh received his third star and became the Air National
Guard’s 13th director in a July 28 ceremony at the Pentagon. He succeeds Lt.
Gen. L. Scott Rice, who retired Aug. 1, ANG spokesperson Lt. Col. Devin T.
Robinson told Air Force Magazine on Aug. 5. Loh is the former Colorado adjutant
general. Less than a week later, the District of Columbia Air National Guard’s
113th Wing welcomed a new commander as well.

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Whitehead Named National Guard Bureau Senior Enlisted Adviser
By Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory

National Guard Bureau Chief Gen. Daniel R. Hokanson tapped Chief Master Sgt.
Tony L. Whitehead as the bureau’s next senior enlisted adviser, NGB announced
Aug. 5. Whitehead, who has spent nearly 40 years in uniform, succeeds Command
Sgt. Maj. Christopher Kepner in the role. Whitehead most recently pulled double
duty as command chief master sergeant for the Continental U.S. NORAD Region and
Air Forces Northern.

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The Goldfein Years
By John A. Tirpak

Gen. David L. Goldfein ends his tenure as USAF's 21st Chief of Staff today,
handing uniformed leadership of the service to Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. In "The
Goldfein Years," appearing in our July/August issue, Editorial Director John A.
Tirpak talks to the outgoing chief about his legacy in the job, particularly
Goldfein's spearheading of Joint All-Domain Command and Control, and his efforts
to ensure it continues beyond his advocacy. He also discusses pushing more
authority into the hands of squadron commanders; his initial reluctance to bring
on the Space Force as a separate service; efforts to get more blue-suiters into
joint command positions; laboring to smooth relations with Capitol Hill, and the
necessity of staking USAF requirements with "The Force We Need." Goldfein also
offers how he thinks the Air Force will see permanent changes as a result of the
nation's struggle with the COVID-19 pandemic.

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

Today, the Air Force Association's Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies will
present a Nuclear Deterrence Forum with Ilan Berman, senior vice president of
the American Foreign Policy Council. 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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In New Interview, Trump Talks Afghanistan, Russia, and More

In a recent interview aired on “Axios on HBO,” President Donald J. Trump
spoke with Axios National Political Correspondent Jonathan Swan about topics
including the COVID-19 crisis, U.S. foreign policy in Afghanistan, China, and
Russia.

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Gen. David L. Goldfein, Bypassed to Be Trump's Top Military Adviser, Retires

Goldfein, 60, will step down as Chief of Staff of the Air Force and retire on
Aug. 6. He will be replaced by Gen. Charles Brown Jr., a fellow fighter pilot
who has commanded Pacific Air Forces for the past two years, during an Air Force
ceremony at Joint Base Andrews, Md.

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Watch: ‘Aerospace Nation: AFWIC Global Futures Report’

AFA's Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies hosted an "Aerospace Nation" talk
on Aug. 5 featuring the authors of the Air Force Warfighting Integration
Capability (AFWIC) Global Futures Report. The report lays out four scenarios to
shape how the Defense Department and the Department of the Air Force can think
of national security in unconventional, perhaps unlikely ways. Lt. Col. Jake
Sotiriadis, AFWIC’s chief of strategic foresight and futures, and others
discussed how the U.S. Air Force can adopt a flexible, forward-looking strategy
and how that helps the service pursue the resources it needs.

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Red Flag Is Back in Business as Two of the Big Air Combat Exercises Kick Off Simultaneously

Red Flag at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., and Red Flag-Alaska at Eielson Air
Force Base, Alaska, both started on Aug. 3, 2020, albeit with a smaller than
usual numbers of participating aircraft. It marks the first of these major
training events since the huge Red Flag 20-2 was halted early in March after a
visiting NATO airman was diagnosed with COVID-19.

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DOD Space Agency’s Programs Don’t Have to Be Perfect but Have to Be Fast

The Pentagon’s new space agency is working to develop a network of satellites
in low Earth orbit to serve as the eyes and ears of military forces in the
field. While typically it would take the Defense Department a decade to field
such systems, the Space Development Agency plans to have satellites in orbit
within two years. Derek Tournear, director of the SDA, said the agency selected
as its motto “semper citius”—Latin for “always faster”—to emphasize
the idea that putting good-enough capabilities in the hands of troops soon is
preferable to delivering the perfect solution too late.

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Senate Committee Approves NORTHCOM, SPACECOM Nominees

The Senate Armed Services Committee on Aug. 4 approved the president's nominees
to run U.S. Northern Command and U.S. Space Command.

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US Missile Defenses Are About to Level Up

Laser-armed Strykers, new Eastern European batteries, and sea-based interceptors
are all coming in the next two years, Pentagon officials say.

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NRO Taps A.I. for Future ‘Hybrid Architecture’

Artificial intelligence and machine learning will be crucial to NRO’s efforts
to use large constellations of small satellites in the future to fill the huge
appetite within the Intelligence Community and the military services for remote
sensing data, Director Chris Scolese says.

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DOD CIO Attempts to Remove Non-Technical Obstacles to Digital Transformation

For Defense Department Chief Information Officer Dana Deasy, digital
transformation was never just about the cloud. This is why making the Air
Force’s dev/sec/ops program, known as Platform One, a DOD-wide,
enterprise-wide service is an important milestone.

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Navy, Marines Locate Sunken AAV, Human Remains

The Navy and Marine Corps identified the location of the amphibious assault
vehicle that sank off the coast of San Clemente Island last week using a
remotely operated search and rescue system.

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Mobility Airmen Transport Humanitarian Aid to Nicaragua

Airmen assigned to the 22nd Airlift Squadron delivered equipment and supplies to
Managua, Nicaragua, July 26 during a Denton Program mission. The Denton Program
is an unfunded government program that allows non-government organizations to
donate humanitarian aid for movement by the U.S. Air Force on training missions.

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Lawmakers Want Probe into $7.2 Billion Military Household Goods Shipping Contract

Two congressional Republicans are calling for investigations into U.S.
Transportation Command's selection of American Roll-On Roll-Off Carrier Group,
or ARC, to run the Defense Department's household goods moving contract.

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Northeast Ohio Family Reunited with Medals of Air Force Pilot Who Went MIA during Vietnam War

Fielding Featherston III grew up in Wickliffe, Ohio, and joined the U.S. Air
Force in 1963. While flying in a reconnaissance mission over Laos in 1969,
Captain Featherston’s plane went down. His remains were never found.

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One More Thing...
Iran Showcases Shahed 181 and 191 Drones during “Great Prophet 14” Exercise

The drones, reverse engineered from the captured U.S. stealthy RQ-170, were
filmed during the exercise which culminated in the attack on the fake aircraft
carrier.

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