Air Force Magazine
Daily Report for Aug. 28, 2020

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Edited by Amy McCullough with Brian W. Everstine, Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory and John A. Tirpak

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Barksdale Escapes Severe Hurricane Damage, Guard Rallies for Storm Support
By John A. Tirpak and Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory

Barksdale Air Force Base, La., suffered light damage and no deaths or injuries
due to Hurricane Laura, which passed close to the base early on Aug. 27. Most of
the base's B-52 bombers evacuated to Minot Air Force Base, N.D., in the day and
night before the storm struck. Damage at Barksdale seemed to be confined to
downed trees, power outage, shallow flooding, and some wind damage on buildings.
A more definitive assessment will be made in the coming days. Col. Matthew G.
Rippen, commander of Louisiana’s 159th Fighter Wing, announced the state was
activating its entire National Guard force in an Aug. 26 Facebook video. As of
the afternoon of Aug. 27, 480 Airmen from the New Orleans-based wing had been
mobilized in response to the storm.

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Esper Warns of China’s ‘Self-Serving’ Behavior During Pacific Trip
By Brian W. Everstine

Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper continued his verbal offensive against China,
accusing the country of “self-serving” behavior and a disregard for
international laws, the same day the Chinese military fired medium-range
ballistic missiles during a military exercise. China is undergoing an aggressive
modernization plan to “achieve a world-class military by the middle of the
century,” which will embolden Beijing’s expansionist plans and provocative
behavior, particularly in the disputed South and East China Seas and “anywhere
else the Chinese government has deemed critical to its interests,” Esper said
during an Aug. 26 speech at the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for
Security Studies in Honolulu, Hawaii. The trip comes as China is showing some of
its capabilities in a large-scale exercise, which the Pentagon called
“counterproductive to easing tensions and maintaining stability.”

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Space Force Details OCP Uniform Requirements
By Brian W. Everstine

Members of the newly created military service focused on war fighting in space
will officially wear a camouflage pattern developed for war in Afghanistan. The
Department of the Air Force on Aug. 24 released a memorandum stating that the
Operational Camouflage Pattern is mandatory for all members of the Space Force
beginning April 1, the Air Force’s date to finally phase out the Airman Battle
Uniform in favor of the OCP pattern. Space Force members will wear “Space
Blue” name tape, Space Force badge, and grade insignia, with a full-color U.S.
flag, according to the memorandum. Space Force occupational badges are
mandatory, with optional occupational and qualification badges and patches.
“Our uniforms are the first visual cue of our identity as a service,” Chief
Master Sgt. Roger A. Towberman, senior enlisted advisor of the Space Force, said
in the release.

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USAF Eases Fitness Demands on Airmen Who Have Had a Miscarriage
By Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory

An Air Force Instruction published earlier this month aims to ensure that Airmen
who suffer miscarriages are given time to recover and get back into fighting
shape before taking their next fitness assessment. These Airmen weren’t
previously guaranteed a minimum grace period before they were forced to take
these tests. “The changes are intended to make sure Airmen and Space
Professionals who are pregnant, recently delivered, or experience a miscarriage
are taken care of and it helps standardize the process for our medical
personnel,” wrote Lou Burton, a spokesperson with the Air Force Surgeon
General’s Office, in an Aug. 27 email to Air Force Magazine.

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

On Aug. 31, the Air Force Association's Mitchell Institute will host a new
installment of its “Aerospace Nation” series featuring Maj. Gen. Mark E.
Weatherington, who commands Eighth Air Force and the Joint-Global Strike
Operations Center. Event video will tentatively be posted to the think tank's <a
href="[link removed]">website</a> and
<a href="[link removed]">YouTube
page</a> afterward.

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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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DOD Crowdsources Efforts to Promote Diversity, Inclusion

Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper asked for the process as part of his Board on
Diversity and Inclusion. The board—chaired by Air Force Secretary Barbara M.
Barrett—wants input from service members and DOD civilians, and crowdsourcing
is one tool they will use.

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Air Force Considers Allowing Ponytails, Other Hairstyles for Women

During a Q&A segment during the Air Force Sergeants' virtual symposium, Chief of
Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. teased the possibility of allowing women to wear
ponytails in uniform.

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Air Force Looking to Buy 12 Commercial Spy Drones for Partner Nations

The Air Force is considering purchasing a dozen commercial-off-the-shelf,
intelligence-gathering drones for unidentified international partners, according
to a sources-sought notice released on Aug. 26.

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Drone Maker General Atomics Lays off Hundreds

The company was dealt a blow earlier this year when the Air Force announced it
would stop buying the MQ-9 Reaper in fiscal 2021, at least four years earlier
than expected. And now the future of the program remains uncertain, with the Air
Force looking at options to replace the MQ-9 Reaper.

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REPORT—‘The Missile Threat: A Taxonomy for Moving Beyond Ballistic’

“Using old classifications, we risk mischaracterizing the threats missiles
pose and pursuing incorrect and ineffective ways to mitigate them,” write Sam
Wilson, a policy analyst with the Aerospace Corporation’s Center for Space
Policy and Strategy, and Steven Dunham, senior project leader for international
launch systems at the organization. “The new approach offers a more holistic,
integrated, and adaptive way of understanding this rapidly and continuously
evolving ecosystem.”

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US Space Force Tests New Anti-Jamming Capability

The U.S. Space Force has tested a new anti-jamming capability that will make the
military’s main satellite communications constellation more resilient than
ever, the Space and Missile Systems Center announced Aug. 26.

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OPINION: In a Robot War, Kill the Humans

Even if advances in robotics mean fewer humans on the battlefield, the fight
will increasingly focus on those that remain, writes Zak Kallenborn, a
national/homeland security consultant, specializing in unmanned systems, drone
swarms, homeland security, weapons of mass destruction, and WMD terrorism.

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Acquisition Chief to Host AFVentures-Focused 'Ask Me Anything'

Air Force acquisition chief Will Roper and AFWERX Director Col. Nate Diller will
co-host the live, virtual event, which will give Airmen, space professionals,
industry partners, the American public, and the press a chance to directly
engage with them on all things AFVentures.

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Sources: Sailor Under Investigation for Arson in USS Bonhomme Richard Ship Fire

Multiple sources with close ties to Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS)
told ABC 10News that investigators determined the July 12 fire may have been set
intentionally. Investigators identified a sailor as an arson suspect in their
probe, sources said.

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VA Launches New Patient Scheduling Tool as Part of Records Modernization Project

The launch of the resource—deemed the Centralized Scheduling Solution, or
CSS—is considered by those involved to be both a major milestone and crucial
component of the agency’s weighty, ongoing electronic health record
modernization effort to leverage a unified commercial system with the Pentagon.

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One More Thing...
The Mysterious Cold War Case of Unidentified Aircraft Descending On Loring Air Force Base

When it comes to cases involving unidentified flying objects, few are as well
documented or involve as many people as what occurred at Loring in 1975.

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