Air Force Magazine
Daily Report for Sept. 21, 2020

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Edited by Amy McCullough with Rachel S. Cohen, Brian W. Everstine, Jennifer Hlad and Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory

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Air Force to Incorporate Study of Potential Adversaries into BMT, PME
By Brian W. Everstine

Airmen, from basic military training to graduate studies at Air University, need
to increase their study and understanding of potential adversaries, such as
China and Russia, to better understand the Air Force’s place in the world and
the risk of potential conflicts, the service’s senior uniformed leaders said.
All leaders need to be able to talk to their Airmen “and go here’s what
you’re doing, and why it’s important,” Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q.
Brown Jr. said Sept. 16 during the Air Force Association’s virtual Air, Space
& Cyber Conference. “You start talking about great power competition, we need
to understand how our adversary thinks. We can count the number of platforms,
[but] we need to understand how they think. What makes them tick? What drives
their intent?”

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Soldier’s Death Spurs Harder Look at Military Sexual Assault Across DOD
By Rachel S. Cohen

The Air Force has more to do to lead by example, and to create a culture where
people feel comfortable discussing sexual assault and other forms of violence
with their superiors, service leadership said. The death of Army Spc. Vanessa
Guillén, a 20-year-old Soldier who disappeared from Fort Hood, Texas, in April,
has reverberated across the Pentagon. A motive is still unknown, though the 3rd
Cavalry Regiment launched an investigation into claims that Guillén was
sexually harassed before her death. “Empowering leaders at every level to be
able to help create a culture and a climate where Airmen are willing to talk and
share what is going on in their lives, maybe that would have helped the Vanessa
Guillén situation,” Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force JoAnne S. Bass
said at the Air Force Association’s virtual Air, Space & Cyber Conference.

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New Ops Group Tries a Better Approach to Cyber Warfare
By Rachel S. Cohen

A new 867th Cyberspace Operations Group stood up at Joint Base San Antonio,
Texas, on Sept. 18 to streamline the Air Force’s cyber offense and defense, as
well as its intelligence collection in the digital realm. “We now have the
ability to focus on two distinct mission sets,” Col. Lauren Courchaine,
commander of the parallel 67th Cyberspace Operations Group, told Air Force
Magazine Sept. 17. “While they're still both focusing on offensive cyberspace
operations, [group Commander Col. Travis Howell] ... has the ability to truly
focus on the cyber national mission force and the prosecution of malicious cyber
actors.” While Howell handles those units, Courchaine can focus on what
combatant commands around the world need, like protecting air defense systems
from electronic attack.

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AFRL Eyes Multiple Experiments as Next Space ‘Vanguards’
By Rachel S. Cohen

Military researchers are eyeing multiple projects that could become the next
Space Force “vanguard” programs, the high-profile ventures that receive
extra money and attention from across the Department of the Air Force. The
“Precise” initiative and the Cislunar Highway Patrol System, which were
recently selected in an internal competition for more attention, are top
candidates, said Col. Eric J. Felt, who runs the Air Force Research
Laboratory’s space vehicles directorate. More may emerge through avenues like
the new WARTECH planning summit, which scopes out the most promising research
projects for further investment. The final selection is slated for January 2021.

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Aviano, Ramstein Airmen Head to Bulgaria for Thracian Viper 20
By Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory

Airmen from Aviano Air Base, Italy, and Ramstein Air Base, Germany, will train
with their counterparts from Bulgaria, Greece, and Romania as part of exercise
Thracian Viper 20, the 31st Fighter Wing said Sept. 18. The exercise, which is
being held Sept. 18-25 at Graf Ignatievo Air Base, Bulgaria, looks to boost
participating air forces’ “operational capacity, capability, and
interoperability” with its host country, a wing release stated. “During the
exercise, U.S. and Bulgarian air forces will conduct training enhancing our
ability to rapidly deploy to remote locations and take command and control of
the region,” U.S. Air Forces in Europe-Air Forces Africa wrote in a release
issued the same day.

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Department of the Air Force Enhances Support to Nursing Mothers
By Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory

The Department of the Air Force recently beefed up its support for its uniformed
and civilian USAF and Space Force personnel who breastfeed. A recent memo, which
updates USAF’s lactation policy introduced last year, immediately requires
unit commanders to set aside “a private area” where nursing mothers can pump
and properly store breast milk, a Sept. 17 release about the measure said. The
updated guidance also requires commanders and bosses to ensure these women are
given lactation breaks that are actually long enough for them to get the job
done.

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Building the Base of the Future
By Jennifer Hlad

Nearly two years after Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla., was slammed by Hurricane
Michael, leaders there are working not just to rebuild that base, but to create
a “base of the future” with a focus on resiliency, sustainability, and smart
technology that can serve as a model for the entire Department of Defense.
“Innovation is at the very core of what we’re doing, not only in the smart
technologies that we’ve implemented, but in the agile process, the ‘how’
of building the base we need, not the base we had,” Brig. Gen. Patrice A.
Melancon, executive director of the Tyndall Program Management Office, said
during a panel discussion as part of AFA’s virtual Air, Space & Cyber
Conference.

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

Today, the Air Force Association’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies
will host a Nuclear Deterrence Forum featuring Brad Roberts, director of the
Center for Global Security Research at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
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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DefAero Report Daily Podcast: AFA Wrap-up

On the Sept. 17 edition of the DefAero Report Daily Podcast, retired USAF Lt.
Gen. David A. Deptula, dean of AFA’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies;
Todd Harrison of the Center for Strategic and International Studies; Air Force
Magazine Editorial Director John A. Tirpak; and Steve Trimble of Aviation Week
and Space Technology discussed key takeaways from AFA’s virtual Air, Space &
Cyber Conference.

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OPINION: Esper's Convenient Lie

“The Defense Secretary's claim that the two decades of countering violent
extremism left the U.S. under-prepared for a near-peer fight doesn’t hold
water,” writes Paul Scharre, senior fellow and director of the technology and
national security program at the Center for a New American Security.

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Iran Vows ‘Hit’ on All Involved in US Killing of Top General

The chief of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard threatened Sept. 19 to go
after everyone who had a role in a top general’s January killing during a U.S.
drone strike in Iraq. The guard’s website quoted Gen. Hossein Salami as
saying, “Mr. Trump! Our revenge for martyrdom of our great general is obvious,
serious, and real.”

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Yes, the United States Did Draw Up a Plan to Drop 80 Nuclear Weapons on North Korea

In 2017, a war between North Korea and the United States was “much closer than
anyone would know,” President Donald J. Trump claims.

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General Atomics Wins Up to $7.4 Billion to Supply MQ-9 Reapers

The Air Force has awarded General Atomics an indefinite-delivery,
indefinite-quantity contract that enables the service and its foreign military
sale partners to purchase up to 36 MQ-9 Reapers annually over the next five
years. The "Agile Reaper Enterprise Solution" deal is worth up to $7.4 billion
and intended to stabilize costs and reduce the delivery schedule by about 35
percent via a streamlined contracting process, the Air Force confirmed Sept. 17.

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What’s Next for the US Air Force’s Next Generation Air Dominance Program

Aviation Week editors discuss the roots of the service’s Next Generation Air
Dominance program, its use of digital engineering to speed development, and some
of the obstacles it may face in the future.

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Space Development Agency Praised as Change Agent in Pentagon Procurement

“The core challenge of the national security space architecture is not really
engineering, it’s really culture and acquisition,” said Telesat executive
Don Brown.

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Northrop Grumman Receives Award for Evolved Strategic SATCOM Program

Northrop Grumman Corporation has been awarded a contract by the Space Force for
the rapid prototyping phase of the Evolved Strategic SATCOM program to develop a
modernized strategic communications space segment with enhanced resilience and
cybersecurity capabilities. During the rapid prototyping phase, the company will
deliver the preliminary design for ESS’ space segment and a ground-based
demonstration.

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Air Force Academy General’s Fight Against Racism Resonates

“We have to acknowledge we have racism, we have bias,” Lt. Gen. Jay B.
Silveria said. “We have to find it and we have to fix it.”

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Pentagon Unveils New Religious Liberty Policies after Pressure from Conservative Lawmakers

The Pentagon has issued new guidance on religious liberty within the
military—following pressure from Republican lawmakers to “prioritize
protecting the rights and freedoms of service members” in the wake of the
COVID-19 pandemic. While critics of the revised regulation say it will encourage
military superiors to push their religious beliefs on subordinates and fellow
service members, proponents of the rule have hailed it as a victory for
religious liberty.

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New Emails Reveal the Chaotic Final Days of Brett Crozier’s Command of the USS Theodore Roosevelt

The situation was so dire on the USS Theodore Roosevelt that by March 30 leaders
on the coronavirus-stricken aircraft carrier found themselves “inside a
tornado fighting a war,” according to emails recently released to Task &
Purpose by the Navy. The Navy handed over 200 pages of email communications in
response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed by Task & Purpose in
April. More than 1,000 additional pages remain under review, Navy officials
said.

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Sen. Richard Blumenthal Cries Havoc, Wants to Let Slip More US-Raised Dogs of War

What would it take for the U.S. military to “buy American” when it comes to
military working dogs? That’s what Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) wants to
know.

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One More Thing...
State Department, Officials Accidentally Feature Navy Planes in Air Force Birthday Messages

Sept. 18 was the Air Force's 73rd birthday. To celebrate, top officials and
government agencies posted photos commemorating ... the U.S. Navy.

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