Air Force Magazine
Daily Report for Oct. 19, 2020
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Edited by Amy McCullough with Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory and John A. Tirpak
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USAF, Family Settle Wrongful Death Lawsuit
By Amy McCullough
The widow of a contractor killed during a friendly fire training incident at the
White Sands Missile Range in 2017 sued the Air Force for $24.6 million in
damages. The family's lawyer told Military.com they settled for less than that,
saying only it was “enough to take care of them for the rest of their
lives.” Retired Master Sgt. Charles Holbrook, a former tactical air control
party Airman, was killed on Jan. 31, 2017, when an inexperienced F-16 student
pilot strafed the wrong target during a live fire nighttime training mission,
hitting Holbrook in the head with a 20mm round from his Vulcan cannon and
blowing up a nearby civilian rental car, according to court documents filed in
the United States District Court of New Mexico earlier this year. A military
member also was injured, according to the accident investigation board report.
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Space Force Grappling With How to Define Readiness
By John A. Tirpak
The U.S. Space Force is trying to figure out what “readiness” means for
space operations, seeking to sever itself from the Air Force’s aircraft- and
deployment-centric model. The Air Force’s Air and Space Expeditionary model
doesn’t work as a measure of Space Force readiness, Lt. Gen. B. Chance
Saltzman, deputy chief of space operations for operations, cyber, and nuclear,
said in an AFA Mitchell Institute virtual event Oct. 16. Readiness assessments
“never had the same flavor, because we never had to pick up and go somewhere
and join in a fight,” he said. Today, it boils down to, “do you have enough
people to man your consoles 24 hours a day? That is one small, but important
piece, of what readiness is” for Space Force.
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X-37 Lessons Learned Could Help Space Force Define Future Capabilities
By John A. Tirpak
The Space Force is already thinking about future spaceplanes and other platforms
that will succeed those now in service, though the near-term focus will be on
making existing capabilities more resilient, Lt. Gen. B. Chance Saltzman, deputy
chief of space operations for operations, cyber, and nuclear, said in an AFA
Mitchell Institute virtual event Oct. 16. The two X-37B reusable unmanned
spaceplanes that have collectively amassed years in orbit conducting operational
and technological experiments will likely not be replaced with something just
like them, Saltzman said. Although lessons learned from those systems will
“live forever,” the Space Force is looking for a brand new capability moving
forward.
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USAF Looks to Buy Female Body Armor for Guard, Reserve Security Forces
By Amy McCullough
The Air Force wants to procure up to 2,000 more Female Body Armor units for Air
National Guard and Air Force Reserve security forces Airmen. The modular,
scalable body armor system is designed specifically for women’s bodies, and
will protect female defenders against fragmenting munitions, handgun, and small
arms threats, with a four-tiered system that allows protection levels to be
tailored to different missions, according to a federal contract announcement.
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Virtual Events: Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Brown on ‘Aerospace Nation,’ and More
By Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory
On Oct. 21, AFA's Mitchell Institute will host an installment of its
“Aerospace Nation” series featuring Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q.
Brown Jr. The think tank will post event video on its <a
href="[link removed]">website</a> and
<a href="[link removed]">YouTube
page</a> after the live 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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Thousands of US Troops Will Remain in Afghanistan Past Christmas
National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien on Oct. 16 said that some 2,500 U.S.
troops will remain in Afghanistan beyond Christmas, seeking to clarify a series
of mixed messages from senior Trump Administration officials and dismissing a
recent tweet from the President.
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DOD Releases Quarterly Suicide Report for Second Quarter of 2020
The report summarizes suicide counts and annual rates for the Active component,
Reserve, and National Guard.
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The First Space Force Recruits Are Headed to Basic Military Training
The Space Force may not yet have its own boot camp, but the service's very first
direct enlistees are about to head to entry-level training nonetheless. Chief
Master Sgt. Roger Towberman, senior enlisted leader of the Space Force, said
seven new recruits will head to basic military training at Joint Base San
Antonio-Lackland, Texas, where they'll train alongside Air Force
recruits—albeit with a few distinctions.
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Northrop Grumman’s Radar Declared Operational for Air National Guard F-16s
The U.S. Air Force has met full operational capability readiness for Northrop
Grumman Corporation’s AN/APG-83 SABR active electronically scanned array radar
on Air National Guard F-16s to meet a U.S. Northern Command Joint Emergent
Operational Need for homeland defense.
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USFK Moves to HPCON Bravo Peninsula-Wide Amid Low Numbers of COVID Cases in Seoul Area
Health Protection Condition level Bravo means the risk is moderate and there has
been an increase in community transmissions—down from HPCON Charlie, which
stipulates the risk is substantial and there has been sustained community
transmission, according to the Defense Department.
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White VA Employees Twice as Likely to Be Promoted as Black Workers
The American Federation of Government Employees said Oct. 15 that new data it
obtained via the Freedom of Information Act underscores its allegations of
systemic racism pervading the Veterans Affairs Department.
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One More Thing...
Turkey Has Reportedly Test Fired Its S-400 Air Defense System For The First Time
Turkey's decision to test the S-400 is another defiant step that is likely to
reignite tensions between it and its NATO allies.
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