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Nov. 2, 2020
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Edited by Amy McCullough with Rachel S. Cohen, Brian W. Everstine, Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory and John A. Tirpak
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 The women of the 2nd Space Operations made history as the first ever all-female space operations crew on July 23, 2020, at Schriever Air Force Base, Colo. Air Force photo by Dennis Rogers and Kathryn Calvert. |
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By Rachel S. Cohen
For nearly 250 years, the U.S. military has designed its machines, career paths, and uniforms through a male lens. Now, the Space Force has a chance to make history as the only military branch built with women in mind from the start. Female service members say the Space Force can pursue a more equitable force through changes to recruitment, policy, professional development, and infrastructure.
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By John A. Tirpak
Air Combat Command will soon set up an electromagnetic spectrum warfare wing that will most likely fall under 16th Air Force, Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Stephen W. “Seve” Wilson said in an AFA “Airmen in the Fight” streaming program Oct. 30. The announcement closely follows the Pentagon's release of a new EMS strategy governing electronic warfare. Wilson said he's happy to see the Pentagon strategy, as the Air Force has allowed its electronic warfare capabilities to atrophy during years of focus on counterinsurgency. “If we don’t dominate the spectrum, we will lose, across all the domains,” Wilson said.
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By Brian W. Everstine
The COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on the commercial airline industry means Air Force pilot retention—a big problem earlier in the year—is in relatively good shape, but the service still needs to prepare for empty cockpits when the economy comes back. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., speaking Oct. 28 at the virtual Airlift/Tanker Association Conference, said the downturn in the industry means USAF is doing a “pretty good” job keeping its pilots around, but he acknowledged, "Retention is always a challenge, it ebbs and flows with the economy."
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By Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory
No personnel from the 425th Air Base Squadron at Izmir Air Station, Turkey—a geographically separated unit of Incirlik Air Base's 39th Air Base Wing—were harmed in a 7.0-magnitude earthquake that shook Turkey and Greece on Oct. 30, Wing Commander Col. John B. Creel wrote in a Facebook post the same day. No USAF aircraft are stationed at Izmir—just personnel who backup NATO Allied Land Command and additional agencies, added wing spokesperson Capt. Geneva Giaimo in a statement provided to Air Force Magazine.
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By Rachel S. Cohen
The Pentagon on Oct. 29 added a new top leadership position to oversee space-related combat policy across the department, as required by lawmakers in the 2020 defense policy bill. The Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy will report to the Undersecretary of Defense for Policy, and is responsible for “interagency coordination and international engagement on space policy and strategy,” the Defense Department said in an Oct. 30 release. Justin T. Johnson will perform the duties of the role until someone is nominated and confirmed by the Senate.
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By Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory
The Space Force plans to swear in NASA Astronaut and Air Force Col. Michael S. Hopkins while he’s aboard the International Space Station as part of the upcoming Crew-1 Mission, a service official confirmed to Air Force Magazine on Oct. 29. Hopkins is slated to command the upcoming mission, which his NASA bio notes is the “first post-certification mission of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft” and its second crewed flight. “[Chief of Space Operations] Gen. [John W. “Jay”] Raymond is working with [NASA] Administrator [Jim] Bridenstine to leverage this unique venue for the ceremony as a way to spotlight the decades-long partnership between DOD and NASA,” the official said in a statement provided to Air Force Magazine.
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Radar Sweep
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Snapshot: DOD and COVID-19
Air Force Magazine
Here's a look at how the Defense Department is being impacted by and responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Air Force Hopes to Jettison Pass-Through Budget
National Defense Magazine
The Air Force has long been saddled with accounts that fund other organizations’ projects, but officials and other supporters are pushing to change that. “It makes it look like the Department of the Air Force is getting more money than it actually is,” Lt. Gen. S. Clinton Hinote, deputy chief of staff for strategy, integration, and requirements, said during the Air Force’s Association Virtual Air, Space & Cyber Conference. “It obscures debate about defense spending. And it gets into this idea of how hard it is to compare [funding] across services.”
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The U.S. Military Has a Problem: Defending Bases in a War Won't Be Easy
The National Interest
The Pentagon is looking across the services to figure out ways to better defend forward-positioned bases, assets, and forces from a growing sphere of highly sophisticated, long-range enemy attack threats.
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Pentagon Draw-Down at U.S. Embassies Prompts Concern About Ceding Field to Global Rivals
The Wall Street Journal (Subscription Required)
The Pentagon has quietly begun withdrawing top military officers from U.S. embassies in Africa and downgrading other such posts world-wide, a move officials say is necessary to shift resources to counter China and Russia on the geopolitical stage and meet congressional caps on the number of generals and admirals in the military.
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Pentagon Expects to Deploy New Telework Tool in June 2021
Nextgov
The Defense Department’s Commercial Virtual Remote Environment enabled the rapid shift to mass telework during the pandemic, but a solution to handle more sensitive data is on the way.
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DOD Canceled Its Diversity Training Audit to Comply with New White House Rules
Military Times
The Defense Department’s inspector general has canceled an audit of its diversity, inclusion, and equal opportunity training just a month after first announcing it.
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A New Pentagon Report on Sexual Assault in the Military Is a Wakeup Call to a ‘Systemic’ Problem
Task & Purpose
The report from the Defense Advisory Committee on Investigation, Prosecution, and Defense of Sexual Assault in the Armed Forces, which advises the Secretary of Defense there is a "systemic" problem in the military of referring sexual assault cases to trial when there isn't enough evidence available to get a conviction.
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Helicopters Over DC Protesters Broke Regulations While Commander was Driving Home, DC Guard Concludes
Defense One
Two D.C. National Guard helicopters that flew low over protesters in Washington, D.C., on the night of June 1 were not properly authorized to be there—and were directed by a lieutenant colonel who was far from the scene, driving home in his car, according to an initial investigation by the D.C. National Guard.
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Air Force C-17 Pilot Lauded for Airmanship in Kandahar Emergency Landing
Stars and Stripes (Subscription Required)
A video shows a C-17 in Afghanistan landing on a runway with its nose landing gear up.
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Navy Aviators Learn to ‘Fly’ the MQ-25 Unmanned Aerial Refueler
Naval Air Systems Command release
Four Navy air vehicle operators from VX-23, the Navy’s developmental test squadron, and VX-1, the operational test squadron, recently traveled to Boeing’s St. Louis facility for an immersive three-day simulation designed to train them to operate a flight from start-up to shut-down from the ground control station—the MQ-25’s terrestrial or CVN-based “cockpit.”
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Insights About Chinese Military Aircraft
Aviation Week Network
Take a look at the range of aircraft populating the Chinese military fleet.
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Icebreaker Polar Star to Make Unusual Arctic Deployment
Seapower Magazine
The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star (WAGB-10) will deploy to the Arctic this winter to help protect the nation’s maritime sovereignty and security in the region, the Coast Guard Pacific Area said in an Oct. 29 release. Typically, the Polar Star travels to Antarctica each year in support of Operation Deep Freeze, the annual military mission to resupply the United States’ Antarctic stations, in support of the National Science Foundation.
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Video: Joint NNSA Strategic Nuclear Deterrence Forum with Mr. James McConnell & Mr. Robert Raines
Mitchell Institute on YouTube
James McConnell and Robert Raines joined the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies and the Advanced Nuclear Weapons Alliance Deterrence Center for a virtual session of the Joint National Nuclear Security Administration Strategic Nuclear Deterrence Online Forums on Maintaining a Credible Strategic Nuclear Deterrent: Modernizing the NNSA Nuclear Weapons Complex Infrastructure.
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One More Thing
U.S. Space Force: Origin
U.S. Air Force and Space Force Recruiting YouTube Channel
Neil Armstrong made “one giant leap for mankind” on July 20, 1969, as he became the first person to walk on the moon. Now, more than 50 years later, a new Space Force recruiting commercial says, “It’s time for another giant leap.” The nearly 3-minute ad emphasizes the importance of space not only for military operations but also for our everyday lives. “We aren’t just getting ready for the near future. We’re getting ready for the 22nd Century. When our enemies ask, ‘What if?’ We will have an answer,” according to the commercial.
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