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Nov. 24, 2020
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Edited by Amy McCullough with Rachel S. Cohen, Brian W. Everstine and Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory
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 1st Lt. Kenneth "Kage" Allen is shown in a photo that the U.S. Air Force Academy—his alma mater—published on Twitter. Photo via USAFA on Twitter. |
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By Brian W. Everstine
An F-15C pilot’s fixation on an intercept during training, and failure to focus on the aircraft’s instruments as he encountered adverse weather, caused the fatal June 15 crash in the North Sea near the United Kingdom, U.S. Air Forces in Europe announced Nov. 23. First Lt. Kenneth “Kage” Allen, who was assigned to the 493rd Fighter Squadron at RAF Lakenheath, U.K., was killed in the crash. His F-15C was completely destroyed at a loss of about $45 million.
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By John A. Tirpak
Secrecy prevents the F-35 Joint Program Office from revealing the corrective measures being taken after hardware and software deficiencies contributed to a May crash of an F-35 at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., the JPO said Nov. 23. It is unusual for the government to withhold such information. The JPO also declined to say whether the government or F-35 maker Lockheed Martin will bear the cost of corrections.
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By Rachel S. Cohen
The United States is now officially out of the Open Skies Treaty, but questions remain about the road ahead. “The U.S. withdrawal took effect on Nov. 22, 2020, and the United States is no longer a state party to the Treaty on Open Skies,” State Department Deputy Spokesperson Cale Brown said. Many details of how the U.S. military will wind down its participation are still murky. The Wall Street Journal reported Nov. 22 the government has started the process of offering the Air Force's two OC-135B jets up to other countries.
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By Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory
Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett wants to base the service’s MH-139A Grey Wolf Formal Training Unit at Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala., the Department of the Air Force announced Nov. 20. The same day, USAF announced that it wants to move its AC-130J Ghostrider Formal Training Unit from Hurlburt Field, Fla., to Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M. USAF can’t finalize the moves until it finishes mandatory environmental impact analyses, the Department of the Air Force noted. However, it said it expects to make its final Grey Wolf FTU basing decision next winter, and to begin the process of moving the AC-130J FTU—including “seven aircraft and 372 positions”—in summer 2022.
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By Brian W. Everstine
The Pentagon is again increasing its COVID-19-related restrictions amid a jump in positive cases in the region and more positive test results inside the building itself. Beginning Nov. 26, the Pentagon will limit the number of workers inside the building and mandate face coverings if social distancing is not possible, as part of a shift to Health Protection Condition Bravo-Plus, Defense Department Chief Management Officer Lisa W. Hershman announced.
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Correction
The article, “B-1 Structural Fatigue Test to End Next Year After Simulated 73 Years of Flying” (Daily Report, Nov. 17), was incorrect, as a result of information provided by the Air Force. The Air Force now reports the fatigue test will not end next year. The incorrect article has been removed from our website and a new story will be published when the Air Force can accurately answer pending queries.
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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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Biden Makes Historic Picks in Naming Foreign Policy, National Security Teams
National Public Radio
President-elect Joe Biden has named six leaders of his foreign policy and national security teams, showing a continued push for historic firsts in his administration.
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OPINION: Defense in Depth
Foreign Affairs
“The world is not getting safer, for the United States or for U.S. interests. Even before the coronavirus pandemic, the [2018] National Defense Strategy described an international environment of increased global disorder, long-term strategic competition, rapid dispersion of technologies, and eroding U.S. military advantages. Protecting the United States requires a strategy of defense in depth—that is, of identifying and dealing with global problems where they occur rather than waiting for threats to reach American shores,” write American Enterprise Institute Director of Foreign and Defense Policy Studies Kori Schake; Stanford University Hoover Institution fellow, former Defense Secretary, and retired Marine Corps Gen. Jim Mattis; Hoover Institution
Fellow, former U.S. Strategic Command boss, and retired Navy Adm. James O. Ellis Jr.; and Hoover Institution Fellow Joe Felter.
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‘A Pivotal Moment’: Democracies Urged to Band Together to Resist China
POLITICO
At the 2020 Halifax International Security Forum, top national security, foreign policy officials, and activists issued a call for democratic nations to revitalize international institutions and pursue new, more flexible ways for governments to band together to confront China’s economic and technological warfare and aggressive military buildup.
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OPINION: Chinese Party Aims to Be ‘Mechanized & Informationized’ by 2027
Breaking Defense
“China has laid out the broad goals and objectives for its 14th Five Year Plan (FYP), which will extend from 2021 to 2025, and one of the priorities is ‘elevating the level of national security,’” writes Dean Cheng, a senior research fellow in the Asian Studies Center at the Heritage Foundation’s Davis Institute for National Security and Foreign Policy.
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Joint Staff Developing Service-Wide Campaign Plan for Multi-Domain Operations
C4ISRNET
The Joint Chiefs of Staff are hoping to provide more clarity and structure to the services’ individual efforts to develop combined joint all-domain command and control with a new 60-page campaign plan, says one U.S. Air Force official.
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Journey to JADC2
Air Force Magazine
Joint all-domain command and control is driving change throughout the Air and Space Forces. Check out our latest on the quest for greater interconnectedness across the battlefield.
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NATO Experiments With Deceptive Tactics to Lure Russian Hackers
Defense One
This year, “We put [out] machines that are sacrificial, that are what we call honeypots or honeynets,” said Alberto Domingo, a technical director for Cyberspace at the NATO Supreme Allied Transform Command, on a call with reporters and other observers Nov. 20. “The idea is that the adversary will find it easier to attack these machines without knowing and they will do that and we will be preserving the information for NATO and interacting with this adversary.”
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Space Force Chief Pushes Back on Calls for Elimination of Service
National Defense Magazine
Some progressive groups have recently called on President-Elect Joe Biden to eliminate the Space Force after he takes control of the executive branch Jan. 20. However, Chief of Space Operations Gen. John W. “Jay” Raymond pushed back on the notion Nov. 21.
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Falcon 9 Launch Ends Long Hiatus in Vandenberg Launches
SpaceNews
Despite a lull in orbital launch activity at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., officials with the Space Force foresee a “very promising future” for both commercial and government launches there. The Falcon 9 launch of the Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich ocean science satellite Nov. 21 was the first orbital launch from Vandenberg since another Falcon 9 launched the Radarsat Constellation Mission for Canada in June 2019.
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DOD IG Plans Four Oversight Projects Evaluating Space Enterprise
Inside Defense
The Defense Department Office of Inspector General is planning several oversight efforts involving space programs and operations, including a review of DOD's space testing strategy and an audit of launch facility maintenance efforts. The four projects are outlined in the IG's recently released, department-wide fiscal year 2021 oversight plan.
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Navy Investigation of Pensacola Shooting Points to ‘Toxic’ Command Climate as Factor
Military.com
A U.S. Navy investigation has determined that the Saudi pilot who killed three people when he opened fire on Florida's Naval Air Station Pensacola last year was self-radicalized. However, it also found that Navy leaders could have picked up on a pattern of negative behaviors exacerbated by the "toxic" command climate at the base.
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Pentagon Reports $5B in Improper Payments to Civilian Workforce
Federal News Network
The Defense Department’s latest financial statement shows the Pentagon made nearly $5 billion worth of improper payments in its civilian payroll accounts last year, a massive increase from previous years in which the department reported virtually none.
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Ready for Some Holiday Cheer? Check In with Your Pandemic-Ready Military Stores
Military Times
This holiday season will look different in military stores, but the deals are still there. Stores are taking extra COVID-19 precautions, such as limiting the number of people inside, acrylic shields at cash registers, continuing the extra sanitizing, and requiring masks.
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One More Thing
Disney Security Guards Have Challenge Coins and We Have to Talk About It
Task and Purpose
At any given time Disneyland and Disney World have three to four officially sanctioned coins, which are used in much the same way as they are in the military, Disney confirmed to Task & Purpose.
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