Air Force Magazine
Daily Report for Dec. 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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Air Force Retention Soars Amid COVID-19 Uncertainty
By Rachel S. Cohen

More people are opting to stay in the Air Force than at nearly any other time in
the past 20 years, choosing to stay put amid pandemic-era economic uncertainty.
In the past two decades, the only time retention outpaced the current rate was
after the 9/11 terror attacks, according to the Air Force. “Some of that
probably reflects the economic challenges and things associated with COVID,”
Lt. Gen. Brian T. Kelly, the Air Force’s deputy chief of staff for manpower,
personnel, and services, told reporters Dec. 1. “But it also hopefully
reflects a little bit of our ability to start to provide that kind of culture
and environment where Airmen and families want to stay with us, and want to be
part of what the mission of the United States Air Force is.”

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Air Force Mulling New Career Fields for Coders, Data Analysts
By Rachel S. Cohen

The Department of the Air Force is working to create new career fields in areas
like software development, data science, artificial intelligence, and machine
learning, hoping to attract digital experts away from private-sector technology
jobs and bring the service into the 21st century. Lt. Gen. Brian T. Kelly, the
Air Force’s deputy chief of staff for manpower, told reporters Dec. 1 that
officials are considering the details of how those new jobs would work and how
many people might need to fill them. “We see ... the potential for two or
three more career fields that we don't have today,” he said.

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Production of First T-7A Sims Begins at St. Louis
By John A. Tirpak

The first simulators for the T-7A advanced jet trainer are taking shape at
Boeing's St. Louis, Mo., facilities, the company announced Dec. 1. The devices
will match the environment, as well as visual and physical cues of the actual
aircraft, in almost every way, the company said. The sims will have open
missions systems architecture, and software drops to ground-based trainers and
aircraft will be simultaneous, Boeing said. The first T-7A unit at Joint Base
San Antonio-Randolph, Texas, will be equipped with the devices in 2023.

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5th AF Boss on Maintaining Readiness in Japan During the Pandemic
By Brian W. Everstine

The lack of training ranges and airspace in Japan are making it difficult for
U.S. aircrews to maintain readiness during the pandemic, the head of U.S. forces
in Japan said. U.S. and Japanese aircraft and personnel need to leave the
country for high-end training, often traveling to major exercise such as a Red
Flag in the United States, said Lt. Gen. Kevin B. Schneider, commander of 5th
Air Force and U.S. Forces Japan, during a virtual Air Force Association event.
Although there are ranges inside Japan, such as the Draughon Range near Misawa
Air Base or a smaller space at Camp Fuji, those locations face encroachment
issues with local populations and local officials are hesitant to allow events
even if they use inert training munitions. However, Japan has shown a “genuine
appetite that they want to do more with us,” and the U.S. needs “to find
ways to do more with the opportunities that we have here in Japan,” Schneider
said. “I believe it chips away at our deterrence value if we’re having to
take the show on the road and go somewhere else to train.”

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Walter Reed Says It’s Ready for a Holiday COVID-19 Surge
By Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to ravage the country, the Walter Reed
National Military Medical Center—which recently treated President Donald J.
Trump after he contracted the new coronavirus disease—told Air Force Magazine
it is poised to handle the surge predicted to grip the nation this holiday
season. The Bethesda, Md.-based hospital’s ability to expand its inpatient and
intensive care unit operations lies at the heart of this readiness, the office
wrote in a Nov. 30 response to questions from the magazine.

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CSAF, CSO Give 2 Enlisted Members Surprise of a Lifetime
By Amy McCullough

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. and Chief of Space Operations
Gen. John W. “Jay” Raymond each selected a deserving enlisted member to
directly commission through the Senior Leader Enlisted Commissioning Program.
Brown selected Senior Airman Chris Chavez with Robins Air Force Base’s 12th
Airborne Command and Control Squadron, while Raymond selected Staff Sgt. Kevin
Justice, a space control technician assigned to the 4th Space Control Squadron.

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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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Mitchell Institute’s ‘Aerospace Advantage’ Podcast, Ep. 1: ‘Discovering the Aerospace Advantage‘

In the podcast’s debut episode, host and retired Air Force Lt. Col. John
“Slick” Baum—a former Air Force Weapons School instructor and Thunderbird
pilot—lays out the case for aerospace power. He starts from the beginning, and
speaks with Mitchell Institute Dean and retired Lt. Gen. David A. Deptula to
explain the importance of aerospace power. He then interviews Douglas Birkey,
the institute’s executive director, to fully develop the fundamental theories
of aerospace power, cover the history of aerospace theory, and talk about the
challenges with today’s aging fleet and an unfunded Space Force. Slick ends
the episode with laying out the threats that the U.S. faces in the aerospace
domains, and how the U.S. is taking these threats head-on.

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Pentagon Shake-up Continues as Another Top Official Departs

The top official leading the Pentagon's Defeat-ISIS Task Force resigned Nov. 30,
becoming the latest senior official to be fired or asked to resign in recent
days, part of a White House-directed post-election purge that saw some of the
senior-most Defense Department civilians ousted in a matter of days.

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What Do Pentagon Leaders Aim to Achieve Before Inauguration Day?

Defense Department acquisition chief Ellen Lord, speaking during the American
Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Ascend conference on Nov. 18, said she
is focused on protecting the supply chain and helping the acquisition system
adapt to acquire software.

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How the Biden Administration Is Expected to Approach Tech Research and Development

Experts expect President-elect Joe Biden’s administration to build on the
Trump administration’s investments in emerging technologies, while adding to
research and development budgets in the Defense Department and across the
federal government.

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OPINION: Are AI Professionals Actually Unwilling to Work for the Pentagon?

“Recent research by the Center for Security and Emerging Technology, a policy
research organization within Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign
Service, suggests a more nuanced relationship, including areas of potential
alignment,” write CSET Survey Specialist Catherine Aiken and CSET Research
Fellow Margarita Konaev.

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Air Force Awards Lockheed $1.4B C-130J FMS Sustainment Contract

The Air Force on Nov. 30 awarded Lockheed Martin a 10-year C-130J foreign
military sales sustainment services contract worth up to $1.4 billion.

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UK Progresses F-35B Deliveries

The United Kingdom has received an additional batch of Lockheed Martin F-35B
Lightning fighters, with the arrival of three new aircraft into their RAF Marham
main operating base on Nov. 30.

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SES to Provide Satellite Connectivity for US Military ‘Internet of Things’

SES has been tapped to provide satellite-based communications for the Advanced
Battle Management System.

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China Team Test Jet Engine ‘Able to Reach Anywhere on Earth Within 2 Hours’

Chinese scientists have built what they claim is a revolutionary plane engine
for Mach 16 flight. An aircraft powered by the engine could reach anywhere in
the world within two hours, they said.

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Veterans Tuned into a ‘Live’ Town Hall with VA Secretary Wilkie. It Was Prerecorded

Most—if not all—of a community town hall touted as a 'Veterans Experience
Live' event with Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie on Nov. 30 on Facebook
was prerecorded—a staging that disappointed veterans who tuned in hoping the
Secretary would respond to a few of their questions. The virtual event, for
veterans, families, caregivers, survivors, and others interested in the veterans
community, featured the VA Secretary responding to prescreened, prerecorded
questions on topics ranging from suicide, community care, and military spouse
employment.

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Afghan Pilot Says He's Been Told to Rejoin Air Force or Leave US Protection

An Afghan major under U.S. protection at a U.S. base after the Pentagon reversed
its decision to approve his move to the United States, said he has been told he
will be forced to leave the base if he does not rejoin the Afghan air force.
Maj. Mohammed Naiem Asadi, one of the Afghan military’s few elite attack
helicopter pilots, his wife, and his 4-year-old daughter had been approved to
seek refuge in America in early October due to being in “imminent danger of
being killed by the Taliban,” approval documents and emails shared with Stars
and Stripes showed.

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One More Thing...
Huge Puerto Rico Radio Telescope, Already Damaged, Collapses

A huge, already damaged radio telescope at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto
Rico that has played a key role in astronomical discoveries for more than half a
century completely collapsed on Dec. 1. The telescope was built in the 1960s
with money from the Defense Department amid a push to develop anti-ballistic
missile defenses. It had endured hurricanes, tropical humidity, and a recent
string of earthquakes in its 57 years of operation.

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