Air Force Magazine
Daily Report for Feb. 12, 2021

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Edited by Brian W. Everstine with Rachel S. Cohen and Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory

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Editor’s Note

In observance of President's Day, the Daily Report will not publish on Monday,
Feb. 15. We will resume publication on Tuesday, Feb. 16.

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Some Airmen See Tours Extended at Several Pacific, European Bases
By Brian W. Everstine

Single Airmen and Guardians on their first duty assignments to 22 locations in
the Pacific and Europe will now have to pack their bags for a longer
stay—beginning next month, those tours will last three years instead of two.
The Department of the Air Force announced the policy change to a 36-month
overseas posting for first-timers on Feb. 11. “A 24-month tour was not
adequate for our new Airmen and Guardians to thrive, nor was it enough time to
provide the continuity needed for the unit,” Lt. Gen. Brian T. Kelly, deputy
chief of staff for manpower, personnel and services, said in a release.

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Air Force Launching Extremism Review as DOD Mulls Problem
By Brian W. Everstine

The Department of the Air Force will conduct its own comprehensive assessment of
white supremacy and other forms of extremism in its ranks, while senior leaders
in the next few weeks begin to discuss the problem with Airmen and Guardians as
part of a Pentagon-wide look at the issue. In question are the effects on the
force—and the United States at large—of personnel who sympathize with or
actively participate in local militia groups, white supremacist organizations,
and other extremist factions. “There is a small subset who fall short and are
eroding the respect our nation’s citizens have for its military,” Air Force
and Space Force leaders wrote Feb. 11. “We have a responsibility to defend the
nation for all Americans.”

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Andrews Commander Addresses Breach, Teases Next Steps in Letter to Defenders
By Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory

Joint Base Andrews’ installation commander expressed faith in the 316th
Security Forces Squadron’s ability to do its job following a Feb. 4 breach at
the Maryland installation and said he will push for more time and resources to
help Airmen effectively guard the base, according to a Feb. 9 memo obtained by
Air Force Magazine. “We must do better, we must learn from this unacceptable
incident, and we must ensure an intrusion like ... this never happens again,”
wrote Col. Tyler R. Schaff, who commands both the 316th Wing and its home base.

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Air Force Reviewing Support Services Amid Suicides, COVID-19
By Rachel S. Cohen

The Department of the Air Force is launching a review of its mental health,
family advocacy, and other support programs for Airmen and Guardians, as part of
an ongoing struggle with suicide in the ranks and to offer better care during
the coronavirus pandemic. The task force is taking the long view, opting for an
open-ended, five-year strategy that the department says can give leaders the
flexibility they need to tailor support programs to their troops. That strategy
is now in the works, and should be done by the end of March.

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DOD Rolls Out More COVID-19 Vaccines, Ramps Up FEMA Support
By Brian W. Everstine

The Defense Department has administered more than 800,000 coronavirus vaccines
to its personnel so far, as Active-duty troops begin heading out to help the
general public get vaccinated as well. The Pentagon had ordered 1,040,825
vaccine doses as of Feb. 11, with 966,280 delivered to military treatment
facilities across the globe, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said. Of those,
800,135 doses have made it into people's arms—including 580,442 first shots
and 210,693 second shots.

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30 Years After Desert Storm: Feb. 12-15

In commemoration of the 30th Anniversary of Operation Desert Storm, Air Force
Magazine is posting daily recollections from the six-week war, which expelled
Iraq from occupied Kuwait.

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Virtual Events: AFSOC’s Slife on Mitchell Institute’s ‘Aerospace Nation’
By Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory

On Feb. 16, the Air Force Association's Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies
will host Lt. Gen. James C. Slife, commander of Air Force Special Operations
Command, on the next installment of its virtual “Aerospace Nation” series.
The event discussion will cover AFSOC's priorities for the year, the development
of emerging technologies for special operations, and the implementation of
AFSOC's Strategic Guidance. 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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Air Force Prepares for Budget Battle over Nuclear Weapons

Progressive lawmakers and disarmament advocates are lobbying allies in the Biden
administration for a pause in the program.

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Air Force Wants to Know If Key Pacific Airfield Could Disappear Under Rising Sea

The Air Force is spending $1.75 million to gauge the effects of future sea-level
rise at Wake Island Airfield, located on a remote Pacific atoll that is a key
asset in America’s missile defense system. The “inundation study” was
contracted out by the Pacific Air Forces Regional Support Center in September
and is slated for completion in March 2022, Pacific Air Forces said in a
statement provided to Stars and Stripes on Feb. 10.

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Yemen’s Houthi Rebels Strike Airliner in New Drone Attack on Saudi Airport

The attack on the airport came less than a week after the U.S. stopped aiding
the Saudi-led campaign against the Yemeni rebels.

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Culture, Not Tech, Is Obstacle to JADC2: JAIC

“This is not a panacea,” the deputy director of the Joint Artificial
Intelligence Center says. “You can’t just sprinkle AI on all these legacy
systems and expect them to work and talk together….That’s not how it
works.”

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DOD Grapples with How to Bring in New Space Technology to Military Systems

The U.S. military has built “very exquisite” satellites that operate for
decades and is now looking to transition to a different space architecture that
takes advantage of emerging technologies, Steve Butow, director of the Defense
Innovation Unit’s space portfolio, said Feb. 10 at the SmallSat Symposium.

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Space Force Releases Draft RFP for Tactically Responsive Launch Missions

The Space Force this week released a draft request for proposals for two
Tactically Responsive Launch missions aimed at providing flexible small launch
services. The service's initial launch capability target for TacRL-3 is April
2022 and for TacRL-4 is February 2023. Both launches are Category 1 missions.

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OPINION: Air Force Must Address Inequalities, Lack of Opportunities for Hispanic Airmen

“Based on our collective and personal experience as former senior leaders and
minority officers, we suggest the Air Force immediately commission another
[Independent Racial Disparity Review]-type review focusing on the largest ethnic
minority in the U.S. Air Force, Hispanic Airmen,” write retired Air Force
Brig. Gens. Ricardo Aponte and Carlos E. Martinez, members of the Hispanic
Veterans Leadership Alliance and the American College of National Security
Leaders.

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Q&A: CMSAF Talks Air Force Reviews, Social Media, Extremism, Resilience

Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force JoAnne S. Bass spoke on a number of
issues related to social media, her influence, and force changes in an interview
with Military.com.

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USSTRATCOM Commander Announces 2020 Omaha Trophy Winners

In recognition of outstanding support to U.S. Strategic Command’s strategic
deterrence mission, command boss U.S. Navy Adm. Charles Richard announced the
winners of the 2020 Omaha Trophies on Feb. 10.

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Bombardier to Lay Off 1,600, Halt Learjet Production

Bombardier Inc said on Feb. 11 it would halt Learjet aircraft production and
slash about 1,600 jobs this year as it becomes a pure-play business jet maker,
after reporting an adjusted loss before interest and taxes for the fourth
quarter due to COVID-19.

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One More Thing...
US Military Turns to New Supercomputers to Push the Limits of Weather Forecasting

Two new supercomputers named after a pair of iconic military meteorologists make
up one powerful system now operational at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, where
it supports worldwide U.S. Army and Air Force weather modeling and forecasting
operations. The roots of this sophisticated computational tool trace back to a
$25 million contract unveiled in 2019. It was since built and recently delivered
by Hewlett Packard Enterprise to the Tennessee-based national lab managing it,
according to a press release.

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