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Feb. 19, 2021
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Edited by Amy McCullough with Brian W. Everstine, Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory and John A. Tirpak
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 New rules announced on Feb. 10, 2021, are changing what information is included in officer promotion packages. USAF graphic. |
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By John A. Tirpak
Some negative information that once might have been withheld from Air Force officer promotion boards will now be seen and evaluated, the Air Force announced. The new rules comply with the fiscal 2021 National Defense Authorization Act, which mandates more transparency in promotions. The Air Force's top personnel officer, however, said it won't end the careers of those making “one mistake.”
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By Brian W. Everstine
NATO will increase its presence in Iraq following the U.S. drawdown in the country, but its future force size in Afghanistan is still up in the air as violence remains high. The alliance's presence in Iraq will grow from 500 to about 4,000, not including the 2,500 American troops now deployed to the country, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Feb. 18, following two days of meetings with member nations' defense leaders. Training activities also will expand to Iraqi security institutions beyond Baghdad, he added. The future in Afghanistan is less clear, due to Taliban violence.
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By Brian W. Everstine
The United States and five other Arctic nations will continue one of the continent's largest air exercises, the Pentagon announced. Acting Air Force Secretary John P. Roth and the defense ministers of Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden signed a letter of intent to continue the Arctic Challenge Exercise this June. The exercise was last held in 2019, and included more than 140 aircraft and 4,000 troops from nine countries. The letter also expands on the Air Force’s first-ever Arctic Strategy, which called for increased interoperability with key allies in the region, according to a Feb. 18 release.
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By Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory
A T-38 Talon aircraft assigned to the 9th Reconnaissance Wing at Beale Air Force Base, Calif., landed at Mather Airport in Mather, Calif., with at least one of its gears up, causing a fire, the wing announced in a release. No one was injured in the incident.
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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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Radar Sweep
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The Pentagon Says There’s No Data on Troops Refusing Vaccines. One General Just Proved Them Wrong
Task and Purpose
“I think our initial look—and this, of course, is very early data—is acceptance rates are somewhere in the two-thirds territory, and of course it varies by different groups,” Maj. Gen. Jeff Taliaferro testified before the House Armed Services Committee. Taliaferro, vice director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is the first defense official to publicly acknowledge that the military knows how many troops are opting to not get a COVID-19 vaccine.
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‘They Know All About It’: Pentagon Report Details Military Reach of Supremacist Groups
Military.com
A 59-page Pentagon report that was submitted to members of Congress in October and obtained by Military.com this week shows the reach some white supremacist groups have in the military ranks. While the number of overall cases is low, the report states that the combination of extremist affiliations and military experience is a national security concern "because of their proven ability to execute high-impact events."
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Helping Military Children Is ‘Critical to Our National Security,’ Says First Lady
Military Times
First Lady Jill Biden told a group of educators and advocates that “giving military kids what they need to thrive is not just a nice thing to do, it’s critical to our national security,” in another of a series of listening sessions gathering information about the issues of military families.
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Space Lasers Will Revolutionize Military Communications, If They Work
Defense One
The Pentagon has ambitious plans to launch hundreds of communications satellites in the years ahead. But getting them to talk to one another isn’t easy.
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Army Chief To Navy, Air Force: We’ve Got ‘Speed & Range’
Breaking Defense
“The future is all about range and speed,” Gen. McConville declared, and longtime Army watchers perked up. With the other services circling for a prophesied budgetary “bloodletting”, the Army really needs a clear and catchy argument for its modernization program.
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Space Force Says New Anti-Jamming Upgrade Coming in 2022
C4ISRNET
The Space and Missile Systems Center completed three virtual tests of a new anti-jamming capability for satellite communications in the final months of 2020, the center announced Feb. 17. The mitigation and anti-jam enhancement program will provide advanced anti-jamming support for Wideband Global SATCOM, which provides satellite communications to American war fighters around the world. Once operational, the capability will allow the WGS constellation to pinpoint and mitigate attempts to jam its signal.
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US Space Command to Recommend Investments in Space Infrastructure
SpaceNews
The U.S. military over decades has built extensive infrastructure to move troops and equipment around the world. It may now need to start thinking about investing in foundation technologies to support future activities in space, said Lt. Gen. John E. Shaw, deputy commander of U.S. Space Command.
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One More Thing
Touchdown! NASA's Mars Perseverance Rover Safely Lands on Red Planet
NASA Science Mars Exploration Program release
The agency’s latest and most complex mission to the Red Planet has touched down at Jezero Crater. Now it’s time to begin testing the health of the rover.
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