Air Force Magazine
Daily Report for Jan. 15, 2020

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Raymond Sworn In as First Space Force Chief
By Rachel S. Cohen

Gen. Jay Raymond was formally sworn in as the inaugural Chief of Space
Operations Jan. 14 at a White House ceremony led by Vice President Mike Pence.
“The President and Congress have given us a great opportunity to build the
force we need to respond to the challenges that we face in the space domain,”
Raymond said of the Space Force. “Not only is this historical, but it is
critical … to our national security and that of our allies.”

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Lord: ‘Pass Through’ USAF Budget to be Examined
By John A. Tirpak

USAF's "pass through" budget idiosyncrasy will get a fresh look in the context
of creating Space Force, Ellen Lord said Jan. 14. “As we stand up Space
Command and Space Force, I think we are looking at the entire structure of the
organization; all resourcing issues from funding to staffing,” Lord told
defense reporters at a breakfast in Washington, D.C., Jan. 14. “Everything is
on the table,” she said, and while she declined to offer specific comment on
what should happen with “pass through” accounting, “we are doing a
wholesale look at the entire system.”

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Empowering Disaster Response and Recovery From Space
When a natural disaster or emergency occur, an immediate and seamless response is necessary to
save lives. Operational and situational awareness becomes increasingly important to responders.
If critical infrastructure is down in the disaster zone, then the systems and networks required for
powering the relief efforts are compromised. Ground operations must look to space to solve their
communication needs. Read the full story.
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Turkey Mostly Out of F-35 by March
By John A. Tirpak

Turkey will be mostly out of the F-35 by March, and all the way out by the end
of 2020, Pentagon acquisition and sustainment chief Ellen Lord said Jan. 14.
Lord said there’s been no discussion with Ankara about the disposition of four
F-35s owned by Turkey that are in the US, though she has said the aircraft will
not be delivered to Turkish soil.

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AT&T to Bring 5G Infrastructure to Nellis
By Rachel S. Cohen

Nellis AFB, Nev., will become the second Air Force installation to receive
fifth-generation wireless network services from AT&T, the company announced Jan.
14. “AT&T will equip Nellis with 5G infrastructure to support wireless data
and voice services connecting the base’s more than 40,000 Air Force personnel,
their families, and retirees,” according to a company release. “It will
provide wireless high-speed external and in-building connectivity across
Nellis’ flight line, facilities, dormitories, and the Mike O'Callaghan
Military Medical Center.”

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Airman Nominated as STRATCOM Deputy Commander
By Rachel S. Cohen

President Donald Trump nominated Lt. Gen. Thomas Bussiere, head of US Northern
Command’s Alaska group, to be US Strategic Command’s No. 2 officer,
according to a Jan. 13 Pentagon announcement. If confirmed, Bussiere would
replace Vice Adm. David Kriete as deputy commander, and serve under Adm. Chas
Richard, who took over the top post in November.

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Radar Sweep

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Amid Iran Tensions, Democratic Hopefuls Joust Over Military Plans

One week after Iranian rockets damaged military bases in Iraq hosting US troops,
the Democratic candidates vying to replace President Donald Trump attacked his
foreign policy plans as short-sighted and laid out their own vision of what the
next commander in chief needs to do to make America safer.

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Defense Department to Stand Up New Counter-Drone Office

The Pentagon will soon stand up a counter-unmanned aerial system office that
will be headed by the Army, said the Defense Department’s top weapons buyer
Jan. 14. Following the Dubai Airshow in November, Undersecretary of Defense for
Acquisition and Sustainment Ellen Lord visited numerous locations across the
Middle East, including US military installations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

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The US Wants to Intimidate China with Hypersonics, Once It Solves the Physics

A set of small, uninhabited Pacific islands, very close to China, may be the
destination of some of America’s most sophisticated and controversial future
weapons: hypersonic missiles that remain nimble even at five times the speed of
sound. On Jan. 10, Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy said the still-in-development
weapons would likely change the future of war.

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Lawmakers Voice Concern about a Potential Troop Reduction in Africa

A bipartisan group of lawmakers is worried about possibly reducing the US
military’s presence in Africa, following reports that the Pentagon is
contemplating a drawdown of US troops on the continent to better focus on
countering aggression from Russia and China. Spearheaded by Rep. Anthony Brown
(D-Md.), the lawmakers said in a letter to Defense Secretary Mark Esper that
cutting back US troops in Africa was antithetical to the National Security
Strategy Congress backs.

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Amazon Will Seek to Halt Work on DOD’s JEDI Cloud

Amazon Web Services will ask a federal court to block the Pentagon and Microsoft
from beginning work on the Defense Department’s controversial enterprise
cloud, according to a Jan. 13 court filing. The joint status report—filed by
DOD, Microsoft, and AWS in the Court of Federal Claims—lays out a timeline for
the next few weeks of Amazon’s court challenge of the DOD’s award of the
Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) cloud to Microsoft.

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Air Force Agents Raid Military Landlord's Oklahoma Office, Seize Computers

Air Force investigators raided the Oklahoma City offices of a major military
landlord Tuesday morning, seizing computers and other material, in what the
company said was part of an investigation into asbestos contamination.

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NATO to Develop New Air Command and Control Capability Architecture

NATO plans to develop an enterprise-wide architecture for its future air command
and control capabilities and is now soliciting information from members'
industries about their latest technologies.

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Iran Announces Arrests over Downing of Plane That Killed 176

Iran said Jan. 14 that authorities have made arrests for the accidental
shootdown of a Ukrainian passenger plane, which killed all 176 people on board
and set off protests in the country demanding accountability after officials
initially concealed the cause of the crash.

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CAP Assists in Response to Earthquakes Across Puerto Rico

Civil Air Patrol members are conducting damage assessment in support of various
federal, state, and local agencies as part of the response to a series of
earthquakes off the southern coast of Puerto Rico since Dec. 28. The Federal
Emergency Management Agency requested support from CAP for disaster relief
efforts in Puerto Rico after a series of earthquakes and aftershocks struck the
island.

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One More Thing...
Space Force Bible Blessing At National Cathedral Sparks Outrage

The blessing of what's being called "the official Bible for the new US Space
Force" at the Washington National Cathedral on Jan. 12 is drawing an outpouring
of criticism on social media and condemnation from a prominent religious freedom
advocacy group.

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