Air Force Magazine
Daily Report for Jan. 27, 2020
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Edited by Amy McCullough with Rachel S. Cohen, Brian W. Everstine and Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory
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Space Force, We Have a Seal
By Rachel S. Cohen
President Donald Trump on Jan. 24 unveiled the first official Space Force seal,
an early step in the new service’s attempt to craft its own culture. The seal
features an arrowhead symbol over a globe, encircled by a stylized design of an
orbit around the Earth. Twenty-two stars adorn the black background, and along
the bottom runs year 2019 in Roman numerals: “MMXIX.”
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DOD: 34 Troops Suffered Traumatic Brain Injuries in Al-Asad Attack
By Brian W. Everstine
The Pentagon now says 34 service members sustained brain injuries in the Jan. 7
Iranian ballistic missile attack on al Asad AB, Iraq. The Defense Department has
launched a review of how it tracks and reports injuries. Of the 34 service
members who sustained injuries in the attack, 17 were evacuated to Landstuhl
Regional Medical Center in Germany for additional care and nine of those troops
were taken back to the US — to either Walter Reed National Military Medical
Center or their home bases for continued, outpatient care. Eight service members
remain in Germany. One other was taken to Kuwait for care and has returned to
duty, Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman said during a Jan. 24 briefing. The
announcement comes days after President Donald Trump downplayed the injuries,
saying he "heard that they had headaches," saying it "is not very serious."
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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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ANG Leaders: Puerto Rico Needs Its Own Disaster Relief Beddown Systems
By Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory
Puerto Rico needs its own Disaster Relief Beddown Systems to speed disaster
response in the region and to cut associated costs, Puerto Rico Air National
Guard leaders told Air Force Magazine in a Jan. 21 interview at Muñiz Air
National Guard Base in Carolina, Puerto Rico. The system, also known as DRBS, is
essentially a tent-city-creation kit designed to provide a secure location for
first responders. But transporting the systems can be a logistical nightmare
after a hurricane or other natural disaster when time is of the essence, not to
mention cost tens of thousands of dollars, leaders say.
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Esper: Culture Change in DOD Needed to Improve Acquisition Process
By Brian W. Everstine
Service efforts such as the Air Force’s pitch days for rapid contract awards
are just the beginning of the Pentagon's effort to move faster in its
acquisition process, but much more work remains to make the five-sided building
change its overall risk-averse culture, Defense Secretary Mark Esper said. Esper
said the Defense Department encourages service experimentation, but said "the
thing we've really got to get at—and it takes time and it’s probably the
most difficult part and the hardest to change—is the culture.” Speaking at
the Center for Strategic and International Studies event in Washington, D.C., he
said. “You have to get the culture right so that folks in the DOD, military,
and civilian alike, are willing to put money down on something that may not be
100 percent, or 90 percent, or 80 percent. You've got to be able to take some
risk and you've got to be able to accept some failure.”
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Ten Startups Chosen for 2020 USAF Tech Accelerator
By Rachel S. Cohen
An Air Force-affiliated technology accelerator on Jan. 24 named the startups
chosen to participate in 2020, its third group since 2018. The “Air Force
Accelerator Powered by Techstars” program picks small businesses that offer
products that can benefit troops as well as a broad swath of the commercial
market. Those companies get exposure to military customers and larger defense
contractors, and speed the time it takes to nab a government contract.
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Valkyrie Drone Completes Fourth Flight Test
By Rachel S. Cohen
The XQ-58A Valkyrie drone finished its fourth flight test in Arizona on Jan. 23,
coming back from a mishap that occurred during its previous test in the fall.
Valkyrie, an Air Force Research Laboratory program with manufacturer Kratos
Defense, is being designed as a possible munitions-carrying wingman for other
military aircraft. The unmanned aircraft is cheaper and easier to produce than
other drones, so the Air Force could use them in situations where it might not
want to risk losing more advanced systems. Air Force acquisition boss Will Roper
said Jan. 21 Valkyrie could fly in the service’s upcoming joint all-domain
command-and-control demonstration in April.
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Radar Sweep
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Senator Calls for Investigation After Whistleblowers Raise Concerns About C-130 Production Practices
Until recently, Lockheed Martin employees manufacturing the C-130J may have been
exposed to harmful chemicals, and the Defense Department may have ignored worker
concerns, a US senator said Jan. 23. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), who leads the
Senate Finance Committee, is calling for an investigation by DOD’s inspector
general due to the worker claims, which were made by multiple whistleblowers,
Grassley said in a statement.
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Industrial Base Could Struggle to Surge Production in Wartime
The US industrial base would be challenged to ramp up production to meet wartime
requirements in the event of a protracted great power conflict, analysts and
Pentagon officials say.
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Air Force Awards $425 Million Contract for Ramstein, Spangdahlem Improvements
The Air Force has awarded a $425 million contract to improve Ramstein and
Spangdahlem Air Bases in Germany. The multiple-award contract includes funds for
design and construction, maintenance, repair, alteration and renovation
projects, to support personnel and aircraft expected to move from England to
Germany in the coming years.
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How Iran's Military Outsources Its Cyber Threat Forces
It carries out attacks through a network of intermediaries, allowing the regime
to strike its foes while denying direct involvement.
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The Big Data Challenge Getting Smaller for Army, Air Force as CDOs Mature
In naming a chief data officer, the Army and the Air Force took different
approaches with an eye toward the same goal.
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One More Thing...
First Space-Baked Cookies Took 2 Hours in Experimental Oven
The results are finally in for the first chocolate chip cookie bake-off in
space. While looking more or less normal, the best cookies required two hours of
baking time last month up at the International Space Station. It takes far less
time on Earth, under 20 minutes.
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