Rumsfeld Waxes Eloquent in Colorado: 
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told the graduating class as the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo., that they must “go beyond simply a change of a process here or of a piece of equipment there. Our country did not survive and become great through timid responses or aversion to risk. … Your charge will be to challenge inherited assumptions, and cherished habits, and seek out better approaches.” Down the road from USAFA, Rumsfeld took time to praise the efforts of US Northern Command, telling reporters that the new command’s homeland defense progress has been “truly impressive.”
As Air Force leaders consider concepts of operations for Collaborative Combat Aircraft, sustainment in the field—and easing that support by using standard parts and limiting variants—should be a key consideration, according to a new study from AFA's Mitchell Institute of Aerospace Studies.