Who’s Up, Who’s Still Down: According to data from January, the Air National Guard did not post the lowest recruiting effort of the reserve components. That position went again to the Navy Reserve, which met only 88 percent of its monthly goal. However, ANG dropped another percentage point from December, reaching just 90 percent of its January goal. The Air Guard retention rate of 98 percent is up slightly from December and is still strong enough to offset the low recruiting number, officials say. All the active components exceeded their monthly recruiting goals.
The Space Force is playing a key role in planning for “Golden Dome,” President Donald Trump’s initiative for comprehensive air and missile defense of the homeland, leaders said this week. But actually building and fielding the ambitious idea will require a major concerted effort across the Pentagon and intelligence community.