Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne’s latest letter to airmen praises their work and support for the service’s recapitalization efforts, which, he writes, “are bearing fruit, but not at a rate that satisfies me.” Wynne notes that the goal of recapitalizing the aging fleet while maintaining a suitable quality of life for airmen, winning the war on terror, and sustaining Air Force air and space power remains at the mercy of “a future we cannot always control.” Taking a swipe at budgeteers, he points out that it takes “the national will to have a well-equipped Air Force,” and he reminds Congress that USAF “must be allowed to acquire and retire our equipment whether in air, space, missiles, or cyberspace.”
Pentagon leaders, eager to move fast and avoid pitfalls that have plagued defense acquisition in the past, are handing authorities and oversight for some of their biggest programs to officers outside the traditional structure. But the Air Force and Space Force four-stars given those responsibilities say they don’t intend their jobs to be a permanent change to the system.