Both Air Reserve Components have equipment issues that bear fixing. In general, the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve Command forces fly the oldest of the Air Force’s aircraft. The service knows this and wants to retire old systems, replacing them with “new missions or newer equipment,” Lt. Gen. Daniel James III, Air Guard head, told Senators last week. At the same Capitol Hill hearing, Lt. Gen. John Bradley, AFRC commander, acknowledged that AFRC “aircraft are going to wear out sooner” because they are being flown “a lot harder and a lot more than our projections would have predicted.” (We call this more evidence of the increased use of reserve forces.)
Amid NATO’s continued push to ramp up air defenses in Eastern Europe, Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall swung by seven allied countries to boost relations last week, including those on Russia’s and Ukraine’s doorstep.