The Pentagon battles its own inertia to make progress in artificial intelligence.
January/February 2022
Vol. 105, No. 1
How a flight line superintendent turned an inspired idea into the Air Force’s one-stop shop for Augmented Reality. It only took 10 years.
The cancer rates for some aviators are higher than others. Lifelong monitoring may be the only viable solution.
Hypersonics Defense
How hypersonic weapons maneuver and what to do about it.
Welcome to the NEW Space Race
Growing threats raise the stakes for why the U.S. must prevail in this essential domain.
Editorial: Russia, China, and Air Power Politics
In playing the victim, Putin evokes Adolf Hitler in September 1938.
Crisis in the Fighter Force
USAF is ill-prepared to absorb combat losses in a peer fight.
Strategy & Policy
The Air Force is about to roll out another aspect of its new Force Generation model (AFFORGEN): Air Base Squadrons are designed to provide forward-deployed units the necessary support to conduct operations from widely dispersed and likely austere locations with a minimal footprint of people and gear.
Q&A: Not Just a Southern Thing
Air Force Lt. Gen. Andrew A. Croft is U.S. SOUTHCOM’s military deputy in Miami. He oversees five components and three joint task forces meant to address myriad threats stretching from the Caribbean to the Arctic. Abraham Mahshie, Air Force Magazine’s Pentagon Editor, interviewed Croft in November 2021. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
CSAF READING LIST
Gen. Ronald R. Fogleman created the CSAF Professional Reading Program in 1996 to develop a common frame of reference among Airmen, including officers, the enlisted force, and civilians. Each Air Force Chief of Staff since then has enhanced and continued...
2022 Will Be a Big Year for USAF
The B-21 will take its first flight and new weapons will face critical tests.
Minot B-52s Visit Canada, California, to Practice Bomber Version ACE
Preparing for conflict in the Pacific will require more than learning to fly fighters out of austere locations—it will also call for small bomber crews to go on quick consecutive missions to unfamiliar places.
USAF Aircraft Availability On Long Downward Trend, CBO Says
The Air Force and Navy are both experiencing declining aircraft availability, a long-term downward trend exemplified by flying fewer hours per aircraft, according to a new report from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). The data suggests readiness is worse than what the Defense Department reports.
New Data Indicates Declining Demand for Air Power in Central Command
The Pentagon released previously withheld statistics Dec. 17 indicating changing demand for air power in Afghanistan as the U.S. prepared to withdraw from that country last spring.
Space Force Focuses on Fighting
The leaders of the Space Force foresee the service continuing to become more “lethal” in 2022.
New Year, New Rules
The Air Force is revising rules for deployments, physical fitness tests, promotions, and more in 2022. Here's a rundown of what's ahead.
Hackers Balk at Rules Changes in Latest Hack-A-Sat Contest
The Space Force’s second-ever Hack-A-Sat competition challenged hackers to find vulnerabilities in earthbound satellite hardware, drawing eight hacker teams to vie for tens of thousands of dollars in cash.
RAF Lakenheath Becomes USAF’s First European Base to Get F-35s
RAF Lakenheath to Get F-35s; New VCJCS Admiral Grady Sworn In; MacDill is Next F-35 Base; Pentagon Outlines New "Extremist" Activity Rules; and more ...
AFA Field Contacts
Air Force Association Field Leaders
Verbatim
A collection of quotes on air power and national security issues.
Letters
We love letters! Write to us at letters@afa.org. To be published, letters should be timely, relevant and concise. Include your name and location. Letters may be edited for space and the editors have final say on which are published.
Faces of the Force
Know of someone we should recognize? Send nominees to afmag@afa.org
Namesakes: Wright-Patterson
Three Legends
AFA in Action
70th Annual Operation Christmas Drop
