Defense One
President Joe Biden touted America’s “unshakeable commitment” to Israeli security after landing in Tel Aviv on his first trip to the Middle East as president. The trip to Israel and Saudi Arabia is intended to boost America’s influence in the region and solidify the coalition of nations aligned with the United States as competitors such as China boost their investment in the Middle East.
Breaking Defense
Space Force science and technology efforts are concentrating on autonomous systems to help the service in its effort to overhaul military space systems to better withstand adversary attack, according to the service’s top scientist. “We have to build resilience in our systems. Had we thought about this 15 years ago, it would be simple—we would have that resilience built in. But now we’re having to redesign our architectures to figure out how to do it. And so that’s where the rub lies and where the challenges are,” said Joel Mozer, Space Force director of science, technology, and research.
Defense News
A proposed exercise to assess progress made on the Pentagon’s joint all-domain command and control vision for seamless communications across the military should be driven by U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, according to one expert. Doug Bush, assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics, and technology, suggested the massive exercise, saying the time is right to put the evolving JADC2 capabilities of the Army, Air Force, Navy, and others through the crucible.
Breaking Defense
The Air Force needs a strategy to get more out of its investments in its different “raindrops” of software factories, according to a former Pentagon official who said he also fears the service isn’t growing enough talent in those initiatives. Ed Wilson, former deputy principal cyber adviser to the Secretary of Defense, said that though he’s a “big fan” of the “software factories for DevSecOps,” and sees their continued growth, he questioned how the service could “gain a bit more efficiency at times.” DevSecOps refers to an approach that combines software development, cybersecurity, and software operations.
SpaceNews
President Biden’s proposed defense budget for fiscal year 2023 is “record-breaking” when it comes to national security space, says a new report from the consulting firm Avascent. Funding for military space has increased every year since 2018, but that growth may not be sustainable, the report says. The administration’s own projections show that funding for the Space Force—$24.5 billion proposed for 2023—will grow by a modest 4.2 percent in 2025 before leveling off by 2027.
Military.com
More than 155,000 military family members and retirees will be moved from the military hospital system to civilian health providers starting later in 2022, a process expected to last through mid-2026, according to a new Defense Department report. Under a revised plan, however, at least 29 facilities that were slated to serve only Active-duty patients may still see some Active-duty family members to sustain their staffs' clinical skills.
Task & Purpose
It was a tough day July 12 for many Air Force staff sergeants hoping for a promotion to technical sergeant, a role that would give them more responsibilities as well as a bigger paycheck at a time when inflation and high housing prices are cutting into the bank accounts of many service members. The Air Force Personnel Center announced that out of 33,935 eligible staff sergeants, only 5,430 had been selected for promotion to technical sergeant, a selection rate of 16 percent. That’s a 10-point drop from last year’s 26.94 percent selection rate, and many Airmen worry that future promotions will be just as competitive in light of recent news that the Air Force is slowing down its promotion rate for noncommissioned officers in ranks E-5 (staff sergeant) through E-7 (master sergeant).
Air Force Magazine
FlightSafety International (FSI) is a name that resonates with pilots around the globe. Since 1951, FSI has been an industry leader in the education and training of aircrew and maintenance personnel. While being a well-established company, FSI continues to transform to meet customer needs. The development of innovative solutions is key to the transformation that complements FSI’s proven training programs as well as a renewed focus on improving the overall quality of products and programs. One significant transformation is the establishment of FSI Defense, formerly FlightSafety Services Corporation (FSSC).
Defense One
Russia, which used drones to terrifying effect in its initial 2014 invasion of Ukraine, appears in the current campaign to be losing both small and large drones at a rapid pace. Jake Sullivan, the Biden administration’s national security adviser, said July 11 that Iran was preparing to send “several hundred UAVs, including weapons-capable UAVs, on an expedited timeline” to Russia. That’s on top of recent reports out of Russia where regional officials have vowed to dig into their general budgets to buy the Russian Army more quadcopters.
Politico
The House voted to create a secure government system for reporting UFOs and to compel current and former officials to reveal what they might know about the mysterious phenomena by promising to protect the officials from reprisal. The bipartisan amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act, passed by voice vote without debate, is part of an aggressive effort to exert more oversight over an enduring intelligence-gathering challenge that has gained more attention in recent years.
Air Force Times
With just over two months left to hit its recruiting goals, the Air Force is dangling hefty enlistment bonuses for anyone who wants to fill a growing list of in-demand jobs. The service added several more career fields that come with signing bonuses for those who enlist for four or six years by Sept. 30, bringing the total to 22 specialties. Those new options largely focus on computer systems and aircraft maintenance-related fields.
One More Thing
Task & Purpose
The Air Force usually leaves water business to the Coast Guard and the Navy, but four Airmen with the 6th Security Forces Squadron Marine Patrol Unit at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida flipped the script in June by rescuing eight civilians whose boat had capsized in Tampa Bay and who were being circled by a 10- or 12-foot-long bull shark when the Airmen found them.
