Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne writes in his latest Letter to Airmen that USAF has “no plans to extend our restructuring beyond the current 40,000 reduction.” The Air Force has been drawing down its personnel for the past two fiscal years under a planned 40,000 full time equivalent cut that would take the force to around 316,000 by 2009 as a means to pay for weapons system recapitalization. However, Wynne notes that the service still is reconsidering whether it can continue toward a full cut of 40,000 because of Administration plans to increase the size of the Army and Marine Corps. Wynne writes, “Land component growth may require our Total Force drawdown to level off, while the size of specific elements within our Air Force might actually need to grow as well.”
Air Force Gen. Jacqueline D. Van Ovost—a trailblazer and one of the first 10 women to reach a four-star rank across the U.S. military—retired and passed control of U.S. Transportation Command to Air Force Gen. Randall Reed on Oct. 4, finishing an eventful tenure at TRANSCOM.