The Air Force’s Air Advisor Academy at JB McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J., inactivated and was subsumed into the US Air Force Expeditionary Center’s schoolhouse during a July 10 ceremony. The training of specialized advisors to build foreign partners’ capacity transitions from Air Education and Training Command ?to the center’s Expeditionary Operations School under Air Mobility Command, according to a release. “What this does is provide a more efficient program,” said school deputy director Ken Arteaga. “It is important to continue the training even as we adjust to a changing budget environment,” he added. The move permits air advisor trainees to take advantage of shared training and range slots with the center’s other courses, and enjoy more exchange of tactics and doctrine with complementary disciplines at the school. The first class to graduate under the new arrangement began in June. USAF elevated its air advisory course to a stand-alone school in June 2012.
The new defense reconciliation bill includes $7.2 billion for Air Force and Navy aviation accounts, almost half of which will buy more F-15EXs. While electronic warfare, drones, connectivity and airlift all get attention, the F-35 was conspicuously absent from the package, with no explanation given.