The Air Force released an Energy Flight Plan on Tuesday, which outlines a long-term path toward energy assurance. Because the Air Force is largely dependent on the commercial electric grid, and both cyber and physical threats to that system are increasing, the service wants to ensure the mission can continue in the event of an outage. The 32-page plan focuses on three primary goals: “Improve resiliency, optimize demand, and assure supply,” states a Jan. 17 release. “We need to take a holistic approach to energy projects to provide resilient, cost-effective, cleaner energy solutions to ensure we can continue to operate when our energy supplies are interrupted,” said Miranda Ballentine, the assistant secretary of the Air Force for installations, environment, and energy. Ballentine approved the plan on Jan. 6. (Read the plan; Caution, large-sized file.)
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.