Pacific Air Forces boss Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. is arguing for a wholesale refresh of the Air Force’s roles and missions as he prepares to take the service’s top job. Brown, a decorated combat pilot, faced the Senate Armed Services Committee May 7 during a confirmation hearing to become the Air Force’s 22nd Chief of Staff. In answers to advance policy questions provided to the committee, Brown made the case for a sweeping review of what work the service should manage. There’s no better time to consider those changes than during the first few years of a new National Defense Strategy and the infancy of the Space Force, and in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, he said.

The Air Force inspector general is conducting a sweeping review of the service’s readiness assessments and reporting, the year after a Pentagon-wide order directed the armed forces to improve the state of key fighter fleets, according to the service’s presumptive next Chief of Staff. Air Force department leadership told the inspector general in mid-March to begin the classified review, Pacific Air Forces boss Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. told the Senate Armed Services Committee ahead of his May 7 confirmation hearing. The review’s findings will shape the service’s path forward as it looks for more comprehensive metrics for whether it can spring into action. Overall readiness reportedly grew 16 percent from April 2018 to February 2020.

The next Advanced Battle Management System experiment, slated for late August or early September, will focus on supporting U.S. Space Force, and the one after that will be centered on U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, Air Force chief architect Preston Dunlap said May 7. Speaking during a Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies virtual event, Dunlap said the next ABMS event will expand on things learned in last September's "on-ramp," while the Pacific event will be the first to take place "in the field." Dunlap also discussed distribution of secure personal devices that can download classified data but are "safe" when not being used for secret transmissions.

May 8 marks the 75th anniversary of the official end of the war against Nazi Germany. In 1945, the Allied powers accepted unconditional surrender from representatives of Adm. Karl Dönitz, the hand-picked new leader of Germany upon the April 30 suicide of Adolf Hitler. “Our rejoicing is sobered and subdued by a supreme consciousness of the terrible price we have paid to rid the world of Hitler and his evil band,” President Harry S. Truman said in announcing the German surrender. “Let us not forget, my fellow Americans, the sorrow and heartache which today abide in the homes of so many of our neighbors—neighbors whose most priceless possession has been rendered as a sacrifice to redeem our liberty.”

The Pentagon is proceeding with its planned drawdown to 8,600 troops in Afghanistan by July, but the situation will be “reassessed” with possible additional deployments if the Taliban does not stop attacking Afghan forces, a nominee to help lead Defense Department policy told lawmakers May 7. James Anderson, the nominee to be the deputy under secretary of defense for policy, told the Senate Armed Services Committee the Taliban has refrained from attacking U.S. troops and major urban centers, but the group has been “robustly" targeting Afghan forces at an “unfortunate level.” “We’re going to reassess all the conditions going forward,” Anderson said. “I would hope that the deal would not collapse.”

The military will accept COVID-19 survivors as recruits and new officers, contrary to reports that suggested the Defense Department planned to disqualify anyone with a history of COVID-19. But individuals who are hospitalized in connection with the new coronavirus will need a waiver to enter service, a DOD official told Air Force Magazine.

Airmen and F-35s from the 388th and 419th Fighter Wings at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, returned home on May 7 from the aircraft type’s second combat deployment to the Middle East. The Airmen and aircraft deployed to Al Dhafra Air Base, United Arab Emirates, in November 2019 for the F-35’s first “Immediate Response Force” deployment as tensions with Iran increased. During the six-month deployment, Airmen from the Active Duty 34th Fighter Squadron and Reserve 466th Fighter Squadron, as well as Airmen with the 34th and 466th Aircraft Maintenance Units, operated from multiple bases throughout the region and flew close air support, offensive and defensive counter-air, and maritime escort missions, according to a Hill release.

On March 23, the Air Force Association's Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies will host a virtual Nuclear Deterrence Series event featuring Scowcroft Group Principal Frank Miller. At a time when nuclear modernization programs are accelerating around the world, proposals to recapitalize the U.S. nuclear arsenal are at the forefront of debates over defense spending. Miller will share his insights into the prospects for U.S. nuclear modernization programs and the value of nuclear deterrence in today's competitive security environment. The think tank will post event video on its website and YouTube page after the live event.