The Air Force plans to “lead by example” in beginning its coming manpower cuts. Chief of Staff, Gen. Michael Moseley, said Thursday morning that reductions to the service’s general officer rolls will be among the first cuts USAF makes to its end strength. He estimates that the service will eliminate 30 to 32 general officer positions, consisting of a to-be-determined mixture of one-star and two-star billets. USAF plans to slash about 50,000, by the latest count,—a mix of active, reserve, and civilian personnel.
Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall doesn’t see great value in trying to break the Sentinel ICBM program off as a separate budget item the way the Navy has with its ballistic-missile submarine program, saying such a move wouldn’t create any new money for the Air Force to spend on other…