The Air Force Chief of Staff says the service’s long years of combat experience (see above) are driving it to change the way it develops and trains airmen. Gen. Michael Moseley told Pentagon reporters, “We are looking at what it takes to better prepare our people to operate in an expeditionary Air Force engaged in a global war on terrorism that will likely last a generation, and that’s a hug set of challenges and opportunities for us.” The service is about to launch a huge personnel change that will consolidate many of the service’s myriad career fields. Tomorrow’s “airman will have to be prepared to fight across all spectrums of conflict,” said Moseley.
A provision in the fiscal 2025 defense policy bill will require the Defense Department to include the military occupational specialty of service members who die by suicide in its annual report on suicide deaths, though it remains to be seen how much data the department will actually disclose.