T
he Air National Guard, alone among the military components, did not achieve at least 100 percent of its December 2007 recruiting goal. It was shy by 26 recruits. However, although Lt. Gen. Craig McKinley, ANG director, has said he expects 2008 to be a tough recruiting year, the slight downturn hasn’t yet affected the bottom line, since the Air Guard began the new fiscal year with two very good months, bringing in 134 percent and 133 percent of its goals, respectively for October and November. In December, both the active duty Air Force and Air Force Reserve Command made 100 percent of their goals.
While U.S. defense officials have spent much of the past decade warning that China is the nation’s pacing threat and its People’s Liberation Army represents an urgent threat in the Indo-Pacific, several defense researchers are skeptical that the PLA has the human capital, the structural ability, or the political appetite…