Gen. Norton Schwartz, Chief of Staff, sees the continuation of the C-130J for a wide variety of missions as diverse as weather reconnaissance and gunship, rather than spending money to develop a new capability when research and development dollars are scarce. “We need to take advantage of these platforms where we can go get economies of scale,” Schwartz said in an interview. “We had a period of time where money was readily available, and that time is rapidly coming to a close.”
When Donald Trump begins his second term as president in January, national security law experts anticipate he may return to his old habit of issuing orders to the military via social media, a practice which could cause confusion in the ranks.