New Thinking on Missions Needed in QDR

Maj. Gen. Steven Kwast, the Air Force’s representative to the upcoming Quadrennial Defense Review, said Friday the QDR should force the Air Force to do some soul searching on how it prosecutes its core missions, regardless of the resolution of...

The Air-Minded QDR Opportunity

While the Quadrennial Defense Review has long been characterized as a “political football,” the review’s upcoming iteration is a chance for the Air Force to take a serious look at its mission and how it can bring solutions to the...

Lackland Boosting Instructor Corps

Air Education and Training Command is still striving to boost the number of total military training instructors at JBSA-Lackland, Tex., to 508, with 25 percent of all instructors female, said Gen. Edward Rice, head of Air Education and Training Command....

Airlift Working Group Findings Coming

The Air Force soon will release the findings of its Intra-Theater Airlift Working Group, said Secretary Michael Donley on Friday at AFA’s Air Warfare Symposium in Orlando, Fla. The working group is charged with determining from where the Air Force...

Questions Remain about T-X

Although members of industry descended upon Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, in late January to discuss the options available for the T-X trainer, Air Education and Training Command boss Gen. Edward Rice said it’s still not clear when or if the Air...

Taking a Toll

The last two decades of war and continuous operations have taken a significant toll on airmen, their families, and equipment, Secretary Michael Donley said on Friday in his speech on the state of the Air Force at AFA’s Air Warfare...

House of Cards

The President’s Fiscal 2014 budget request will be sent to Congress in the next few weeks, but officials here at AFA’s Air Warfare Symposium in Orlando, Fla., say it’s basically a house of cards. There is still too much uncertainty...

Sequestration-related Cuts Could Delay Promotions

The Air Force has cut back on “non-mission critical” temporary duty assignments as part of its sequestration mitigation efforts. That could mean delays to professional military education courses, such as the NCO Academy and mission-readiness training, said Air Force Secretary...

The Double Whammy

Sequestration and the contracting chaos attending it represent a “double whammy,” said Air Force Secretary Michael Donley on Friday. Speaking with reporters at AFA’s Air Warfare Symposium in Orlando, Fla., Donley observed that the sequester is “making a lot of...

Industrial Base Concerns

With dwindling work for contractors in a time of shrinking funds, the Air Force is keenly aware that industrial base concerns have to be a component in any procurement decisions, said Secretary Michael Donley on Friday. “The fewer the resources...

Downhill from March 1

The Air Force has set its priorities if the sequester kicks in on March 1, Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh told AFA’s Air Warfare Symposium in Orlando, Fla., on Thursday. Starting on March 1, “we’ll continue to support Afghanistan...

The Family Business of Airpower

The Air Force has been on a high operations tempo for deployments dating back years before 9/11 all the way to the 1990 Gulf War, CMSAF James Cody told the audience at AFA’s Air Warfare Symposium in Orlando, Fla., on...

Breedlove Eyed for SACEUR/EUCOM Leadership

Gen. Philip Breedlove, US Air Forces in Europe commander, is emerging as the leading candidate to become President Obama’s new nominee to lead NATO and US forces in Europe, according to press reports and officials speaking on background. A senior...

Looking Beyond F-35

The Air Force will have a “serious breach of capability” if the powers that be decide to cancel the F-35 strike fighter program in an effort to fix the nation’s budget crisis, said Gen. Mike Hostage, head of Air Combat...

Virtual Orlando, Part 2

Follow Air Force Magazine on Twitter (@AirForceMag) on Friday for live coverage of AFA’s 2013 Air Warfare Symposium (hashtag #AWS2013) in Orlando, Fla. Air Force Secretary Michael Donley will give his state-of-the-force address at 8:35 a.m. East Coast time, followed...

This is Going to Hurt

The 22-day furlough of 180,000 Air Force civilian employees in Fiscal 2013 if the sequester goes through will have a huge impact on the service’s readiness, said Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh. Addressing AFA’s Air Warfare Symposium in Orlando,...

Modernization Hit

Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh said Thursday, “we’re not sure what the impact will be” on modernization accounts if the sequester kicks in next month. Broadly, he told AFA’s Air Warfare Symposium in Orlando, Fla., “the F-35 program will...

Time and the Family Business

After talking about his family’s long service to the Air Force during his address at AFA’s Air Warfare Symposium in Orlando, Fla., on Thursday, CMSAF James Cody noted that many other airmen and their families have similar experiences. The balance...

Tiered Readiness at Air Combat Command

Regardless of whether sequestration kicks in on March 1, a solution is reached, or the budget issue is simply delayed yet again, Air Combat Command is likely to move to a state of tiered readiness, ACC boss Gen. Mike Hostage...

Dwindling OCO

Air Combat Command boss Gen. Mike Hostage said he already has spent “a significant portion” of the overseas contingency operations funds that support forces fighting overseas in this fiscal year. “My annual OCO budget for ACC for the combat air...

Sequester and the KC-46A

The KC-46A tanker program may survive the sequester intact, without the need for a contract renegotiation, according to Air Mobility Command chief Gen. Paul Selva. Because the program is operating under a “firm fixed-price” development and design contract at this...

Absolute Numbers

The figure of 1,763 F-35As needed by the Air Force remains the procurement objective, sequester or no sequester, said Lt. Gen. Burton Field, deputy chief of staff for operations, plans, and requirements. Speaking with reporters at AFA’s Air Warfare Symposium...

F-35 Training at Eglin to Escape Budget Ax

The Air Force would protect F-35 pilot training at Eglin AFB, Fla., if sequestration takes effect on March 1, Air Education and Training Command boss Gen. Edward Rice told reporters on Thursday at AFA’s Air Warfare Symposium in Orlando, Fla....

The Best Football Analogy We’ve Ever Heard

Gen. Paul Selva, head of Air Mobility Command, offered reporters an apt analogy to the current sequester crisis during his press conference on Thursday at AFA’s Air Warfare Symposium in Orlando, Fla. Likening the situation to the recent Super Bowl,...

All Battles to All People

Those involved with the Air Force-Navy AirSea Battle concept are trying to run a public relations campaign to educate the general public as well as the concept’s critics within the Pentagon on what the initiative is and isn’t, said senior...

Cross Domain the AirSea Battle Way

Speaking with the audience on Thursday at AFA’s Air Warfare Symposium in Orlando, Fla., Lt. Gen. Burton Field and Rear Adm. Bruce Grooms emphasized that the Air Force-Navy AirSea Battle concept is not just a pet project of “the Washington...

Lessons From Libya

Two years after Operation Odyssey Dawn started, a flurry of lessons-learned reports is in, and these reports have some significant observations about the Air Force and possible future such interventions. Among them, the Air Force’s involvement in the campaign proved...

Libya Model for Syria?

One of the drawbacks of NATO’s air intervention in Libya in 2011 is that it helped provide victory to a fractious coalition with elements whose interests don’t line up with those of the United States, according to panelists at AFA’s...

Airpower and Strategy in Constrained Times

In a changing world full of security challenges and a time of fiscal austerity, airpower is well-suited to protect, project, and defend American interests, said Richard Andres, a former advisor to the Air Force Chief of Staff, on Thursday. “Airpower...