The Air Force has decided not to attempt to implement its new physical fitness standards next month, delaying the start until July 2010. Feedback the service received from commanders and senior noncommissioned leaders indicated airmen and units needed more time to adapt to the new rules. The new implementation strategy, said Lt. Gen. Richard Newton, USAF personnel chief, will enable “a smoother transition” and provide commanders time to set up the new fitness assessment cells at the core of the new test process. In January, airmen will test under the current rules and test again in July under the new standard. (Air Force release)
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…