Acti
ng Air Force Secretary Michael Donley, less than two weeks in his new post, already is making his presence felt. Yesterday, USAF announced that he has delayed implementation of an initiative to realign aircraft maintenance units for fighter, bomber, and rescue platforms into their respective flying squadrons. The change, which had been developed over the past year, was set to commence July 1 and be complete by Nov. 30. But Donley put off the move “to have an opportunity to discuss the appropriateness and timeliness of these changes with Air Force senior leaders within the context of today’s new realities,” service spokeswoman Vicki Stein told the Daily Report yesterday. A decision on final implementation will not be made until after Donley has conducted these discussions, she said.
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.