Air Force Personnel Center officials believe Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz will formally approve within a few weeks the new physical fitness instruction senior service leaders unveiled in June. According to an Aug. 21 release, the new rules take effect Jan. 1, 2010, and AFPC officials recommend that airmen not wait for that date before embracing the new regimen. CMSgt. Mark Long, USAF’s enlisted promotions, evaluations, and physical fitness chief, said that the new rules would “bring about not only increased fitness, but greater clarity and understanding for both commanders and airmen.” (AFPC report by Daniel Elkins)
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…