Austin Urges Senate to Approve Nominations on Eve of Confirmation for Brown to be CJCS

July 10, 2023 | By Greg Hadley

As the Marine Corps found itself without a Senate-confirmed Commandant for the first time in 165 years, Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III begged lawmakers to end the months-long delay in confirming senior military leaders.

Austin made his comments as former Commandant Gen. David H. Berger retired without a confirmed successor on July 10, and just 24 hours before the start of Air Force Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr.’s confirmation hearing to become Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

More than 200 general officer appointments are caught up by a hold imposed by Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) on March 8, in protest over a Pentagon policy that provides paid leave and travel expenses for service members seeking abortion or other reproductive health services not available where they are stationed.

With Berger’s retirement, the Marines are wthout a confirmed Commandant for the first time since Archibald Henderson died in 1859.

“You know, it’s been more than a century since the U.S. Marine Corps has operated without a Senate-confirmed commandant,” Austin said at Marine Barracks Washington. “Smooth and timely transitions of confirmed leadership are central to the defense of the United States, and to the full strength of the most powerful fighting force in history. Stable and orderly leadership transitions are also vital to maintaining our unmatched network of allies and partners.”

Assistant Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Eric M. Smith, who was nominated to replace Berger, will be Acting Commandant until the Senate votes on his nomination.

It is rare for any of the military services to operate without a confirmed service chief: The last time the Air Force had an Acting Chief was in 2008, the Navy in 1996, and the Army in 1972.

But unless Tuberville removes his hold, it’s likely that Smith will be the first of several, as four of the five service chiefs are all preparing to leave their posts. Army Chief of Staff Gen. James C. McConville and Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael M. Gilday both hit the end of their four-year terms this summer. And with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark A. Milley’s term ending Oct. 1, and Brown nominated to replace him, the Air Force may also find itself without a confirmed Chief of Staff.

Brown faces the Senate Armed Services Committee on July 11, where Tuberville, a member of the committee, could press Brown on the abortion travel issue.

Brown is expected to win bipartisan support, having been confirmed 98-0 to be Air Force Chief of Staff in 2020. The committee can vote to approve his nomination and send it to the Senate floor after the hearing, but once there, it will join the growing backlog. To circumvent Tuberville’s hold, the Senate could hold roll-call votes on individual nominees, but Senate Democrats appear unwilling to do that, saying it would incentivize Tuberville to keep his hold in place and could incentivize others to follow suit. Trying to approve every single nominee through regular votes, they argue, would take months.

The National Defense Authorization Act is the likely mechanism for resolving the issue, either by amending the bill to block the Pentagon policy or to codify it into law. But Tuberville has told reporters he does not want to address the issue in the NDAA. The House is set to consider and vote on its version of the NDAA this week.

Meanwhile, planned moves for senior military officers and their families remain in limbo—a fact Austin highlighted in his remarks.

“Our military families give up so much to support those who serve—so they shouldn’t be weighed down with any extra uncertainty,” he said. “We have a sacred duty to do right by those who volunteer to wear the cloth of our nation, and their families. I remain confident that all Americans can come together to agree on that basic obligation to those who keep us safe.”

Yet Austin expressed confidence that “the United States Senate will meet its responsibilities.”

“I look forward to welcoming an outstanding new Commandant for our Marine Corps, and to adding many other distinguished senior leaders across the Joint Force,” he added.

Attitude Is Still Altitude For This Tuskegee Airman As He Turns 100 Years Old

July 10, 2023 | By David Roza

On July 13, retired Air Force Lt. Col. James Harvey III will celebrate his 100th birthday, the latest milestone for an original Tuskegee Airman who also won the first ever ‘Top Gun’ trophy and was one of the first African American fighter jet pilots.

Though Harvey’s days in the cockpit are over, he takes on aging with the same attitude he applied to the stick and throttle.

“Being old doesn’t mean anything. It’s just a number,” Harvey told Air & Space Forces Magazine. “It’s your attitude: you have to keep a positive attitude about everything. If you do that, you’re all right. And have a sense of humor. If you don’t have a sense of humor, you’re dead in the water.”

Harvey’s journey to the Air Force began as a child when a formation of P-40 fighters buzzed over his hometown of Nuangola Station in northeast Pennsylvania.

“I was standing in my yard and I saw this and I said ‘I’d like to do that one day,’ and that was it,” he said in a previous interview with the American Veterans Center.

The path to pilot wings was winding: Harvey said the Army Air Corps initially turned him down in January 1943 due to his race. In March, he was drafted to build runways as an Air Corps engineer.

“I was driving bulldozers, graders, carry-alls, all earth-moving equipment,” he recalled. “All this dust and sweat, I said ‘No, this isn’t for me.’”

Harvey applied for the Aviation Cadet Training Program, and this time he was successful. By April 1945, he was a full-fledged combat pilot. As a product of the Tuskegee Army Air Field flying school, he was also a member of the Tuskegee Airmen, a group of African American aviators and ground crew who battled both discrimination and the Axis powers and received three Distinguished Unit Citations for their outstanding combat record over Europe. But by the time Harvey earned his wings, the war in Europe was nearly over.

“Hitler knew I was coming, that’s why he threw in the towel the following month of May,” he joked during the American Veterans Center interview.

That was not the end of Harvey’s flying career, though. In 1949, the fighter pilot and three other Tuskegee Airmen represented the 332nd Fighter Group at the newly-formed U.S. Air Force’s inaugural Aerial Gunnery Competition, a.k.a. ‘Top Gun,’ over Nellis Air Force Base, Nev.

The odds were stacked against the Tuskegee men, who flew older P-47 Thunderbolts against the newer P-51 Mustangs and F-82 Twin Mustangs of their White competitors. But Harvey and his teammates had a secret weapon.

“We all wanted to be the best, so if each one of us wants to be best and we succeed at what we do, then we’ve got quite an organization,” he said.

Harvey described himself as a perfectionist and joked that, as a child, he drew Disney characters better than Walt Disney himself.

“I wanted everything to be right,” he said.

That attitude paid off in pilot training, where he would “practice, practice, practice until I had it the way I wanted it, and come time for a check ride I could just breeze right through it.”

At Top Gun, he and other pilots competed in exercises such as aerial gunnery, panel strafing, dive-bombing, skip bombing, and rocket firing. Skip bombing, Harvey explained, involves flying extremely low, with the airplane propellors clearing the ground “by about a foot,” before releasing ordnance. Each of the Tuskegee pilots notched a perfect score.

“Fighter pilots like to fly low and fast, and this gave us a chance to fly low and fast,” he said.

After winning the ‘Top Gun’ meet, Harvey went on to fly the F-80 fighter jet in the Korean War, where he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and 11 Air Medals. After Korea, he served as a flight commander, test pilot, and battle staff training officer for the commander of North American Aerospace Defense Command, according to the Air Force. Harvey retired in 1965 after a 22-year career and went on to work as a salesman for cold cut company Oscar Mayer.

Harvey had many medals and memories from his military career, but something was missing. After winning ‘Top Gun’ in 1949, the Tuskegee team was recognized with a large silver trophy and what Harvey described as a room full of silence.

“There was no applause or anything like that because we weren’t supposed to win it,” Harvey said in a 2022 video produced by AARP. “Little did I know that this was the last time the public would see the trophy for 55 years.”

The trophy vanished, and the results were recorded as ‘unknown’ for nearly 46 years, according to the Air Force. The trophy might still have been in storage today if not for a historian named Zellie Rainey Orr, who, according to the Washington Post, found the trophy in storage at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force in 2005. One of the Tuskegee Airmen, Lt. Col. Harry Stewart brushed the buried trophy off as “just a military screw-up,” he told Aviation History in 2012. But Harvey believed there was more to it.

“They took our pictures with the trophy, and they told us goodbye,” he said.

tuskegee airman — Retired U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. James Harvey III, an original Tuskegee Airman, admires The 332nd Fighter Group’s commissioned plaque for winning the U.S. Air Force’s inaugural 1949 Fighter Gunnery Meet “Top Gun,” at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, Jan. 10, 2022. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Zachary Rufus)

Whatever the case, the Air Force sought to make up for the error in 2022 by unveiling a plaque officially recognizing the 332nd Fighter Group team that won the meet 73 years earlier. The plaque is on display at the U.S. Air Force Weapons School at Nellis.

“We stand on the shoulders of giants in this profession, and Lt. Col. Harvey is one of those giants,” Gen. Mark Kelly, the head of Air Combat Command, said at the ceremony.

“I can finally close the pages on this chapter and say, ‘mission accomplished,’” Harvey said at the time.

Later that year, the champion saw Hollywood’s take on fighter jets in the form of “Top Gun: Maverick,” which he enjoyed despite its lack of realism, he told Air & Space Forces Magazine.

Despite the challenges he faced, Harvey said he cherished his military flying career, especially since he started without a hint of an aviation background.

“I never made a model, I didn’t know anything about aviation, but I really appreciated it,” he said. “The mere fact that I succeeded in flying school, graduated, then went off to a tactical outfit … it was like a dream and I thoroughly enjoyed it.”

Air Force Stops New Bonuses and Delays Some PCS Moves

July 10, 2023 | By Greg Hadley

The Air Force will stop awarding new bonuses and delay some permanent change-of-station orders to offset rising personnel costs.

USAF is reviewing all pending PCS orders for Airmen whose projected departure dates are Aug. 1 or later. While some will be approved on a “priority basis,” others will be delayed. Those who have already received orders will be allowed to move.

Moves will also be delayed for Airmen on long tours overseas, such as those accompanied by their families, whose “Date Estimated Return From Overseas” (DEROS) falls between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31. Those dates will be back to January-March 2024, according to a July 10 press release.

Putting a hold on orders and moves could complicate the lives of thousands of Air Force families. The busy summer “PCS season” is now underway.

Bonus cuts could affect hundreds more. While Airmen who have already signed a contract or been approved for certain bonuses will continue to receive them, the Air Force is no longer accepting new Airmen into three bonus programs:

Selective reenlistment bonuses. New selective reenlistment bonuses will be suspended beginning July 11. The bonuses, designed to help retain Airmen in hard-to-fill career fields, should return in the fall with the start of the new fiscal year. In the meantime, eligible service members will be allowed “to extend their current enlistment into Fiscal Year 2024,” the Air Force said. Some 51 job specialties were eligible for the bonus when the rates were last adjusted in May, down from 63 in 2022. Rates and offers are always subject to change.

Aviation bonuses. Just a month after announcing it was upping the maximum bonuses for pilots, air battle managers, and combat systems officers to $50,000 per year, USAF said it is pausing the program for restructuring. The service said it expects to reopen aviation bonuses within weeks. Eligible officers must typically commit to three to 12 additional years of service to qualify.

Assignment incentive pay programs. Assignment incentive pay is provided to certain Airmen with unusual or extended assignments. Airmen receiving it now will continue without change, but no additional Airmen will begin getting assignment incentive payments until the start of the next fiscal year, Oct. 1.

“The Air Force continues to work through additional options to avoid the funding shortfall and will provide more information when available,” the service release stated.

Rising costs for PCS moves and outdated funding projections for other programs drove the funding gap, a service spokeswoman told Air & Space Forces Magazine. In fiscal 2023, the service received $35.4 billion in military personnel funding, $194 million shy of its budget request.

Reductions come as the Air Force has begun to see retention levels across dip in the wake of record highs during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Air Force’s pilot shortage in particular continues to be an issue, exacerbated by increased hiring by the airlines.

Making matters harder is recruiting, which continues to run behind requirements, as fewer and fewer young Americans are either eligible or willing to serve. The Air Force expects to miss its recruiting goals by about 10 percent in fiscal 2023.

US Drones Evade Russian Fighter Jets, then Kill ISIS Leader In Successful Strike

July 9, 2023 | By Chris Gordon

After three straight days of harassment by Russian fighters, U.S. MQ-9s conducted an airstrike in Syria that killed an ISIS leader in Syria on July 7, U.S. Central Command and Air Forces Central said.

Usamah al-Muhajir, a leader of the militant group, was killed in the strike, CENTCOM said in a statement. No civilians were killed and the command said it is assessing whether any were injured.

The same three MQ-9s overcame harassment by Russian fighters earlier in the day, U.S. officials said. The Russians confronted and harassed the drones over a period of about two hours. It was the third straight day of similar encounters.

“Earlier today three MQ-9 drones were once again harassed by Russian fighter aircraft while flying over Syria,” Air Forces Central Commander Alexus G. Grynkewich said in a July 7 statement, before the strike was announced. “During the almost two-hour encounter, Russian aircraft flew 18 unprofessional close passes that caused the MQ-9s to react to avoid unsafe situations.”

According to U.S. officials, the encounter with the Russians was in western Syria. A U.S. official said the strike occurred in western Syria.

The July 7 incident was the latest in a series of Russian maneuvers intended to disrupt U.S. operations over Syria. On July 5, three U.S. MQ-9 Reaper drones on a mission against ISIS targets were intercepted by Russian fighters, which dropped parachute flares and engaged an afterburner in front of the U.S. drones. On July 6, Russian fighters released flares in front of two MQ-9s on an anti-ISIS mission.

In addition to the weaponry used July 7, Reapers also have intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities. The Pentagon swiftly declassified and released video of the first two incidents captured from the Reapers’ on-board cameras.

“We have made it clear that we remain committed to the defeat of ISIS throughout the region,” CENTCOM commander Army Gen. Michael “Erik” Kurilla added in a statement. “ISIS remains a threat, not only to the region but well beyond.”

Grynkewich and other U.S. military officials continue to raise alarm over Russian flying behavior over Syria, saying it endangers both sides’ forces and risks inhibiting U.S. operations against ISIS, which Russia ostensibly supports.

After a pause in Russian air activity near U.S. positions over the winter, Russian warplanes resumed regularly overflights of U.S. positions in Syria beginning in March. That same month, a U.S. base in northeast Syria was targeted in a strike by Iranian-backed militia in an incident that killed an American contractor.

The U.S. has around 900 troops in Syria to assist its Kurdish allies in fighting the remnants of ISIS. Russia is supporting the regime of Bashar Al-Assad. Grynkewich has said that Russian jets violate mutually agreed-upon deconfliction protocols designed to reduce the risk of inadvertent conflict in Syria and to keep the two nations’ air forces separate in eastern Syria. Since spring, Air Forces Central has said Russian jets have come as close as 500 feet from manned U.S. aircraft and considerably closer to uncrewed drones. Russians have also overflown U.S. troops dozens of times in violation of protocol.

The U.S. recently deployed F-22s to the region. A-10s and other U.S. aircraft have been used to patrol Arabian Gulf waters, after Tehran stepped up seizures of commercial vessels. Iran has captured nearly 20 commercial craft since 2021, according to the U.S.

Naval Forces Central said the guided-missile destroyer USS McFaul has successfully blocked attacks on two commercial vessels last week, by chasing away Iranian aggressors.

Russia and Iran have become increasingly cooperative since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year, with Iran providing drones to Russia, among other cooperative efforts, including their mutual support for the Assad government in Syria.

Grynkewich said Russia should honor its agreements and operate in a more responsible way over Syria.

“We continue to encourage Russia to return to the established norms of a professional air force so we can all return our focus to ensuring the enduring defeat of ISIS,” Grynkewich said.

Brown’s Confirmation Hearing for Chairman of Joint Chiefs to Be Held July 11

July 8, 2023 | By Chris Gordon

The long-awaited hearing to confirm the next Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff will begin on July 11, when Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown, Jr. is set to testify before the Senate Armed Services Committee.

That morning, Brown will face the dais of 25 Senators, four years after the current Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Army Gen. Mark A. Milley came before the SASC. Milley passed his roughly two-hour test, had his nomination approved by voice vote in committee, and was swiftly confirmed to the role in an 89-1 vote on the Senate floor just two weeks after his hearing.

If confirmed by the Senate, Brown would be the first Airman in 18 years to serve as the commander-in-chief’s top military adviser. Brown said he had a game plan for how to handle the scrutiny: be himself.

“I am who I am,” Brown said June 7 during an event at AFA’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies. “I think about joint operations. I think about combat capability—how we will continue to push ourselves to ensure we have the capabilities to provide the nation what it asks us to do.”

While Brown’s nomination has broad support in Congress from Democrats and Republicans, his confirmation will likely not be as straightforward.

Though Democrats narrowly control the Senate and have a 13-12 majority of the Democratic caucus in the SASC, Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) has placed a hold on all general and flag officer nominations to protest the Department of Defense’s reproductive health policies, which pays for service members to travel to seek an abortion or other care, such as in-vitro fertilization.

Tuberville’s office has said that the hold will apply to Brown, and it is holding up the confirmation of other officers nominated to be members of the Joint Chiefs.

“Uncertainty about incoming or outgoing commanders and senior leaders can make it difficult to plan for or advance mission requirements,” Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Brig. Gen. Patrick S. Ryder said July 6.

Still, the Senate can bring Brown up for a roll-call vote, and Milley’s term does not expire until the end of September.

Brown commanded air operations over the Middle East and led Pacific Air Forces before becoming Chief. He also commanded the Air Force Weapons School and is an F-16 pilot with 3,000 flying hours, including 130 combat hours.

Brown is known as a thoughtful leader. As Chief, Brown’s signature “Accelerate Change or Lose” mantra, primarily aimed at modernizing to meet China’s growing military, is broadly in line with the priorities of the White House, the Pentagon, and Congress.

Brown faced no dissenting votes after being nominated by President Donald Trump to lead the Air Force in 2020 and was confirmed 98-0 in a roll call vote.

But Brown’s nomination process may run into obstacles this time, at least in the short term, due to policies that have nothing to do with Brown as Tuberville sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee.

“I urge the Senate to once again confirm General Brown with the same overwhelming bipartisan support for his new role as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,” Biden said on May 25 when unveiling his pick.

NATO Details Leap in Member Defense Spending Ahead of Summit

July 8, 2023 | By John A. Tirpak

Ahead of a major NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, July 11-12, official statistics show a significant uptick in defense spending among allied members.

Despite that progress, the challenge of achieving the alliance’s spending targets will remain. The U.S. ambassador to NATO said on July 7 as the alliance is set to approve a range of defense plans “that will ensure we can literally defend every inch of NATO territory.”

According to information released on July 7 by NATO, 10 of 31 alliance members are achieving the current goal of spending two percent of their GDP on defense. In 2014, when the goal was first set, only three hit that mark. All members are hitting the objective of spending 20 percent of their defense spending on new equipment.

Twelve countries are spending better than 1.5 percent of GDP on defense, and only one member—Luxembourg—is spending less than one percent. The overall median is 1.87 percent for the alliance. The values for 2023 are estimates based on member reports, NATO said.

In the 16 months since Russia invaded Ukraine, NATO as a whole has also seen an overall eight percent real increase in defense spending above inflation, compared with two percent in 2022. In the same period, overall NATO member spending on equipment leaped from 8.5 percent real growth to 24.9 percent of real growth above inflation.

Julianne Smith, U.S. Ambassador to NATO, told reporters in a July 7 conference call that new, multi-domain regional defense plans that be rolled out in Vilnius. They cover a range of scenarios, including defending the Atlantic and Arctic, protecting central Europe and the Balkans, and defending southern Europe and the Mediterranean and Black Seas.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the plans represented a major bulking up of the alliance.

“To execute these plans, NATO is putting 300,000 troops on higher readiness, including substantial air and naval combat power,” Stoltenberg told reporters at NATO headquarters in Brussels.

Smith acknowledged that the new plans will need funding for forces and equipment that will support them.

“We’ll be focusing not only on these multi-domain plans, but we will also be focusing on the resourcing that’s needed to execute the plans, and that takes us to the defense investment pledge” of two percent of GDP, which was set in 2014 as a goal for members to reach by 2024.

The goal was set after Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, and the alliance members’ spending has been spurred by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

The summit is expected to produce a follow-on pledge that will set two percent as “an enduring commitment” that will be “a floor, not a ceiling,” Smith said.

Early in the 2010s, NATO also started counting how much members were spending on hardware, as equipment inventories were growing old and many members were spending the bulk of their defense money on pay and amenities rather than combat capability.

While in 2014, only seven members were hitting the goal of spending 20 percent of their defense budgets on equipment, in 2023, every member is achieving it, and the median is 27.3 percent for the alliance overall.

NATO’s overall, inflation-adjusted defense spending is also well up. In 2014, NATO was collectively spending $910 billion annually on defense, but in 2023, that figure is $1.1 trillion. While U.S. defense spending has grown from $660 billion to $743 billion during that period, the defense spending of the rest of NATO has increased at a higher pace, from $250 billion in 2014 to $356 billion in 2023. Some of that growth, however, was due to adding three new NATO members since 2017: Macedonia, Montenegro, and Finland.

As a share of its GDP, Poland is the biggest defense spender in NATO, budgeting 3.9 percent in 2023. The U.S. is second, spending 3.49 percent, followed by Greece at 3.01 percent, Estonia at 2.73 percent, and Lithuania at 2.54 percent. Luxembourg, at 0.72 percent, is the smallest spender, followed by Belgium at 1.13 percent, Spain at 1.26 percent, Turkey at 1.31 percent, and Slovenia at 1.35 percent.

The nations seeing the greatest increase in defense spending since 2014 are mainly in Eastern Europe, closest to the fighting in Ukraine, with Lithuania, Finland, Romania, Hungary and Latvia, and Slovakia all seeing a jump from about 1-1.5 percent of GDP to about 2-2.5 percent.

Poland, Finland, Luxembourg, Hungary, Greece, Romania, and Bulgaria are all undertaking the greatest increases in equipment spending, from as little as 1 percent to upwards of 36 percent. Poland’s equipment spending has jumped from about 18 percent of its overall budget to a majority of its defense budget at 52 percent.

In 2023, NATO allies are collectively spending an average of about 40 percent on personnel, 30 percent on operations and maintenance, 20 percent on new equipment—including research and development—and 10 percent on infrastructure, but there are outliers in all those categories. Italy and Spain each spend about 60 percent on personnel; Finland, Hungary, Luxembourg, and Poland all spend about 50 percent on new equipment, while Denmark and the U.K. each spend about 40 percent on operations and maintenance.

By NATO’s account, the U.S. spends 27.8 percent on personnel, 1.6 percent on infrastructure, 41.4 percent on operations and maintenance, and 29.3 percent on new weapons.

Personnel spending quoted for all countries includes pensions.

Smith said the alliance will unveil “a package of concrete deliverables” to Ukraine at the Vilnius summit, “in terms of longer-term practical assistance on things like their military modernization and questions of interoperability,” the alliance announcing a new “NATO-Ukraine Council” defense cooperation pact last month during a meeting of the alliance’s defense chiefs.

In Europe, SPACECOM Commander Pledges More Integration with Allies

July 7, 2023 | By Chris Gordon

The U.S. military relies on allies to conduct operations around the globe. Now, the U.S. is pushing for greater cooperation with its partners in Earth orbit.

The head of U.S. Space Command, Army Gen. James Dickinson, took a weeklong trip to Europe June 21-27 to meet with U.S. allies, some of which are starting up their own space commands, SPACECOM said in a July 5 news release.

Dickinson visited U.S. troops at Pituffik Space Base (formerly known as Thule Air Base) in Greenland, before heading to the French aerospace hub of Toulouse.

U.S. military space officials have been making a concerted effort to enhance America’s cooperation with European allies. Russia’s war in Ukraine has highlighted the critical importance space plays in intelligence, command and control, communications, and guided munitions.

In May, U.S. Space Force Lt. Gen. DeAnna Burt, deputy chief of staff for operations, cyber, and nuclear—the service’s Chief Operations Officer—visited NATO headquarters in Brussels in a bid to reinforce U.S. support for the alliance’s burgeoning commitment to space as a military domain. Dickinson also made a pitch to NATO, sharing a “vision for the future of collaboration in space,” according to the command.

Dickinson “focused on the importance of space to the global way of life; the threats facing the domain; the criticality of continued cooperation in ensuring the safety, security, stability, and sustainability of the domain,” SPACECOM said.

Dickinson spoke to NATO’s Military Committee and visited NATO’s Space Center of Excellence, a body established as the “catalyst” of the alliance’s role in space.

NATO declared space was the “fifth domain” in 2019—the year the U.S. Space Command and Space Force were created. In 2021, NATO said “attacks to, from, or within space” could invoke the alliance’s Article Five mutual defense clause.

Space Force will create its component inside U.S. European Command to transfer its existing space operations, part of U.S. Air Forces in Europe, into a component separate from the Air Force.

Dickinson also met with British officials, following Burt’s trip to London a month and a half earlier. Britain, too, has a space command, and the U.S. and U.K signed an agreement last year to work together even more closely in space.

“From a security perspective, an increasing number of countries are looking to use space to enhance their military capabilities and national security,” the Secure World Foundation wrote in its 2023 Global Counterspace Capabilities report.

Dickinson’s visit reinforces America’s push for the U.S. military and its European allies to marshal their forces against common threats such as Russia, which conducted an anti-satellite (ASAT) test in 2021, a move which the U.S. has repeatedly pointed to as an example of a tangible threat to space operations. China has conducted an ASAT test, mostly recently in 2007, and is bolstering its space capabilities. The U.S. also blew up one of its own satellites in a test in 2008, but has since pledged not to conduct direct-ascent kinetic anti-satellite tests.

“The meetings held, and the information shared this week, will continue to lead to stronger partnerships and integration in the future, ensuring a safe, secure, and sustainable space environment for all,” Dickinson said in a statement following the visit. “The bond between Europe and North America has made the North Atlantic Treaty Organization the world’s strongest military alliance, and I’m proud to witness how the alliance is making progress in integration in space.”

How This Little-Known Air Force Data Center Affects the Entire Military

July 7, 2023 | By David Roza

OFFUTT Air Force Base, Neb.–From the outside, it looks like any other U.S. government building, complete with brick walls, a glass facade, and an American flag out front. But the 557th Weather Wing headquarters here is more than brick and mortar. It is a nerve center that helps military commanders around the world answer one of their most important questions: what’s the weather?

“The level of customers that we have range all the way from the guys sitting out there in tanks to the guys in the Pentagon who need to know cloud coverage so they can see the ground” from space, Mike Thompson, a civilian cyber support technician with the 2nd Weather Support Squadron, a component of the 557th Weather Wing, told Air & Space Forces Magazine.

Forecasts produced by the 557th Weather Wing drive hurricane evacuation, survival, and rebuilding plans for commanders and emergency managers in the storm path; rain and snow forecasts impact soil moisture, which Army commanders use to plan mobility operations; analysis of turbulence and thunderstorms influence aviation route planning and fuel consumption rates; and reports on unfavorable space weather help commanders anticipate threats to satellite communications and GPS.

“There are some products we produce that, if they stopped going out, the commander will get a phone call within the hour,” Thompson said.

Forecasts cannot be made without data, and the data pouring into the 557th Wing headquarters come from a wide range of sources. The Air Force itself produces some of that data through weather squadrons assigned to Air Force and Army units worldwide. A retired master sergeant with 24 years of Air Force service under his belt, Thompson spent plenty of time producing that data himself while downrange in support of Operations Desert Shield, Desert Storm, and Northern Watch.

Beyond Air Force weather squadrons, the 557th also pulls in data from military satellites and satellites operated by civilian agencies such as the National Weather Service (NWS), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and partner nations. The 557th often passes satellite data from agencies like NOAA on to other services, making the wing a kind of “satellite broker for the Department of Defense,” Thompson said.

Satellite data is vital for building future weather models. Running those simulations takes a lot of computing power, which is why the 557th operates a $322 million strategic weather high-performance computing center.

“As the Air Force’s largest Special Purpose Processing Node, the computing center is the linchpin force enabler for U.S. Air Force and U.S. Army weather support operations,” according to the wing’s website. “These computing assets generate thousands of critical environmental products and services and deliver essential weather information to forecasters and operational end users every day—on a global scale.”

More data helps produce more accurate forecasts, but U.S. military planners are not the only ones who want that data, which is why Thompson and other cybersecurity professionals with the 2nd Weather Support Squadron are tasked with keeping the nerve center safe from cyber threats. It is a difficult task since the 557th takes in data from such a wide range of sources.

“I was pretty flabbergasted by how many connections we have,” Thompson said.

About 150 enlisted Airmen and civilians across three squadrons are responsible for cybersecurity for the 557th. As a cyber support technician, Thompson analyzes the wing’s data and networks for threats and vulnerabilities. If any irregularities are spotted, the cyber team investigates them for possible dangers, but ideally, the team identifies vulnerabilities and resolves them before they can be exploited.

“We’re looking for bad actors who are knocking on the door and trying to get in,” he said.

With so much information and such a critical mission, the data center’s cybersecurity staff is on the lean side, Thompson said, but they make the best of what they’ve got–the mission is too important for anything less.

‘We’ve Been Doing It Wrong’: SPACECOM’s Shaw Pushes New View of Operations

July 6, 2023 | By Chris Gordon

American military space operations are due for a significant overhaul to boost the Pentagon’s capability to deal with growing threats from China and Russia, the deputy commander of U.S. Space Command said July 6.

“The way we’ve been doing space operations since the dawn of the space age, we’ve been doing it wrong,” Space Force Lt. Gen. John E. Shaw, SPACECOM’s highest-ranking Guardian, said during an event at AFA’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies. Shaw said there could be a “fundamental doctrinal shift” toward more “dynamic space operations.”

While the U.S. military is increasingly emphasizing space capabilities, the Pentagon is still articulating how it should use the space domain in the future.

Some of the debate revolves around organizational issues. The U.S. Space Command was established in late 2019 as a geographic—or, as Shaw prefers, “astrographic”—combatant command responsible for military operations that are 100 kilometers over sea level and extend beyond. The Space Force was established as an independent service later that year.

That has led to some uncertainty about the division of responsibilities between SPACECOM and the Space Force. The Space Force also has its components within geographic commands, though Shaw noted those Guardians must follow the direction of their respective commanders when employing space capabilities.

“I do think that’s still going to evolve as well,” Shaw said of the component roles. “We need the Space Force components in the theaters.”

Shaw said those would likely focus on the “operational level … to make sure that the integration of space-based capabilities is as effective as it can possibly be in every and any scenario.”

Another question concerns doctrine and who will develop it. Currently, there is one joint publication on the domain, Joint Publication 3-14, which is simply titled “Space Operations.”

“I’ve asked the probing question, ‘Is one volume sufficient?’ And I think the answer is no,” Shaw said.

“I think we’re going to end up having several joint publications probably along the lines of Space Command and Control, Space Superiority Operations,” Shaw added.

One thing Shaw is sure of is that the U.S. must become more agile about how it conducts operations in space.

Previously, the U.S. military spent years developing expensive satellites designed to stay in service for many years. To mitigate the risks from Chinese and Russian anti-satellite weapons, the Space Force has pushed for cheaper, more proliferated satellites.

SPACECOM, Shaw said, is doing its part by pushing for more flexible operations. With anti-satellite weapons, jamming, and the possibility that the U.S. might conduct offensive space operations, largely static platforms will be inadequate.

The old way of doing things was “positional space operations,” Shaw said. “We launch a platform into orbit and we tend to leave it right in that orbit.”

“That’s not going to be sufficient anymore,” Shaw said. “We can’t have those constraints in the future. And so we’re trying to articulate a requirement to the Space Force that we need to be able to have sustained space maneuver for those platforms.”