What Air Force Maintainers Think of the New Force Design

What Air Force Maintainers Think of the New Force Design

Jan. 28, 2025 | By David Roza

When the Air Force revealed a new force design for its aircraft maintenance career fields Jan. 27, it kicked off a wave of discussion on social media forums about what it might mean for one of the branch’s largest career fields. Air & Space Forces Magazine checked in with former and current maintainers for their thoughts on the sweeping change, which would start to take effect in 2027. 

Proponents of the new design said it could provide junior enlisted Airmen more hands-on time to master the fundamentals of aircraft maintenance, and more experienced Airmen the chance to stay close to the flight line throughout their careers. It might also help prepare maintainers for working in smaller, isolated teams and on next-generation platforms.

On the other hand, critics fear the new design could dilute expertise across the career field and reduce local leaders’ ability to solve complex maintenance problems. Another concern is how the Air Force would switch to the new scheme amid a recent maintainer recruitment slump and resource scarcity. 

The Force Design

The new plan would condense more than 50 aircraft maintenance job specialties down to just seven. Junior enlisted maintainers will start out in a generalist track, a single Air Force Specialty Code (AFSC) where they will be trained on the most common maintenance tasks, such as launching, recovering, and fueling aircraft, across multiple airframes.

Under the current system, junior enlisted maintainers start their careers in a specific niche, such as avionics, hydraulics, or structures. But in the new force design, specialization would not occur until the rank of Senior Airman. Once there, Airmen will choose between six tracks: Avionics and Electrical, Aerospace Ground Equipment, Advanced Mechanical, Crew Support Systems, Fabrication, and Intermediate-level engines.

The specialties would not be tied to a specific airframe, which would allow for more assignments and development opportunities, maintenance career field managers at Headquarters Air Force said in a memo.

Once they reach the rank of technical sergeant, Airmen can apply to join the technical track, where they would pick up skills from all six specialties to become “THE nose to tail cross-functional expert” on a given airframe the rest of their careers, managers wrote.

Alternatively, technical sergeants can stay in a specialist track until they reach master sergeant, where they switch to the leadership track, providing institutional and functional oversight. Airmen can stay in the technical or leadership track, or they could switch between the two.

Maintainers from the 18th Maintenance Group remove a tire from a KC-135 Stratotanker during an isochronal inspection at Kadena Air Base, Japan, May 22, 2019. (U.S. Air Force photo by Naoto Anazawa)

Contexts and Concerns

The memo laid out two reasons for the new force design: workload and the possibility of conflict against Russia or China. Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force David Flosi told reporters in September that only 20 percent of maintenance tasks account for 80 percent of the workload. Focusing on that 20 percent early in a maintainer’s career will build “a more agile base of early career maintainers,” the memo said.

The new force design is not an attempt to do more with less, said Flosi and the career field managers. 

“We’re not trying to, like, squeeze 10 people’s worth of work into five people,” Flosi said in September. “We want to have the capability for an Airman to do as much as they have capacity for.”

A more agile maintainer base may help in a conflict against a technologically advanced adversary, where smaller groups of Airmen will have to generate aircraft from farther-flung airstrips. But one Air Force veteran worried the new force design does not address a fundamental problem: lack of resources. 

“While the Air Force claims this policy isn’t about ‘doing more with less,’ it fails to acknowledge that the current maintenance workforce is already operating in a resource-deficient state,” said Chris McGhee, a retired master sergeant who spent 20 years fixing F-16s. 

Last year, an Air Force Times investigation found a five-year high in aviation mishaps in fiscal 2023 and blamed it in part on an estimated 1,800-person shortage in a maintenance corps spread over a fleet of aging, high-demand aircraft.

By 2024, that gap shrank to about 500 maintainers, but it takes time to grow an experienced workforce, and McGhee worries the new force design will drag that out even longer.

“Under the current system, an Airman Basic begins their career in a specific specialty—like hydraulics—and focuses exclusively on building skills in that field,” he explained. “When they arrive at the hydraulic back shop, they aren’t an expert yet, but they’ve developed a solid foundation in hydraulics.”

That Airman Basic can always fill in as a generalist for more universal tasks, but if a critical hydraulic problem comes up, they have the specialized skills to fix it, he said. Switching to a generalist track early on would weaken that foundation for technical depth.

“It also undermines the flexibility to reallocate personnel effectively,” McGhee added. “Instead of being able to move a hydraulics troop to help avionics when needed—and still have a specialist for hydraulics—you end up with generalists everywhere, and specialists nowhere.”

Online commenters made similar points.

“We need technicians who have been reading wiring diagrams as their primary focus for YEARS,” wrote one Redditor who said they worked in environmental and electrical for 11 years. “I need someone who knows what a twisted pair, twisted triplet, and NDC cables are and that they can’t be spliced AT ALL.”

U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Jacob Millette, 134th Fighter Generation Squadron, crew chief, conducts post-flight procedures on an F-35A Lightning II after arriving at Kadena Air Base, Japan, Jan. 13, 2025. . (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Tylir Meyer)

Hands-On

Still, other experts said they were encouraged by the prospect that younger Airmen could get more time practicing maintenance fundamentals under the new force design.

“In my opinion, it seems as if we aren’t giving maintainers a good ‘hands on’ foundation of aviation maintenance, but through the new design, every Airmen will have the opportunity to understand basic aircraft principles practically instead of theatrically through in-class training,” one anonymous production superintendent told Air & Space Forces Magazine.

Despite today’s emphasis on specializing early on, the superintendent said he has seen fuels technicians not know how to refuel or defuel their own aircraft, as well as hydraulics technicians who do not know how to verify a jet’s hydraulics system is depressurized.

“In my experience, our Airmen aren’t lazy or unintelligent,” he said. “They are frustrated because they don’t get enough reps in the fundamentals before having to become a specialist.”

The superintendent said he benefited from a flying crew chief prospect program which taught him the fundamentals of aircraft maintenance. Despite starting out as a hydraulics specialist, he soon became qualified on every maintenance task on the C-130.

Once Airmen gain a solid foundation and have a chance to specialize, the new force design may help keep those experienced Airmen on the flight line, said another anonymous maintenance NCO.

Under the current system, maintainers may start out in a specialized track, but by the time they become a noncommissioned officer, they have to take on leadership roles to stay competitive in the promotion cycle.

“If you’re a tech sergeant on the flight line, you might be the most capable mechanic, but you’re not looked at as being successful because you haven’t been a flight chief,” he said. “An Airman can say ‘I can learn how to change this brake really well, or I can find things to do that show me being a capable leader.’”

A commenter on Facebook who said they are a career crew chief made a similar point.

“By the time they [Airmen] got or started to be experts in their career field, they then got into management,” the commenter wrote in a message posted by the administrator of the unofficial Air Force amn/nco/snco Facebook page. “By the time one got to E-5 [staff sergeant] he was not [sic] longer turning wrenches full time.”

The new technical track could let experienced NCOs stay hands-on rather than lose their edge in managerial roles. It may also be a chance to re-emphasize the value of technical proficiency.

“What the Air Force has valued, to me, has been leadership skills, but what the Air Force needs is technical skills,” the anonymous NCO said.

air force mq-9
Airmen assigned to the 20th Special Operations Aircraft Maintenance Squadron lift the radome off of an MQ-9 Reaper at Melrose Air Force Range, New Mexico, Dec. 18, 2024. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Gracelyn Hess)

More Adaptable

A maintenance corps made up of more generalized junior Airmen guided by lifelong technical experts may help prepare the force for operating future platforms whose maintenance needs could look different than today’s fleet. Air Force officials envision a future with more expendable uncrewed aircraft whose service life may be measured in years rather than decades, though it is not clear how close that future might be amid tight budgets and shifting defense priorities.

“What I see is they are trying to make the career field more adaptable to whatever comes next,” the anonymous NCO said. 

For example, the new force design emphasizes that maintainers will be platform-agnostic unless they join the technical track. By contrast, in today’s system, a C-5 maintainer can sign off on an actuator on the jet’s wing, but they may not be qualified to sign off on the same actuator on the tail of a C-17. 

There are valid safety reasons why that’s the case, the NCO said, but it could be a hindrance in a future conflict where Airmen may have to jerry-rig maintenance solutions to launch aircraft from an isolated field in the Pacific.

Implementing the force design will be difficult, said the superintendent, who worried about burnout and clashes between leadership and technical tracks amid a changing cultural dynamic and a nonstop high operational tempo.

“My biggest concern is how do you hold onto the experience long enough to train the maintainers during this transition?” he said. “I worry we might slow promotions and overwork our remaining experts to fill the gaps during the transition.”

Even if the Air force sticks the landing, it will take time for the seeds of such a large transformation to bear fruit. The first generalist track Airmen won’t join the service until 2027.

“People have to buy into it, and they’re probably not going to at first because they’re not used to it,” the NCO said. “It’s a big step in a different direction, but I think it’s necessary.”

Trump Wants an Iron Dome for America. How the Space Force Is Key to Making It Happen

Trump Wants an Iron Dome for America. How the Space Force Is Key to Making It Happen

Jan. 28, 2025 | By Chris Gordon

President Donald Trump has directed the Pentagon to prepare a sweeping plan within 60 days on how to defend the American homeland against attacks from Russian and Chinese missiles and other aerial threats. 

Dubbed “Iron Dome for America,” the initiative is outlined in an executive order issued on Jan. 27. The directive calls for a comprehensive air and missile defense strategy, with a heavy emphasis on space-based interceptors that could knock out attacking intercontinental ballistic missiles.

“The threat of attack by ballistic, hypersonic, and cruise missiles, and other advanced aerial attacks, remains the most catastrophic threat facing the United States,” the order states. “President Ronald Reagan endeavored to build an effective defense against nuclear attacks, and while this program resulted in many technological advances, it was canceled before its goal could be realized.”

Experts outside the government said the White House’s push puts new weight behind needed missile defense efforts, with an emphasis on the quick development of a plan for a future missile defense architecture and a roadmap for how to develop and deploy it.

“There is an emphasis on a full spectrum of threats and I think that’s appropriate,” said Tom Karako, an air and missile defense expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “… It’s not like it’s technologically infeasible. It just requires effort.”

Trump’s order does not say what new funds might be devoted to the efforts but stipulates that the plan needs to be in hand before the budget for fiscal 2026 is prepared. 

Key to the effort will be the Space Force. The plan calls for a boost in the Space Development Agency’s “Custody Layer.” It is part of the effort of Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture, in which SDA plans to field hundreds of satellites that can also transfer data and facilitate navigation, with plans for additional capabilities.

“You may have a sensor that only sees a portion of the trajectory, and what you want to be able to do is hand off the tracking,” explained Charles Galbreath, a retired Space Force colonel who is now a senior fellow at AFA’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies.

“The ability to maintain custody through different phenomenology and across different regions of the glide path is absolutely critical to supporting the multi-layered missile defense approach that the executive order is advocating for,” Galbreath said.

The Trump administration plan also calls for the fielding of Hypersonic and Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor satellites (HBTSS), another project well underway that is designed to be integrated with the SDA’s custody layer of satellites. HBTSS is a collaboration between the Missile Defense Agency and the Space Force.

The plan also calls for the development of a variety of kinetic and nonkinetic capabilities to take out missiles and other threats in multiple phases of flight. Notably, the plan floats “the development and deployment of proliferated space-based interceptors capable of boost-phase intercept” of missiles.

“It takes it a step further to say we’re not just going to track them, we’re going defend against them in every way possible—at least he’s directing to study and review it and make recommendations,” Galbreath said.

Trump’s concept recalls President Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative, which Reagan said would seek to render “nuclear weapons impotent and obsolete.” That expansive goal was never realized. The limited missile defense the U.S. currently maintains is intended to block a North Korean attack and is not capable of thwarting a Russian or Chinese strike that involves a large number of missiles. 

Trump’s call for space-based interceptors has brought attention to a sensitive issue that is not generally discussed in such blunt terms. 

In recent years, the Space Force has begun to argue space is no longer a benign environment but a “warfighting domain.” The service has crept ever closer to openly acknowledging it will need weapons of some sort—at least of a defensive nature—in space, increasingly referring to “counter-space” capabilities and “space fires” in recent years.

“This is the year where we need to have a conversation about that. The world has changed. Technology has changed,” Karako said. “The implications of space as a warfighting domain have begun to sink in, and as they do, we are going to see the multiplicity of kinetic and nonkinetic space fires.” 

Two Air Force Leaders Fired This Month in Unrelated Incidents

Two Air Force Leaders Fired This Month in Unrelated Incidents

Jan. 28, 2025 | By Greg Hadley

A colonel and a brigadier general were each fired from high-profile jobs within two weeks of each other following investigations, according to the Air Force. 

Brig. Gen. Erik Quigley, program executive officer for the bombers directorate at the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, was fired Jan. 28 by Air Force Materiel Command boss Gen. Duke Z. Richardson. Quigley was relieved “due to a loss of confidence in his ability to lead, following an internal investigation which revealed inappropriate personal relationships,” according to an AFMC release.

Twelve days earlier, Col. Julie Sposito Salceies was fired from her job commanding the 613th Air Operations Center by Pacific Air Forces commander Gen. Kevin B. Schneider. A PACAF release said the Jan. 16 removal was the result of a “loss of confidence in her ability to command the organization,” but in response to questions from Air & Space Forces Magazine, a spokesman said the command had “validated a UCMJ violation, leading to a decision to relieve her from command.” 

Quigley was responsible for guiding sustainment and modernization of the Air Force’s B-1, B-2, and B-52 fleets, and had been in the job since April. His role put him in charge of the major upgrade program for USAF B-52s, which include new engines, radar, cockpits, and more to keep the Stratofortress flying for decades to come. 

Not included in Quigley’s portfolio was the new B-21 Raider, which is being developed under the control of the Air Force’s Rapid Capabilities Office. 

A career acquisition professional, Quigley led the Minuteman III systems directorate from 2020 to 2022, then spent time as director of staff at AFMC and director of the command’s Digital Acceleration Task Force. He was reassigned to a role within AFMC headquarters, a spokesperson told Air & Space Forces Magazine. 

Sposito Salceies took command of the 613th AOC in June after commanding the 609th Air Operations Center—the Combined Air Operations Center in the Middle East, one of the busiest commands in one of the most complex regions of the world. The 613th provides command and control of U.S. air assets in the Indo-Pacific, a more expansive region.  An air battle manager by trade, Sposito Salceies was reassigned to a position at PACAF headquarters, an official said. 

Senior Editor David Roza contributed to this report.

Lt. Gen. Laura Lenderman, Pacific Air Forces deputy commander, presents the guidon to Col. Julie Sposito Salceies, 613th Air Operations Center incoming commander, on Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, June 26, 2024. U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Mark Sulaica
New Air Force Plan: Just 7 Aircraft Maintenance AFSCs

New Air Force Plan: Just 7 Aircraft Maintenance AFSCs

Jan. 27, 2025 | By David Roza

A new Air Force memo lays out how the service aims to condense its list of more than 50 aircraft maintenance job specialties down to seven, starting in 2027.

In a memo dated Jan. 24, maintenance career field managers at Headquarters Air Force said the change will focus younger maintainers on entry-level tasks and free up experienced hands for more technical work. The memo was leaked on the unofficial Facebook page Air Force amn/nco/snco, and an Air Force spokesperson confirmed it was authentic.

“An in-depth analysis confirmed what many of you already know: as maintainers, a small number of our tasks consume the majority of our time,” wrote Chief Master Sgts. Abbi G. Cabeen, Joseph L. Hicks, and Timothy M. Wells, who manage the avionics, aircraft systems, and crew chief career fields, respectively.

“The future force design leverages this and trains early-career Airmen on our most common tasks, which will free up experienced Airmen to focus on tasks that require substantial expertise,” they wrote.

Under the new plan, junior enlisted Airmen will start out in a generalist track, a single Air Force Specialty Code (AFSC) where they will be trained “on the most common maintenance competencies and be charged with applying them across multiple airframes,” according to the memo.

Those common tasks include launching, recovering, and fueling aircraft, but Airmen will also be exposed to more specific skills in the generalized track.

Once Airmen reach the rank of Senior Airman and are preparing to become noncommissioned officers, they will become a specialist in one of six areas: 

  1. Avionics and Electrical, which combines avionics with the electrical side of the Environmental and Electrical (E&E) specialty
  2. Aerospace Ground Equipment, which will look the same as it does now
  3. Advanced Mechanical, which combines crew chiefs, fuels, hydraulics, and the flight line side of engine maintenance
  4. Crew Support Systems, which combines ejection seat systems with the environmental side of E&E
  5. Fabrication, which combines aircraft structural maintenance, aircraft metals technology, and nondestructive inspection.
  6. Intermediate-level engines, for maintainers dedicated to intermediate-level engine maintenance.

The specialties would not be tied to an airframe, which the memo said will allow “for more assignments and development opportunities for ALL 2A Airmen.” 2A is the general term for aircraft maintenance AFSCs. There are about 86,000 2A aircraft maintainers across the service, according to 2024 data.

Airmen will stay in a specialized track through the rank of technical sergeant, at which point they can apply for the “highly selective” technical track, where Airmen become “THE nose to tail cross-functional expert” on a given airframe. Selectees would pick up skills from all six specialties and focus on just one airframe.

Alternatively, technical sergeants can stay in a specialist track until they reach master sergeant, where they switch to the leadership track providing institutional and functional oversight. Airmen can stay in the technical or leadership track through the rest of their careers, or they could switch between the two tracks.

c-17
U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Anthony Goodman, 15th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron engines technician, inspects the engine of a C-17 Globemaster III during Exercise Global Dexterity 23-2 at Royal Australian Air Force Base Amberley, Nov. 29, 2023. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Makensie Cooper)

The memo comes about four months after Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force David Flosi floated the idea to reporters at AFA’s Air, Space & Cyber Conference. He cited an analysis by Air Force headquarters which identified 54 aircraft maintenance AFSCs and noted that of the many tasks they train for, only 20 percent of them account for 80 percent of the work.

Focusing on that first 20 percent early on in a maintainer’s career “will provide us more agility on the flight line,” the chief said. “We’ll have more people that are qualified on the tasks that are most frequently done, and then bolt-on capability capacity.”

Flosi said the impetus for these changes is the possibility of conflict against China or Russia, where smaller groups of Airmen will have to generate aircraft from farther-flung airstrips.

“We’ll be contested in the air, on the ground, in the information environment. Supply chains are far more difficult in the [Indo-Pacific] theater,” Flosi said. “So we need to put the smallest number of Airmen into harm’s way and achieve the maximum capacity out of each one of them.”

The effort dovetails with the mission-ready Airmen concept, where Airmen step outside their usual specialty to refuel a bomber, defend the airfield, or other tasks to accomplish the mission. It means each Airman will be qualified to do more, but it is not “do more with less” Flosi said.

 “We’re not trying to, like, squeeze 10 people’s worth of work into five people,” he said. “We want to have the capability for an Airman to do as much as they have capacity for.”

The memo writers made a similar argument.

“As aircraft maintainers, we balance a significant and ever-growing workload, based on the reliability and utilization of our fleet,” they wrote. “In a [Great Power Competition]-combat environment, being well-positioned to fulfill this workload is critical and this design aims to more efficiently distribute our workload across our force.”

It took 18 months to develop the plan, which was “carefully vetted” across the aircraft maintenance community and with Air Force leadership, the memo said. While aspects of the plan may change, the goal is to have the first cohort of generalist track Airmen enter the service in 2027. 

Current Airmen will not see changes in their day-to-day work during and immediately after the switch, though they would see administrative and organizational changes such as to their AFSC title and unit manpower document, the memo said.

The Truth About Air Force Basic, Tuskegee Airmen, and Trump’s DEI Order

The Truth About Air Force Basic, Tuskegee Airmen, and Trump’s DEI Order

Jan. 27, 2025 | By Greg Hadley

In the wake of President Donald Trump issuing executive orders about diversity, equity, and inclusion programming in the military, news reports started blaring that videos about the Tuskegee Airmen and other historical figures had been banished from Air Force Basic Military Training—with some reports suggesting that pulling the videos was an act of “malicious compliance” with the order.

Here’s what’s really going on, according to Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David W. Allvin: The service is “faithfully executing” the president’s orders and will continue to teach new trainees about the Tuskegee Airmen and the Women Air Force Service Pilots, or WASPs, whose contributions to the war effort helped win World War II.

“While we are currently reviewing all training courses to ensure compliance with the executive orders, no curriculum or content highlighting the honor and valor of the Tuskegee Airmen or Women Air Force Service Pilots has been removed from Basic Military Training,” Allvin said in a Jan. 27 statement.

Air Education and Training Command boss Lt. Gen. Brian S. Robinson said in a separate statement: “The Air Force has not removed these Airmen’s incredible heritage from any training. Their personal examples of service, sacrifice and combat effectiveness are illustrative of the core values, character and warrior ethos necessary to be an Airman and Guardian.”

The controversy began Jan. 23, when the Air Force started shutting down DEI offices and identifying which parts of its training curriculum needed revisions to comply with the executive orders. AETC identified the “Airmindedness” unit at Basic Military Training as having “included DEI material.” Also in those units, however, were videos about the Tuskegee Airmen and WASPs, trailblazing units of Black and female Airmen, respectively. These were “interwoven” into the programming, said an Air Force official who spoke on background to Air & Space Forces Magazine. The videos were “not the direct focus of course removal actions.”  

While the Air Force worked on revisions, Robinson said, “one group of trainees had the training delayed.” 

Word of the changes leaked when a memo was posted on the popular and unofficial Air Force Amn/NCO/SNCO Facebook page.

That’s when the blowback started. The Tuskegee Airmen Inc., a nonprofit devoted to preserving the Tuskegee Airmen’s history, issued a statement criticizing the move, and Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.) took to social media to charge the Air Force with “malicious compliance,” suggesting someone obeyed the directive in a way intended to undermine the order’s intent.  

Newly installed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth thanked Britt on social media, saying the change had been “immediately reversed.” At least one online news outlet has published criticism suggesting Air Force units and bases are using “malicious compliance” while following Trump’s DEIA order.

But Allvin disputed the charge. “Despite some inaccurate opinions expressed in reporting recently, our Air Force is faithfully executing all the President’s executive orders,” Allvin said. “Adhering to policy includes fully aligning our force with the direction given in the DEI executive order. Disguising and renaming are not compliance, and I’ve made this clear. If there are instances of less-than-full compliance, we will hold those responsible accountable.” 

While the video presentations on the Tuskegee Airmen and WASPs were delayed for one group of Airmen, both Allvin and Robinson said no videos were ever removed from the curriculum. 

On Jan. 27, the revised training unit was re-introduced, Robinson said, with a focus “on the documented historic legacy and decorated valor with which these units and Airmen fought for our Nation in World War II and beyond.”  

Allvin said he has “directed our Air Force to implement all directives outlined in the executive orders issued by the President swiftly and professionally—no equivocation, no slow-rolling, no foot-dragging,” according to his statement. “When policies change, it is everyone’s responsibility to be diligent and ensure all remnants of the outdated policies are appropriately removed, and the new ones are clearly put in place.” 

Air Force officials did not immediately respond to queries from Air & Space Forces Magazine seeking details on what “DEI material” was removed from the boot camp training unit, how much material was removed, and what, if anything, has replaced it in the curriculum. 

A 2019 revision to Air Force Instruction 36-7001 established three hours of diversity training in boot camp as the “optimal instruction time” over seven and a half weeks. It’s unclear if the videos on the Tuskegee Airmen and WASPs were introduced to help fulfill that requirement or if they predate the instruction, but celebration of both groups as part of the Air Force’s heritage is not new. 

During President Trump’s first term in office, the Air Force designated the new T-7 jet trainer as the “Red Tail,” in honor of the Tuskegee Airmen, whose planes had distinctive red tails, and he also celebrated famed Tuskegee Airman Charles McGee at his final State of the Union address, announcing his honorary promotion to brigadier general at the age of 100. McGee died in 2022, aged 102.

During World War II, the U.S. Army Air Corps trained its first Black pilots at Tuskegee, Ala., even as the Armed Forces remained largely segregated. Between aviators, ground crews, and support personnel, nearly 14,000 individuals became “Tuskegee Airmen.” They distinguished themselves in combat over hundreds of missions, earned scores of decorations, and are credited with helping pave the way for integration in the military. In 2007, they were recognized with the Congressional Gold Medal. 

At the same time, more than 1,000 women flew as WASPs—they freed up male pilots for combat missions by ferrying aircraft, working as test pilots, towing targets for gunners, pulling weather reconnaissance missions, flying student navigators and bombardiers, and instructing male pilots. Technically civilians, they were granted honorable discharges and veteran status in 1977 and were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 2010. 

Pentagon Editor Chris Gordon and Senior Editor David Roza contributed to this report.

New ‘Space Campus’ to Boost Space Force in Middle East

New ‘Space Campus’ to Boost Space Force in Middle East

Jan. 27, 2025 | By David Roza

The Space Force broke ground on a new ‘Space Campus’ at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, on Jan. 14—a move officials say will boost space operations and capabilities in the Middle East.

“This complex will soon become a beacon for the vital space systems and operations that underpin U.S. CENTCOM’s mission of promoting stability, security, and partnership across the region,” Col. Frank Brooks, deputy commander of Space Forces Central, said according to a Jan. 24 press release. 

Space Forces Central (SPACECENT) stood up in 2022 as the service component to U.S. Central Command. Commander Col. Christopher Putman told Air & Space Forces Magazine at the time that the new organization would better integrate space capabilities such as missile warning with the rest of the joint services operating in CENTCOM.

At first, the component had only around 30 Guardians deployed to Al Udeid. In recent months, however, SPACECENT has grown.

In March, it activated Combat Detachment 3-1, which provides command and control for SPACECENT teams that in turn provide missile warning detection, space-based communications, and GPS, according to a press release at the time. Guardians there have already made a difference warning of missile launches aimed at U.S. troops and ships in the Red Sea, Stars and Stripes reported last year. 

In June, the Space Force took official ownership of the Army’s Joint Tactical Ground Station missile warning systems, which provides real-time missile warning infrared tracking to forward-deployed areas. Al Udeid is one of the bases where JTAGS units are located.

By July, the Space Force was reporting more than 60 Guardians deployed in the Middle East. To this point, though, many Guardians at Al Udeid have been working out of spartan facilities.

The new facility at Al Udeid will be “state-of-the-art,” the Space Force release states, and comes amid a spate of construction projects in recent years—in 2023, officials said they had completed 38 projects worth $1.4 billion as part of a 2040 Strategic Master Plan. And in early 2024, the Pentagon and Qatar agreed to extend the U.S.’s presence there for 10 years.

“It will stand as a testament to our shared vision for a safer, more secure world,” Brooks said in the release.

Hegseth Gives Brown Vote of Confidence as Chairman, Pledges Pentagon Overhaul

Hegseth Gives Brown Vote of Confidence as Chairman, Pledges Pentagon Overhaul

Jan. 27, 2025 | By Chris Gordon

New Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth vowed to reshape the Pentagon and implement President Donald Trump’s agenda as he began his first official day on the job Jan. 27. He also indicated he will not try to fire Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Air Force Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., whom he has previously criticized.

“Talking to the Chairman, and so many other folks here, we’re in capable hands. The warfighters are ready to go,” Hegseth told reporters, shortly after greeting Brown with a salute and grin at 8:57 a.m. Eastern Time when his motorcade rolled up to the Pentagon’s River Entrance.

Asked if he planned to oust Brown, Hegseth said, “Standing with him right now. Look forward to working with him,” and patted Brown on the back.

In November, Hegseth said on a podcast that “first of all, you gotta fire the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs,” accusing Brown of attempting to implement “woke” policies along with other general officers. In his confirmation hearing earlier this month, Hegseth was asked if he planned to fire Brown.

“Every single senior officer will be reviewed based on meritocracy, standards, lethality, and commitment to lawful orders they will be given,” he told lawmakers.

Hegseth did not respond to shouted questions Jan. 27 about whether he was considering supporting the firing any other members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Commandant of the Coast Guard Adm. Linda L. Fagan, an armed service that falls under the Department of Homeland Security, was fired by Trump one day into his term.

Hegseth said Jan. 27 that his immediate priority was border security. While he was awaiting confirmation, the Department of Defense ordered 1,500 Active-Duty troops to the southern border and charged the Air Force with flying immigrants being deported by the United States.

Hegseth also said another focus would be eliminating diversity, equity, and inclusion positions from the DOD and fielding an “Iron Dome for America,” a reference to Israel’s missile defense system that Trump has said he hopes to imitate.

Incoming Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth walks into the Pentagon in Arlington, Va., Jan. 27, 2025. Photos by Chris Gordon/Air & Space Forces Magazine

Late on Jan. 27, the White House issued an executive order to address the DEI issue, one to reinstate troops discharged from the military because they did not receive the COVID-19 vaccine—though members separated for refusing to get the vaccine are already allowed to rejoin the ranks—and one calling for the “Iron Dome.” The White House also issued an order banning the accommodation of transgender troops. The executive orders were first previewed by Hegseth in remarks to reporters earlier in the day.

Though Hegseth’s first public arrival at the Pentagon happened Jan. 27, he visited the Pentagon on Jan. 25 after being sworn in at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, according to defense officials.

“This is happening quickly,” Hegseth said. “And as the Secretary of Defense, it’s an honor to salute smartly, as I did as a junior officer and now as the Secretary of Defense, to ensure these orders are complied with rapidly and quickly. Every moment that I’m here, I’m thinking about the guys and gals in Guam, in Germany, in Fort Benning, in Fort Bragg, on missile defense sites, and aircraft carriers.”

Fort Benning is now known as Fort Moore and Fort Bragg is now called Fort Liberty. The names were changed in 2023 by the Defense Department to avoid honoring Confederate soldiers.

It is unclear how exactly an Iron Dome system would be developed and deployed, but Trump made the issue a part of his 2024 campaign platform, pledging to “invest in cutting-edge research and advanced technologies, including an Iron Dome Missile Defense Shield.” The White House executive order called for a 60-day review of America’s missile defense capabilities with an “implementation plan for the next-generation missile defense shield.” The White House said there should be increased emphasis on space-based missile tracking capabilities that are operated by the Space Force, as well as next-generation missile interceptors, to include ones fired from space.

“The architecture shall include, at a minimum, plans … against ballistic, hypersonic, advanced cruise missiles, and other next-generation aerial attacks from peer, near-peer, and rogue adversaries” that are targeted at the United States, the order states.

The executive order directs the “development and deployment of proliferated space-based interceptors capable of boost-phase intercept.”

Hegseth has said his long-term national security focus is China—the top threat identified by the Biden administration and the first Trump administration.

“We will reestablish deterrence by defending our homeland—on the ground and in the sky,” Hegseth said in a message to the force issued Jan. 25. “We will work with allies and partners to deter aggression in the Indo-Pacific by Communist China, as well as supporting the President’s priority to end wars responsibly and reorient to key threats.”

But the Middle East continues to be fraught, with tense ceasefires between Israel and Hamas and Hezbollah. Hegseth’s first phone call as Defense Secretary was to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, during which they discussed “persistent threats” according to a Pentagon readout of the call.

This article was updated on Jan. 28 with additional details.

Air Force C-17s Conduct First Deportation Flights, Two Not Allowed to Land

Air Force C-17s Conduct First Deportation Flights, Two Not Allowed to Land

Jan. 26, 2025 | By Chris Gordon

Two U.S. Air Force C-17 flights carrying out deportation missions turned around after being denied diplomatic clearance to land in Colombia, U.S. officials told Air & Space Forces Magazine on Jan. 26.

The C-17s were deporting people detained by immigration agencies. They took off from Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Calif., on the evening of Jan. 25 local time heading towards Bogota, Colombia. The first flight, whose callsign was Reach 538, got as far as the Gulf Coast near Texas before it turned around, stopping in Houston. The other C-17, whose callsign was Reach 539, took off a few hours later and returned shortly to base after its departure, flight tracking data shows. U.S. officials confirmed the diversions.

“I deny the entry of American planes carrying Colombian migrants into our territory,” Colombia’s president Gustavo Petro posted on the social media site X. “The United States must establish a protocol for the dignified treatment of migrants before we receive them.”

The U.S. initially had approval from the Colombian government to conduct the deportation flights, but the permission was later revoked, U.S. officials told Air & Space Forces Magazine.

“It is the responsibility of each nation to take back their citizens who are illegally present in the United States in a serious and expeditious manner,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement. “Colombian President Petro had authorized flights and provided all needed authorizations and then canceled his authorization when the planes were in the air.”

The U.S. Air Force began deportation flights of people held in detention by Customs and Border Protection, U.S. officials said on Jan. 24, in a move ordered by President Donald Trump as part of a sweeping promise to crack down on illegal immigration and more tightly police the southern border.

One C-17 took off from Biggs Army Air Field, Texas, and another C-17 took off from Tucson, Ariz., on the evening of Jan. 23, a defense official said. The aircraft headed to Guatemala in Central America, two defense officials added.

“President Trump is sending a strong and clear message to the entire world: if you illegally enter the United States of America, you will face severe consequences,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a post on social media.

The Pentagon has ordered 1,500 Active-Duty troops to the southern border to join 2,500 troops already based there. The goal is to take “complete operational control of the southern border of the United States,” then-Acting Secretary of Defense Robert Salesses said in a Jan. 23 statement.

“This is just the beginning,” Salesses said at the time.

U.S. Airmen and U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency personnel prepare to load people being deported onto a C-17 Globemaster III at Tucson International Airport in Tucson, Ariz., Jan. 23, 2025. Dept. of Defense photo by Senior Airman Devlin Bishop

The Trump administration plans to use the Air Force to deport some 5,400 people detained by Customs and Border Protection using C-17s and C-130s, the Pentagon said Jan. 23. The Pentagon said that the Department of Homeland Security would provide “inflight law enforcement,” not military personnel. A senior military official told reporters roughly 100 Air Force personnel would be involved in the missions, from aircrew to maintainers.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement flights carrying detained migrants are common occurrences, often referred to as “removal flights” by ICE. Prior to this, however, officials used civil or commercial aircraft. Roughly 80 people were aboard each C-17, U.S. officials said.

U.S. officials told Air & Space Forces Magazine that future flights are still being worked out as the planes need diplomatic clearance to land and destination countries must be willing to accept the migrants.

In a social media post, Trump said he ordered “urgent and decisive retaliatory measures” against Colombia, including tariffs, visa bans on government officials, and sanctions.

Space Force Expects to Spend 40% More on Commercial SATCOM This Year

Space Force Expects to Spend 40% More on Commercial SATCOM This Year

Jan. 24, 2025 | By Greg Hadley

The Space Force’s Commercial Satellite Communications Office is forecasting a busy 2025, with somewhere nearly $2.4 billion dollars in contracts not only for USSF, but also combatant commands and every other military service. 

The office forecasted its needs for the next 12 months to industry in a December release that covers the rest of fiscal 2025 and extends into fiscal 2026, complete with estimated lifecycle values for many of the 18 programs. The combined value of the high end of those estimates is $2.37 billion, though some programs do not have an estimate, meaning the true value could be even higher. 

That’s an increase of 39.4 percent forecast last year, when the spending estimate was nearly $1.7 billion, which in turn was more than double the $638 million spend in 2022.

By far the largest program of the bunch is the Space Force’s “Maneuverable GEO.” Officials have described it as a marketplace to take advantage of small commercial communications satellites that can move in geosynchronous orbit, a growing market. The office anticipates awarding contracts for the program in July worth up to $905 million. 

There is also a program meant to procure commercial satellite bandwidth for connectivity between Pituffik Space Base in Greenland and Schriever Space Force Base in Colorado. 

But most of the programs included in the forecast are for non-Space Force entities, as the Commercial Space Communications Office is responsible for procuring SATCOM services for the entire Pentagon. 

The Marine Corps is looking for enterprise commercial satellite services—meaning satellite bandwidth in all commercially available frequency bands in regions around the globe—with an estimated cost of up to $550 million over seven years. 

The Army wants SATCOM as a managed service, potentially worth $205 million over five years. 

The Navy wants commercial SATCOM for senior leadership aircraft, at an estimated cost of $50 million. 

The Air Force wants commercial SATCOM for controlling RQ-4 Global Hawk drones and for use on its E-4B “Doomsday” planes. 

U.S. Indo-Pacific Command wants commercial satellite bandwidth to conduct “Airborne Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance and Command & Control missions.” 

Even the Coast Guard is asking the Commercial Satellite Communications Office to procure services for its aviation assets. 

The Space Force has made a push to bolster its satellite communications capacity with a combination of new commercial and military capabilities.

In its 2025 budget request, the service devoted $4.4 billion to SATCOM—nearly 15 percent of its entire budget. And in its commercial strategy released in April 2024, the Space Force listed SATCOM as its No. 1 priority mission area for partnering with industry. 

On one hand, constellations like SpaceX’s Starlink have proven to be useful “off-the-shelf” commercial solutions for some missions. On the other, the Space Force is investing hundreds of millions of dollars for more secure, jam-resistant communications for strategic and tactical missions alike.