Air Force’s Major Accidents Trending Down Slightly

Air Force’s Major Accidents Trending Down Slightly

Jan. 18, 2022 | By John A. Tirpak

Numbers of major accidents involving Air Force aircraft are down slightly over the past five years, the service reported Jan. 18. There were fewer Class A accidents in fiscal 2021 but a slight increase in Class B mishaps during the year, the third year Class B accidents have increased.

In fiscal 2021, the Air Force saw 21 Class A aviation accidents, down from 30 in fiscal 2020 and “well below the five-year average” of 27.2, the service said. Class A mishaps result in a death or permanent disability, cause more than $2.5 million in damage, or result in the destruction of an aircraft.

Class B mishaps, however, increased from 41 in fiscal 2020 to 42 in 2021, which USAF said was “consistent” with a five-year average of 42.5 such accidents. A Class B mishap causes permanent partial disability; causes damage valued at between $600,000 and just under $2.5 million; or hospitalizes three people, not counting those admitted for observation or administrative purposes who are treated and released.

The Class A accidents in fiscal 2021 resulted in four deaths, including one contractor pilot, compared with seven who died in Class A events during fiscal 2020. Eight aircraft were destroyed—versus 14 the year before—of which two were Air Force-owned manned airplanes, five were USAF-owned unmanned aircraft, and one was a manned contractor airplane. Six unmanned aircraft were involved in Class A accidents in fiscal 2020.

The data provided were as of Dec. 15, 2021.

Mishap data
The most serious Air Force accidents—Class A mishaps—were down in fiscal 2021, but the number of less-serious Class B mishaps was on a three-year rising trend, although still below the peak of fiscal 2018. Source: Air Force Safety Center

Of the 2021 “flight mishaps,” 19 were Class A and 30 were Class B, for a total of 49. “Ground operations” accidents tallied two Class A and 10 Class B, for a total of 12, and there were two Class B accidents under “flight-related mishaps,” for a grand total of 63 Class A and B mishaps combined in fiscal 2021.

Although the trend line for Class A accidents is down with 2021, the number has risen and fallen over the past five years. The number was 29 in fiscal 2017; rose to 30 in 2018; fell to 26 in 2019; then surged again to 30 in 2020; before falling sharply to 21 in 2021.

Class B accidents are actually on a rising trend line over the past three years. In fiscal 2017, there were 44 Class B accidents, but in fiscal 2018, there were 47—a five-year high. Class B accidents fell sharply to 36 in fiscal 2019 but jumped to 41 in 2020 and rose again to 42 in 2021.

The Air Force did not provide data on Class C accidents, which cause damage valued at up to $600,000 or result in injuries causing loss of workdays.

The total combined Class A and B accidents—63 in fiscal 2021—is meaningfully less than the 72 in fiscal 2020 and 2019. The recent peak was fiscal 2018, with a combined 74; following 70 in fiscal 2017.

The Air Force Safety Center has noted that statistics “fluctuate from year to year,” so it looks at trends in the data in search of significant changes or common issues.

Raymond: Yearlong CR Would Cause ‘Ripple Effect,’ Could Push Back 2 Space Launches

Raymond: Yearlong CR Would Cause ‘Ripple Effect,’ Could Push Back 2 Space Launches

Jan. 18, 2022 | By Amanda Miller

Going the full fiscal year funded by a continuing resolution would cost the Defense Department the ability to procure two space launches and cause a “ripple effect for years to come.” 

Space Force Chief of Space Operations Gen. John W. “Jay” Raymond addressed the effects of a continuing resolution on the National Security Space Launch program Jan. 18 online interview hosted by the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies.

SpaceX and United Launch Alliance are the NSSL providers.

President Joe Biden signed the fiscal 2022 National Defense Authorization Act in December, authorizing the procurement of five launches under the program.

But until Congress appropriates money to be spent, the government has to operate at fiscal 2021 levels. The current continuing resolution funding the government expires Feb. 18.

“The way we do launches [is], we procure launches two years in advance,” Raymond explained. “So the launches that would slip would be those launches we procure in ’23 for launch in ’24.”

If Congress passes the full budget in February, the Space Force will move ahead with procuring the five launches, Raymond said. But “a long-term CR” would delay two of those.

Pushing off the two launches would then bump two more, setting off the ripple effect, Raymond said: “It’s more than just a one-year impact.”

Without specifying, Raymond said the Space Force knows which two launches it would delay—“and they’re really important launches to us as we compete to turn and win against Russia and China, our pacing challenge.”

He pointed out that the payloads planned for launch will already have been built.

“I cannot stress enough the importance of getting a budget passed,” Raymond said.

Air Force Activates Two New Fighter Generation Squadrons at Moody

Air Force Activates Two New Fighter Generation Squadrons at Moody

Jan. 18, 2022 | By Greg Hadley

The Air Force inactivated one squadron and activated two new ones at Moody Air Force Base, Ga., on Jan. 14, as Air Combat Command works to better align fighter operations and maintenance.

The 23rd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron is making way for the 74th and 75th Fighter Generation Squadrons. The shift is part of ACC’s Combat Oriented Maintenance Organization, a new structure whereby aircraft maintenance squadrons will be transitioned to fighter generation squadrons.

“The inactivation of the 23rd AMXS and the simultaneous activations of the 74th FGS and 75th FGS are driven by our transition to COMO,” Col. Jason Purdy, 23rd Maintenance Group commander, said at a ceremony. “This organizational change is being taken as our Air Force continues its evolution and strives to improve synchronization between maintenance and operations.”

Fighter generation squadrons are composed of maintainers “responsible for airpower health and generation” and paired with a complementary fighter squadron, ACC announced in April 2021. “The two units will work collaboratively both in garrison and during deployments,” ACC added.

The 74th and 75th Fighter Generation Squadrons will carry over responsibilities of the 23rd Maintenance Group to maintain a mission-ready status for A-10s stationed at Moody, which are similarly organized into two squadrons under the 23rd Fighter Group—the 74th and 75th Fighter Squadrons.

“Men and women of the 74th FGS, this is special,” Maj. Lawrence Morris, 74th FGS commander, said at the activation ceremony. “No man thinks more highly than I do of your families, your dedication to serve, and your abilities to accomplish the mission. I look forward to joining the team and embarking on our journey to greater heights.”

“As the new commander of the 75th FGS, our squadron can expect that we will look for improvements to the way we do business through continuous process improvement, theory of constraints, and exploring new metrics that are helpful to our aircraft maintenance managers and increase our capabilities,” added Maj. Ammon Hennessee, 75th FGS commander.

With the activation of the 74th and 75th Fighter Generation Squadrons, all aircraft maintenance organizations assigned to Moody have now transitioned to the new COMO structure. Units at Shaw Air Force Base, S.C., and Hill Air Force Base, Utah, both reorganized in the fall of 2020, and other units at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, N.C., and Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho, have also reorganized in the past few months.

Read, Listen, Watch: Here Are the Latest Additions to CSAF’s Leadership Library

Read, Listen, Watch: Here Are the Latest Additions to CSAF’s Leadership Library

Jan. 18, 2022 | By Greg Hadley

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. added two new books, a podcast, and a documentary series to his leadership library Jan. 18. The books are aimed at educating Airmen on a pair of men credited with helping shape decades of American tactics and strategy, while the podcast and series focus on two generations separated by half a century.

This is what Brown has to say about each selection:

The Last Warrior: Andrew Marshall and the Shaping of Modern American Defense Strategy, Andrew Krepinevich and Barry Watts

“The story of Andrew Marshall … is a profound account of a virtually unknown, yet brilliant strategic thinker who was enormously influential in shaping American military thought for nearly half a century. Today, Marshall’s hallmark methodology, the ‘Net Assessment,’ remains an essential diagnostic framework for understanding strategic competition through the lenses of capabilities, challenges, and perceptions.”

The Mind of War: John Boyd and American Security: Grant T. Hammond: 9781588341785: Amazon.com: Books

The Mind of War: John Boyd and American Security, Grant T. Hammond

“Last September, I wrote a Letter to Airmen emphasizing a culture of innovation in our Air Force. ‘The Mind of War: John Boyd and American Security’ is as much the story of Boyd’s innovative spirit as his groundbreaking ideas on warfare. Alongside a tenacity for out-maneuvering bureaucracy, Boyd was a maverick, and had innovation baked into his DNA. Who is the ‘Maverick’ in your squadron?”

GenZ | Podcast on Spotify

Gen Z and Leadership, Dr. Meghan Grace’s #GenZ podcast 

“Today, a new generation of strategic thinkers and mavericks defend our nation. Dr. Meghan Grace’s #GenZ podcast … reveals insights into the values and behaviors of Generation Z so that leaders at all echelons, myself included, can better relate to what defines and motivates our youngest cohort of professional Airmen.”

Five Came Back' Documents The Famous Forefathers Of Modern Combat Cameramen - Task & Purpose

Five Came Back, Netflix

“The idea of ‘why’ is a timeless concept that motivates across generational gaps. The critically acclaimed Netflix docuseries, ‘Five Came Back,’ is a mesmerizing examination of our nation’s ‘why’ before and during World War II through the lens of five prominent Hollywood directors. Their stories will leave you with a renewed sense of awe for the Greatest Generation.”

Countries Take Small Steps Toward Limiting Lethal Autonomous Weapons

Countries Take Small Steps Toward Limiting Lethal Autonomous Weapons

Jan. 18, 2022 | By Amanda Miller

United Nations countries couldn’t agree on limiting lethal autonomous weapons, but those seeking a treaty may have made headway nonetheless.

The U.N.’s Conference on Certain Conventional Weapons concluded its Sixth Review Conference in December, a meeting held once every five years, without moving ahead on treaty negotiations.

But the fact “that the conversation is happening at all” may have amounted to progress, said Elisabeth Braw, senior fellow with the American Enterprise Institute and author of the policy paper, “Artificial Intelligence: The Risks Posed by the Current Lack of Standards,” in an interview to talk about the conference’s outcome.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had said before the meeting that the conference “must swiftly advance its work on autonomous weapons that can choose targets and kill people without human interference.” But officials reportedly told Reuters after the meeting that India, Russia, and the U.S. were among the countries that, unsurprisingly, objected to the negotiations.

The Conference on Certain Conventional Weapons began addressing lethal autonomous weapons systems in 2013. An informal meeting of experts followed in 2014, then the creation of a group of governmental experts in 2016, and the adoption of 11 “guiding principles” relating to lethal autonomous weapons systems in 2019.

In addition to countries such as Austria, Belgium, Brazil, and New Zealand to name a few, nongovernmental organizations such as the International Committee for Robot Arms Control, the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots, and the International Committee of the Red Cross have taken their arguments to the U.N. or stated positions on the issue.

NATO’s David van Weel articulated why countries such as the U.S. might broadly oppose limits on autonomous weapons, putting the issue in terms of a hypothetical attack by a swarm of drones. “How do we defend against them? Well, we can’t, frankly, because you need AI in that case in order to be able to counter AI,” he said.

Countries probably all realize rules are inevitable for restricting lethal autonomous weapons, said Braw, who hosted van Weel in the webinar. But the technology—the artificial intelligence enabling the autonomy—could be more difficult to regulate than, for example, nuclear weapons, which fewer countries could conceivably make.

Braw speculated that for a mishap to generate enough public pressure on U.S. politicians to get the government engaged in treaty negotiations, the cost might have to be as serious as “the loss of life on our own side.” She thought the European Union, even though it’s not a military alliance, might be a regulatory body other than the U.N. that could tackle the issue, possibly drafting a rudimentary agreement addressing only the “most egregious uses” of autonomous weapons as a start.

“It is so complicated—and at the same time as we should worry about huge dangers posed by AI, we should realize that it has many useful applications,” Braw said. “It’s a force for good as well.”

Joint Chiefs’ Milley and Berger Test Positive for COVID-19

Joint Chiefs’ Milley and Berger Test Positive for COVID-19

Jan. 17, 2022 | By Abraham Mahshie

Coronavirus struck senior Pentagon leaders over the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend, with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Army Gen. Mark A. Milley and Marine Corps Commandant David H. Berger testing positive.

The other Joint Chiefs have all tested negative in recent days.

Joint Staff Spokesperson Col. Dave Butler informed members of the media that Milley tested positive Jan. 16 and was self-isolating. “He is experiencing very minor symptoms and can perform all of his duties from the remote location,” Butler said in a statement.

Milley is vaccinated and has had a booster shot, Butler said. Vaccinations have proven less effective at stopping the highly contagious omicron variant of COVID-19, but it’s not clear which variant Milley or Berger has. Vaccinations remain a requirement, and the military services have begun to discharge thousands of members who have declined the shots and failed to receive a medical or religious waiver. While official policy allows for religious waivers, so far just two have been approved.

Air Force Public Affairs chief Brig. Gen. Patrick S. Ryder told Air Force Magazine Jan. 17 that Chief of Space Operations Gen. John W. “Jay“ Raymond and Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. had tested negative for coronavirus within the previous 24 hours.

Milley’s most recent contact with President Joe Biden was Wednesday, Jan. 12, at the funeral of former Army chief Gen. Raymond T. Odierno. 

Butler said Milley “tested negative several days prior to and every day following contact with the President until yesterday.”

Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III tested positive for coronavirus Jan. 1 and worked remotely with mild symptoms for nine days before testing negative and returning to the Pentagon on Jan. 10.

Austin joined Biden at a socially distanced Eisenhower Executive Office Building event Jan. 13 with FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell to announce that 1,000 Active-duty military medical personnel would form six medical teams deploying to hospitals in six states to aid staff shortages due to the spike in omicron variant infections sweeping the nation.

Famed Tuskegee Airman Charles McGee Dies at 102

Famed Tuskegee Airman Charles McGee Dies at 102

Jan. 17, 2022 | By Amy Hudson

Retired Brig. Gen. Charles McGee, one of the last surviving Tuskegee Airmen and a veteran of 409 combat missions in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam, died Jan. 16. He was 102.

The son of a preacher, McGee was born in Cleveland on Dec. 7, 1919. A lifelong leader, he distinguished himself as an Eagle Scout in his youth and remained an inspirational leader throughout his three-decade military career and beyond.

McGee enlisted in the Army on Oct. 26, 1942—one day after his wedding—and earned his pilot’s wings June 30, 1943. McGee flew his first combat mission on Valentine’s Day, 1944, with the 301st Fighter Squadron, 332nd Fighter Group, in Italy.

During World War II, McGee flew the Bell P-39Q Airacobra, Republic P-47D Thunderbolt, and North American P-51 Mustang fighters, escorting B-24 Liberator and B-17 Flying Fortress bombers over Germany, Austria, and the Balkans. He had already flown 137 combat missions by the time he was promoted to captain.

Just under a year after deploying to Italy, McGee returned to the United States in December 1944 to teach other aviators how to fly the North American B-25 Mitchell bomber at Tuskegee Army Air Field, Ala. He remained there until the base closed in 1946.

Transferring to Lockbourne Air Field in Columbus, Ohio, he was base operation and training officer before being reassigned to an air refueling unit.

McGee was promoted to major during the Korean War, flying 100 more combat missions during that time in P-51 Mustangs from the 67th Fighter Bomber Squadron. In Vietnam, as a lieutenant colonel, McGee flew another 172 combat missions in the McDonnell RF-4 reconnaissance aircraft. He retired Jan. 31, 1973, having achieved the rank of colonel and accumulated more than 6,300 flight hours.

He would ultimately be ceremonially promoted to brigadier general during a Feb. 4, 2020, Oval Office event and was later honored during then-President Donald Trump’s State of the Union Address.  

A spectrum of national leaders noted McGee’s passing, including Vice President Kamala Harris, Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., and Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force JoAnne S. Bass, all of whom posted remembrances on social media.

Brown said, “’A life well lived’ is an understatement as applied to Brig. Gen. Charles McGee. As a #TuskegeeAirman & combat aviator with 409 missions, his years in uniform were nothing shy of heroic, and his example of integrity, service & excellence endures.”

Retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Charles McGee, Tuskegee Airman, holds up a bottle of cola to honor the tradition of shooting down an enemy aircraft during his tour of the 99th Flying Training Squadron on Dec. 6, 2021, at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas. In celebration of the Air Force’s 75th anniversary, McGee was treated to a heritage tour and took part in a training mission in a T-1A aircraft simulator. Air Force photo by Sean M. Worrell.

McGee stayed in contact with the Air Force throughout his life and continued to inspire Airmen long after he retired. He favored the motto, “Do while you can” and visited Joint Base San Antonio, Texas, on Dec. 6, 2021, one day before his 102nd birthday. There, he received a heritage tour of the 99th Flying Training Squadron and saw a T-1 Jayhawk with his name painted on the side sitting on the flight line.

Vice President Harris posted video of a conversation she had with McGee just before his 102nd birthday.

Among his military honors, McGee received the Legion of Merit with Oak Leaf Cluster, Distinguished Flying Cross with Two Clusters, and two Presidential Unit Citations, according to the National Aviation Hall of Fame.

After retiring from the military, he was vice president of a real estate holding company and manager of the Kansas City Downtown Airport. He also played a key role in the growth of the Tuskegee Airmen Association.

As a civilian, he was a recipient of the Air Force Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award, was inducted as a National Aeronautics Association Elder Statesman of Aviation, and received a Congressional Gold Medal.

AFA President Bruce “Orville” Wright said McGee epitomized what it means to be “an Airman for life.”

“Charles McGee’s remarkable progression through three wars, 409 combat missions, 6,300 flight hours, and 102 birthdays was marked by his steadfast dedication to duty and to the service of his country in the Air Force he loved,” said Wright, a retired Air Force lieutenant general. “We lost a great man this week. But we are all better for having had his inspiring example to live by.” 

Tuskegee Airmen retired Lt. Col. Walter McCreary, retired Col. Charles McGee, and retired Col. Elmer Jones are pictured Sept. 16, 2009, at the Air Force anniversary dinner held at the Gaylord National Hotel and Convention Center in National Harbor, Md. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Desiree N. Palacios.
USAF Looks to Small Businesses for Some F-22 Upgrades

USAF Looks to Small Businesses for Some F-22 Upgrades

Jan. 14, 2022 | By John A. Tirpak

The Air Force is looking for a host of F-22 Raptor upgrades and will seek small businesses to offer potential solutions, according to a draft “open topic” on the AFVentures Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) page. No timing was stated for the upgrades.

According to a recent but undated “Focus Topics” summary in the AFVentures system, which is run by the Air Force Research Laboratory, the Air Force is looking at 14 potential F-22 upgrades, including:

  • Integrating the Thales Scorpion helmet-mounted display/weapon cuing system
  • A long-range infrared search-and-track sensor
  • Manned-unmanned teaming
  • Pilot-assisted autonomy
  • A GPS-alternative navigation system
  • Simulation of “red air” threats
  • Algorithms for “optimized intercepts”
  • Combat identification of threats
  • Cyber intrusion detection and prevention
  • Predictive maintenance
  • Synthetic data generation
  • Sensor fusion
  • Improved sensing
  • Real-time debriefing

The Air Force has been evaluating the Scorpion helmet for at least seven years. The F-22 is the only frontline Air Force fighter not to have a helmet-mounted display and targeting system; the F-15 and F-16 both use the Joint Helmet-Mounted Cuing System (JHMCS), and the F-35 has its own unique helmet-mounted display system (HMDS).

For various reasons—mostly budgetary, but also due to the size of the helmet hampering pilot movements under the F-22 canopy—the helmet system has been consistently deleted from planned F-22 upgrades over the years.

The AFVentures announcement says the service is willing to entertain small business proposals to process aircraft data and provide an interface to the Scorpion helmet, not to provide the helmet itself. The “desired functionality” is to include “displays of threats, battlespace lines, aircraft state information, weapon information, and navigation information.” The overall goal is to improve battlespace situational awareness; “usability and processing intensity are considerations.”

Another longtime Air Force goal is to equip the F-22 with an infrared search and track system (IRST), but using one of those available for the F-15 and F-16 has been problematic because of the challenge of integrating them with the jet’s stealth profile. The F-35 uses a stealthy faceted aperture under its nose for various infrared sensing functions. The AFVentures draft didn’t give many specifics, saying only that it’s looking for “novel hardware and software solutions” that would work at long ranges.

An IRST is considered a key sensing capability now that adversary air forces are employing stealth aircraft that have greatly reduced radar cross sections. An IRST would have to be integrated with the F-22’s other sensors—mainly its active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar—to provide a holistic view of the battlespace. The AFVentures “improved sensing” subject area speaks to this, saying “methods of interest include machine learning for radar systems, cognitive radar algorithms, radar waveform modernization, sparse sensing, and more.”

In a 2017 interview with Air Force Magazine, Ken Merchant, who was at the time Lockheed Martin’s vice president for the F-22, and more recently headed F-35 sustainment and now has his own company, Life Cycle Solutions, said the F-22’s internal layout does not have the necessary “real estate” available to accommodate an F-35-style electro-optical system. However, he suggested that if the F-22’s early-generation flat panel displays—which are thick and heavy—were swapped out for the latest slim and light versions, then space in the cockpit area might be found for an IRST. At the time, Merchant said only that the Air Force was looking at “other options.”

The F-22 could not use the Lockheed Martin “Legion Pod,” which flies with the F-15 and has been fitted to the F-16 and various drones, because it would require external carriage and defeat the F-22’s low observable features. If the F-22 carried an IRST in its “cheek” internal weapon station, where short-range AIM-9X missiles are carried, it would still require the station doors to open, also negating the jet’s stealth profile and creating asymmetric drag for extended use.

For manned-unmanned teaming, AFVentures is looking for a system to help the F-22 pilot with “monitoring and control” of an unmanned escort aircraft. The application is to take in all available information and provide the pilot with a “god’s eye view of the battlespace;” package and send commands over certain data links; and employ a touchscreen tablet as the user interface.

Likewise, the “pilot assisted autonomy” system would help the pilot by “suggestion actions” based on inputs from sensors, identify immediate risks, “reason about intentions,” and alert the pilot to hazardous situations.

For the GPS alternative, AFVentures said only that it wants “a more layered approach” to navigation and position that can provide “accurate and real-time” position without using GPS. Recent Air Force technology discussions have speculated about using extremely sensitive, nano-scale inertial measurement systems for this purpose.  

The “predictive maintenance” system sounds like the F-35’s Autonomic Logistics Information System/Operational Data Integration Network (ALIS/ODIN), and would automatically monitor all the maintenance calls and aircraft condition reports on the F-22 fleet while providing predictive maintenance recommendations. The product will be evaluated on “accuracy, usability, and effectiveness in improving F-22 maintenance.”

For “synthetic data generation,” the Air Force wants the F-22’s large volume of classified data to be simulated so contractors can develop software for it without accessing secret data. The F-22 system program office wants “a synthetic data generation platform that can generate unclassified data with the same statistical significance as the original classified data for purposes of rapid testing and development;” presumably, of software and hardware being added through open mission systems.

For “optimized intercept,” the Air Force wants a system that will take in all the data available to the F-22 pilot and plot “an optimized pathway to intercept adversary aircraft,” presumably avoiding ground- and air-based radars and threats. The AFRL wants a system that could be flown “by a single Blue fighter against many Red fighters,” with the ability to expand to a four-ship of Blue aircraft. The pilots would need to see a display with a three-dimensional route, which is constantly updated based on sensor inputs.  

“Real Time Debriefing” is described as being able to give the pilot immediate feedback on performance during Basic Fighter Maneuver training, rather than having to land and debrief. The envisaged system would compare the pilot’s actions against what the computer calculates as the best tactics to employ.

The Air Force has said it does not plan to retain the F-22 beyond around 2030, due to the advance of counter-stealth systems and the F-22’s small fleet size, but it will continue to upgrade the aircraft to keep it relevant against the toughest threats until the Next Generation Air Dominance system is fielded.

Air Force Needs Data to Address German Tax Issue, Bass Says

Air Force Needs Data to Address German Tax Issue, Bass Says

Jan. 14, 2022 | By Greg Hadley

Airmen, joint service members, and civilians stationed in Germany have complained for months that local officials have sought to tax their pay or collect penalties, sometimes for amounts in the tens of thousands of dollars.

Now, in order to effectively advocate, the Air Force needs more data and more stories of families being affected, Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force JoAnne S. Bass said.

Bass, speaking during a recent virtual Coffee Talk with Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., pledged to keep working on the issue. At the same time, though, the problem is one that goes “way beyond the service,” she said. 

Differing Interpretations

The issue in Germany effectively results in troops having their pay taxed twice—once by the U.S. and once by the host nation. In certain cases, German tax officials have reportedly gone to aggressive lengths to build cases against service members and seek penalties, which many service members have resisted paying.

At the heart of these disputes are differing interpretations of Article X of NATO’s Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA). Under SOFA, service members and civilians stationed in foreign nations don’t have to pay income taxes to the host nation—such agreements are crucial for allowing U.S. troops to be stationed in locations such as the United Kingdom, Italy, and Germany, among others.

SOFA, however, includes a clause saying service members and civilians are exempt only if their reason for being in the host country is “solely” due to being part of the military or a civilian component.

That clause has been cited by German officials as justification for seeking taxes from some service members.

“A marriage between a member of the U.S. forces and a citizen of Germany or a German taxable in Germany is considered an indication that a designated tax office may become active,” German law firm BlumLang Rechtsanwälte’s website states. “And children resulting from such a marriage also play a role in the examination of the tax liability—just as a common residential property.”

Across social media and in media reports are accounts of U.S. service members marrying German citizens, buying German cars or houses, or other actions, only to then face taxes or penalties from the local government. BlumLang Rechtsanwälte states that some cases have been over as much as 300,000 Euros, or more than $340,000.

Diplomatic Problem

When Bass visited Ramstein Air Base, Germany, in early December, she “heard loud and clear that we do have service members and some of our civilians that are over in Germany that are being taxed,” she said during the Coffee Talk.

A quick scroll through Bass’ Facebook posts from the trip confirm that, with more than a dozen people commenting about their frustrations with the taxation issue. 

The issue has reached the highest levels of the Pentagon, with Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III reportedly raising the topic with his German counterpart in a June 2021 meeting.

Ultimately, though, the problem is a diplomatic one. 

“The Department of State and U.S. Embassy Berlin are actively engaged with the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs in finding a solution,” a spokesperson for U.S. Air Forces in Europe-Air Forces Africa said in a statement. “Department of Defense efforts are nested within those of the Department of State as the lead federal department for foreign affairs, and the matter has been and will continue to be addressed in high-level engagements with our German allies.”

A spokesperson for the Department of State said “we cannot get into specific discussions” on any sort of progress.

“However, we can assure you that the U.S. government has expressed at very high levels our eagerness to see the long-standing issue resolved,” the spokesperson said. “We will continue to engage with our German partners on this matter.”

Questions of Scale

While Bass and others say they’ve heard from plenty of Airmen about this issue, exactly how many families, Air Force or otherwise, have been affected remains unclear.

“German tax offices have told us they do not track cases by nationality, making it difficult for them to answer repeated efforts to know how many service members and civilians, covered under the NATO SOFA, have been affected,” the USAFE spokesperson said. 

To that end, Bass asked Airmen to report their issues to commanders so the service can more accurately track the numbers and present them to German authorities.

“What I would ask you to do is our USAFE team and EUCOM [U.S. European Command] teams are out there trying to get an accurate number of, what is the problem? And how big is it? And how many of our uniform wearers, as well as our civilians that we have sent over there, what is the impact?” Bass said. “And so I’m told that there are some groups out there that are already compiling the data. We need to have that data, and we need to have some vignettes of what the challenge really is.”

Meanwhile, USAFE is taking steps to inform and educate service members about the SOFA before they deploy overseas, the spokesperson said.