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.

F-15E Fighters with Advanced New EW System Arrive in England

F-15E Fighters with Advanced New EW System Arrive in England

Jan. 24, 2025 | By Greg Hadley

F-15E Strike Eagles with new electronic warfare suites landed at RAF Lakenheath last week, the first in the fleet to receive the upgrades. 

The two fighters arrived at Lakenheath on Jan. 16, bringing with them the Eagle Passive/Active Warning and Survivability System, or EPAWSS, the 48th Fighter Wing said in a release. The wing’s two F-15E units, the 494th and 492nd Fighter Squadrons, will get one each, allowing aviators to train with the new system. 

The jets’ arrival came just a few days after the Air Force cleared EPAWSS for full-rate production, starting the upgrade process for 99 F-15Es. The system, manufactured by BAE Systems, includes “integrated radar warning, geolocation, situational awareness, and self-protection solutions,” according to the company.

“Having EPAWSS operational at RAF Lakenheath significantly enhances our ability to detect and counter threats, ensuring the safety and effectiveness of our crews,” said Lt. Col. Timothy Causey, commander of the 492nd Fighter Squadron. “This advanced electronic warfare system, when combined with the F-35s, acts as a powerful force multiplier, transforming our operations and amplifying the 48th Fighter Wing’s impact in the battlespace.” 

EPAWSS comes standard on the F-15EX and is the reason why some have called the EX a “generation 4.5” fighter, positioning it between conventional fourth-generation F-15s and fifth-gen F-22s and F-35s. The Air Force says EPAWSS enables equipped jets to “deny, degrade, deceive, disrupt, and defeat radio frequency (RF) and electro-optical/infrared threat systems within contested and highly contested environments.” 

Growing competition in the electromagnetic spectrum has set off something of an EW arms race, and the Air Force and its suppliers have been mum about EPAWSS’s specific capabilities. Still, one EPAWSS capability officials have described is “cognitive” EW—referring to the system’s ability to recognize new threats and adapt its response without the pilot’s intervention or input. 

Air Force Shuts Down DEI Programs, Following President’s Orders

Air Force Shuts Down DEI Programs, Following President’s Orders

Jan. 23, 2025 | By Chris Gordon, Greg Hadley and David Roza

The Air Force has started shutting down its diversity and inclusion offices and boards to comply with President Donald Trump’s sweeping order to root out DEI from federal agencies, but the process will not be completed overnight, an official told Air & Space Forces Magazine.

Trump ordered diversity, equality, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) offices shut down, and the Office of Personnel Management directed DEIA offices to cease all efforts by 5 p.m. Jan. 22, while placing DEIA office employees on paid administrative leave with the intent of ending their employment by the end of the month.

By noon Jan. 23, all agencies were supposed to report on “all steps taken to implement this memorandum.” While the Air Force did so, the official said, implementing the guidance remained an ongoing project with programs and outward facing communications still being identified.

Acting Secretary of the Air Force Gary A. Ashworth directed the “disestablishment of all Department of the Air Force Barrier Analysis Working Groups (DAFBAWGs) effective immediately” in a memo to Air Force leaders. The memo was circulated on social media and confirmed authentic to Air & Space Forces Magazine.

The Department of the Air Force Barrier Analysis Working Group included teams of volunteers whose role was to analyze policies and identify “potential barriers to equal opportunity.” Among their causes: expanding shaving waivers for Black Airmen suffering from razor bumps caused by ingrown hairs, and championing body armor purpose-built for female Airmen.

Social media pages for the Barrier Analysis Working Group teams were down, as were webpages and official releases for the Air Force’s Diversity and Inclusion Office, Air Combat Command’s Organizational Culture Office, Air Force Materiel Command’s DEIA program, and the Air Force Academy’s diversity and inclusion minor.

Across the Department of Defense, the website for the Secretary of Defense’s Office for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion had likewise been purged, along with the website for the Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute.

Officials from the Pentagon, Department of the Air Force, and more than half a dozen USAF organizations all provided the same response to queries from Air & Space Forces Magazine: “The Department of Defense will fully execute and implement all directives outlined in the executive orders issued by the President, ensuring that they are carried out with utmost professionalism, efficiency, and in alignment with national security objectives.”

The actions come less than two years after the Department of the Air Force issued a 17-page “Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) Strategic Plan” in 2023. “The DAF’s diversity and inclusion efforts are informed by science, business best practices, congressional mandates, data­ focused policy reviews and assessments, and the lived experiences of Airmen and Guardians working together every day,” the document read.

Rolling back every DEIA program and position is a massive undertaking. Air Force policies related to diversity date back to 2012, when the service released AFI 36-7001, mandating diversity training and outreach. Those regulations did not go away during Trump’s first term in office; in 2019, when he was president, the Air Force updated and expanded that AFI to define new roles and specific requirements, including: 

  • A larger “Air Force Executive Diversity & Inclusion Council” with deputy chiefs of staff and major command representatives; 
  • A new Chief of Air Force Diversity & Inclusion;  
  • Directives that major commands “implement programs and practices that explicitly support diversity and inclusion across the organization,” including consideration for designating chief diversity and inclusion officers to advise to senior leadership; 
  • New training programs in Basic Military Training, professional military education, and in onboarding programs for new commanders and general officers. 

The Department of the Air Force stood up its Office of Diversity and Inclusion in 2021, nine days before President Biden took office. Many major commands followed, appointing diversity and inclusion officers and executive councils. But the fiscal 2024 National Defense Authorization Act blocked the establishment of any new officer positions and froze hiring for any vacancies.

Eliminating DEI programs could generate financial savings. The Biden administration’s 2025 budget request included $162 million for “dedicated DEIA activities … across the Military Departments, the OSD Office for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, and the Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute.”

Implications for Air Force programs, such as recruiting, remain unclear. USAF recruiters have worked to reach underrepresented groups lacking a direct connection to the military community. Programs such as the Aim High Flight Academy, launched in 2021, and AFRS Detachment 1, started in 2018, were designed to expand the pool of potential pilots by attracting more women and minorities to a field long dominated by White men.

Retired Maj. Gen. Ed Thomas Jr., the former head of the Air Force Recruiting Service, said exposing a wider audience to all the Air Force has to offer made sense. “We have to attract Americans from all walks of life, but when we select them, it’s based on their merit,” he told Air & Space Forces Magazine. “At the end of the day, we’re a system based on merit, and our lives and the security of the nation depends on us being an organization based on merit.” 

Thomas said recruiters will still seek candidates wherever they can find them because doing so keeps the talent pool as wide as possible at a time of fierce competition for talent. “I believe it will be tremendously necessary—again, with the big caveat that we attract all, but we select the best,” he said. 

Training courses directed by AFI 36-7001 may take time to be replaced in set curriculum. In Air Force Basic Training, for example, AFI 36-7001 established three hours of diversity training as the “optimal instruction time” over seven and a half weeks. How that time is being spent now is not yet clear, nor is the one hour of training included in the Air War College program for DEI programming. 

Air Education and Training Command, which is responsible for tracking and reporting on those courses, did not say if that training has been revoked. The 37th Training Wing, which oversees Air Force Basic Training, and Air University, which oversees Air War College and other professional military education programs, both responded with the same statement provided by other Air Force institutions.

Also unclear is the future of the Air Force’s Equal Opportunity program, which predates DEI programs, or the Inspector General’s office, which sometimes investigates complaints about discrimination. DEI is not synonymous with EEO, although some overlap between the two is inevitable.

Retired Col. Don Christensen, a former chief prosecutor for the Air Force, expressed concern about potential effects on the equal opportunity program. “We know that discrimination exists, we know harassment exists, and we know it from surveys, we know it from the results of investigations,” Christensen said. “We have to be aware that there can be disparate treatment based on race … and if we take our eye off of that, then we run the risk that it’s going to run rampant and there’ll be basically no one to look at it.” 

The executive orders and memos on DEI emphasize an intent to focus on merit-based opportunity, but they do not address individual cases of discrimination. DEI programs sometimes sought to identify systemic discrimination, which is distinct from individual cases.

New Report: Fixes to Pilot ‘Crisis’ Tied to Fleet Size, Flying Hours, Reserves

New Report: Fixes to Pilot ‘Crisis’ Tied to Fleet Size, Flying Hours, Reserves

Jan. 23, 2025 | By John A. Tirpak

Fixing the Air Force’s chronic combat pilot shortage will require more aircraft in the fleet, more flying hours to squadron operations, and retaining more pilots within Reserve components, according to a new paper from AFA’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies.

“If we don’t have experienced fighter pilots, we risk the outcome not just of the mission, but the entire operation, or even the war,” said Heather Penney, senior resident fellow at Mitchell and author of the report.

Experience is particularly important for the pilot shortage given the time it takes to develop a seasoned pilot and the urgency of great power competition.

At a virtual rollout to discuss the paper, Penney noted that it takes 250 flying hours and 60 simulator sorties to “grow” a qualified F-35 flight leader, and that pilot has already had more than a year of basic flight instruction. All told, it takes five years to train a combat pilot.

“But we can’t wait five years,” she said. “We must build the ‘fight tonight’ force with enough strategic depth to successfully sustain combat operations. … We are out of time, and we must have a sense of urgency, because if we don’t, we risk losing.”

The combat pilot shortfall has persisted and grown for more than 20 years. In 2006, the Air Force was short 200 fighter pilots, Penney said. That deficit grew to 1,000 fighter pilots by 2017 and now stands at 1,150 fighter pilots.

Those missing pilots mean there are fewer instructors available in frontline squadrons to help mature new aviators, and fewer experienced combat advisors that can be detailed to the staffs of combatant commanders, further degrading the overall force’s capability. Many studies have shown that more experienced pilots have a far better survival rate in combat, meaning less attrition in wartime of aviators and aircraft, Penney noted.

A major part of the Air Force’s problem, she said, is that there are not enough aircraft available for combat pilots to train on. Simulators are helpful and allow rehearsals of techniques that the Air Force doesn’t want to expose in open flight, but there also aren’t enough simulators to provide the necessary experience, and they are not yet good enough to season pilots in the basics of operating around airfields, in weather, and in dealing with the unexpected.

The Air Force is seeing low numbers in its Ready Aircrew Program, which gauges whether a squadron is qualified to go to war, she said. The RAP looks at on numbers of pilots in a squadron, the ratio of experienced to inexperienced pilots, the number of simulators available, and the number of flying hours and sorties the unit can generate per month. Fewer experienced pilots and less of everything else mean delays in upgrading junior aviators.  

Retired Lt. Gen. Joseph Guastella, former deputy chief of staff for operations, said he is worried that the U.S. is losing its long-standing advantages of superior aircraft and more experienced pilots.

“Boy, are we in a world of hurt right now,” Guastella said. “Our advantage … against China is greatly diminished. They’re at peer levels with us, in some cases out-reaching us with some of their ordinance. And then, how is our experience ratio? When I hear Chinese fifth-generation pilots are flying many more sorties per month than we are, I’m absolutely astonished that we’ve gotten to this state, and so, experience matters. We’ve learned it in lower end combat of the last 20 years. Certainly we’ve learned it in the big wars of the past, but I don’t want to learn it again the hard way in a full-on campaign.”

The decline in pilot production has tracked the decline in airframes and the degradation of mission capable rates, a product of reduced spending on spares and weapon system sustainment, Penney said. Recapitalizing aircraft “on a one-for-one basis” is necessary to provide enough cockpits for sustainable pilot production, she said. If there aren’t going to be enough F-35s bought per year, then the Air Force should consider buying new versions of the F-16 and or more F-15EXs, she said.

A U.S. Air Force F-35A Lightning II pilot assigned to the 134th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron waves after arriving at Kadena Air Base, Japan, Jan. 13, 2025. The transition to more capable aircraft at Kadena exemplifies the Department of Defense’s continued commitment to enhancing posture while building on the strong foundation of the U.S.-Japan alliance. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Tylir Meyer)

In order to sustain the experience levels the Air Force has—and have enough seasoned pilots to train younger aviators—the Air Force should also “preserve and grow the number of Reserve Component fighter squadrons and increase the number of fighters assigned,” Penney said. Because of a lack of airframes, though, some units are at risk of being shut down and replaced with non-flying missions.

The Air Force should reverse that course, she said, and ensure that the Reserve component has the same aircraft flown by the Active duty force, which would also allow younger, greener pilots to team with well-seasoned Guard and Reserve pilots and gain experience.

Retired Lt. Gen. Mark Sasseville, former vice chief of the National Guard Bureau, said the Air Force should try harder to retain, on a part-time basis, the pilot experience that is increasingly leaving the force to pursue more lucrative work with the airlines.

The Guard and Reserve have been used more operationally than as a Reserve force in the last decades, Sasseville said, but many pilots like himself wanted to “leave the Active component just to slow down their tempo for their families and still contribute.”

Being a Reserve fighter pilot while maintaining an airline pilot job could be “the best of both worlds,” he said, allowing him to “keep his skills sharp” without an inordinate amount of “repetition” flying on basics.

The Air Force should accept “the reality that we’re not going to be able to compete” with the airlines in terms of compensation or disruption of family life.

“We have to have an approach that accommodates both needs in this fight for human talent,” he said, noting that several years ago the Air Force “took a stab at trying to work with some airlines to figure out how to do that exactly. How do we share the resource?”

Doing so would not only keep the raw number of pilots higher, it would also enhance the Total Force’s experience.

“I think that that’s something that we need to look at quite rigorously in order to augment what we’re talking about here, which is, keeping experience in the Reserve component,” Sasseville said.

The paper also recommends the Air Force ensure its combat simulators are plugged into the Joint Simulation Environment, and that pilot at all squadrons can connect with it and train with it daily. This will ensure that pilots can practice high-end threat scenarios that USAF’s ranges either can’t simulate or which shouldn’t be exposed in live flight.

The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division’s Joint Simulation Environment is a hyper-realistic digital range that consists of F-35 Lightning, F-22 Raptor, and adversary cockpits, 4K projectors that stretch nearly 360 degrees around pilots, as well as aircraft software that enable pilots to fly wartime scenarios in a near-exact virtual battlespace. U.S. Navy photo by Terri Thomas

“Pilots need experience in scenarios that stress their abilities within the safety of simulation so they can expand their skillsets and strengthen their cognition,” Penney said.

Both Air Combat Command and Air Education and Training Command have taken steps to address the speed of pilot training in the last three years, but so far, these haven’t produced the increase in numbers the Air Force is looking for.

“I think the service definitely understands the number of pilots they need to produce,” Penney said. “The Air Force has been fiscally constrained for 30 years, so they’ve rightfully tried to prioritize their combat systems, which means they’ve had to take risk in the pilot training enterprise.” Innovative approaches show “they’re doing everything they can to produce as many pilots as they can” at the necessary quality, she said.

“The challenge is, that even if those even if those investments and those innovations are perfect and can meet the number necessary … you have to train them through the fighter units. You have to be able to then absorb and experience them in the operational squadrons,” Penney said.

The answer, Penney argued, is retaining existing experience—and that comes down to force size.

“I think ultimately, it all comes down to, the Air Force has gotten too small for everything that our nation is asking of it, and the only way to be able to retain pilots across the total force is to grow combat capacity; provide them the training and the readiness” that will allow pilots to do the flying they joined to do, “so that they can get more events … and we’re not burning them out.”

The “only way to fix the force,” she said, “is to grow.”