B-2s Head to Lajes Field for Bomber Task Force

March 16, 2021 | By Brian W. Everstine

B-2s deployed to Europe on March 16, conducting a hot-pit refeuling at Lajes Field, Portugal, before taking off again to conduct bomber task force missions in the region.

The undisclosed number of bombers took off from Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo., and did the hot-pit refueling and crew swap with its engines running at the base, according to a U.S. Air Forces in Europe release. The B-2s will be based out of Lajes Field for their upcoming missions.

The B-2 deployment comes as B-1s from Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, are deployed to Ørland Air Base, Norway, for the first time, to conduct their own bomber task force missions.

“These missions will add even more depth to this already historic bomber task force iteration,” USAFE boss Gen. Jeffrey L. Harrigian said in a release. “B-2s joining the B-1s in theater offers unique opportunities to advance our readiness as we continue to work with and learn from our allies.”

USAFE did not disclose how long the B-2 deployment will last. The deployments of both the B-1 and B-2 are occurring as NATO’s massive Defender Europe exercise kicks off. This year’s iteration will include more than 30,000 personnel from 27 nations, with operations in more than 30 training zones, according to U.S. Army Europe.

SOUTHCOM Looking at New Intelligence-Gathering Ops to Counter ISR Shortfall

March 16, 2021 | By Brian W. Everstine

U.S. Southern Command is turning to big data and artificial intelligence to gain more leverage on transnational criminal organizations, while also keeping an eye on China’s expansion in the region and monitoring Russia’s disinformation efforts.

SOUTHCOM boss Adm. Craig S. Faller, both in testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee and in a press conference March 16, repeatedly sounded the alarm on Beijing’s expansionist moves into Central and South America, such as assessing deep-water port access, 5G development, and recently the use of “mask and vaccine” diplomacy to exert their influence.

Globally, China has made an “insidious move forward for global economic dominance,” and that is being seen in South America, Faller said.

In the time of COVID-19, China has distributed tens of millions of doses of vaccines largely focusing on countries they want to pressure. Nine of the 16 countries in SOUTHCOM’s area of responsibility support Taiwan, and those countries are on the receiving end of China’s attempts to use the vaccine for political influence, he said.

In testimony and other public appearances, Faller has repeatedly said his command does not get enough ISR for what it needs to do, both in tracking China’s move and in guiding interdiction missions targeting the drug trade. However, the command in the past budget received a 46 percent cut to its ISR budget, which “significantly challenges our ability to understand threats of all types in the theater,” Faller told lawmakers.

“Prioritization is hard,” Faller said, adding that across the combatant commands “no one’s ever satisfied. We get a fair shake.”

To try to get around the ISR shortfall, however, the command has undergone two pilot programs in the past year that have “shown great promise” by using artificial intelligence and “big data” to evaluate open-source posts on social media and other online sources to collect intelligence. While there is a place for sorties by P-8s and MQ-9s to collect surveillance, online information gathering is growing in importance, he said.

“We’ve got to have the right balance going forward,” Faller said. “There is a role for manned and unmanned [ISR] … in addition to using data in the information space.”

The monitoring of online disinformation has proven important for not only countering China, but Russia as well. Moscow has continued “to try to spoil and undermine U.S. interests.” For example, Spanish language posts are second only to Russian language posts in disinformation campaigns linked to Moscow, Faller said.

Space Force Must Move Faster to Counter China

March 16, 2021 | By Brian W. Everstine

While the U.S. is still the world’s leader in space, China can move much faster and the U.S. Space Force needs to adapt with new acquisition processes to stay ahead, the new service’s No. 2 said March 16.

Gen. David D. Thompson, the Space Force’s vice chief of space operations, said during a Foreign Policy Research Institute event that America’s lead is shrinking because Beijing is “moving forward rapidly … and investing heavily.”

The Space Force’s acquisition process, largely a remnant from Air Force Space Command, is a cycle that takes a long time to develop, while China’s cycle time to build and fly new capabilities is three times as fast. China is growing “both in number and increasing in sophistication,” Thompson said.

“We’re still the best in the world at space, … but we’ve got to adapt to the 21st century world, or we will be left behind,” Thompson said.

China has already demonstrated weapons that would target space-based capabilities, in addition to jamming systems that can attack U.S. systems “at a very large scale,” he said. The U.S. systems are “incredibly capable, but small in number,” and it does not take that many orbital or direct-ascent weapons to “be able to threaten a significant portion of the constellation.” To counter this, the Space Force needs to design a more distributed architecture that is harder to attack, along with new defensive systems, he said.

The Space Force is working with Congress and the Office of Management and Budget to develop new acquisition processes that “are more streamlined to allow us to be more agile in terms of rapidly fielding capabilities,” Thompson said.

The new service is developing its Space Systems Command, which will oversee acquisition. The new command is coming together and will likely be fully established this summer. “Stay tuned, expect an announcement soon,” he said.

Space Systems Command is one of three field commands in the Space Force, and it will operate like Air Force Materiel Command in overseeing acquisition and development. Its “foundational element” is the legacy Space and Missile Systems Center, with other “elements” being added to it.

The Space Force is growing in size and bringing on personnel. As of March, the service has 4,300 uniformed “Guardians,” 6,000 civilians, and 6,000 USAF Airmen assigned to the service for support roles such as security forces, civil engineers, logisticians, and a “whole set” of other roles.

NORAD: Advanced Cruise Missile Threat Requires Better Awareness

March 16, 2021 | By Brian W. Everstine

Advanced cruise missiles and potential hypersonic weapons will challenge North American Aerospace Defense Command’s legacy warning systems, so the command needs to improve awareness to provide earlier warning.

USAF Gen. Glen D. VanHerck, commander of NORAD and U.S. Northern Command, told the Senate Armed Services Committee on March 16 that the cruise missile threat from Russia is a considerable challenge and leaves decision makers with few options.

“We don’t want to be in a situation … where end game defeat is our only option,” he said.

Sophisticated cruise missiles could be launched from significant distances from North America, such as from bombers over Russian soil or from submarines or attack vessels. “Whether subsonic or hypersonic, these missiles can range targets in the homeland and present a very real challenge for our defensive capabilities,” he said in testimony. “Russia has already amassed an inventory of both nuclear and conventional variants, while China is expected to develop similar capabilities in the next decade.”

Maintaining a healthy triad is the first defense from this threat, VanHerck said. But, NORAD also needs capabilities to go “further left … of the archer, before takeoff” so it can be aware of the threat quickly and provide the “decision space,” he said.

“The proliferation of these systems creates all the more incentive for focused investments in improved sensor networks, domain awareness, and information dominance capabilities,” he said in testimony. “Those investments, coupled with the development of layered denial, deterrence, and defeat mechanisms capable of addressing current and emerging threats, are fundamental to the defense of our homeland.”

NORAD is currently capable of defending from a “limited number” of ballistic missiles from a rogue actor, such as North Korea. However, “capacity is the biggest challenge going forward” with a small number of ground-based interceptors (GBI), VanHerck told reporters during a March 16 press conference at the Pentagon.

The Missile Defense Agency is undertaking a service-life extension program on GBIs, which includes pulling them out of the ground and going “through them with a fine-toothed comb” to try to determine which parts are likely to fail. Other boosters are also getting “additional capabilities” as part of this process, he said.

The next step will be the Next Generation Interceptor program. Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks is currently assessing the decision to proceed. The Pentagon has been working toward two development contracts, with plans calling for MDA to pick two teams to build up to 20 new interceptors, Breaking Defense reported.

Additionally, VanHerck said he expects the new Long Range Discrimination Radar at Clear Air Force Station, Alaska, to progress quickly. It is expected to power up in September. He said his “No. 1 requirement” with MDA on this is “timing, to not have any slips in delivery of that capability.”

SECDEF Directs Pentagon to Champion LGBTQI+ Rights

March 16, 2021 | By Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory

Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III on March 12 directed the Defense Department to “take steps to rescind any directives, orders, regulations, policies, or guidance” that doesn’t line up with President Joe Biden’s Feb. 4 memorandum that charged multiple U.S. government organizations with championing and safeguarding the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex (LGBTQI+) individuals by April 15.

In the same memo, Austin charged all parts of the Pentagon to analyze and report back on how the military is implementing Biden’s memo, and to recommend more ways they can help advance the population’s human rights.

“In accordance with the Presidential Memorandum, it is the policy of the DOD to pursue an end to violence and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or sex characteristics, and DOD will lead by example in the cause of advancing the human rights of LGBTQI+ persons around the world,” Austin wrote.

Austin said the Defense Department will achieve this by:

Enhancing current initiatives to push back against foreign governments’ efforts to make being LGBTQI+ a crime
Initiating or supporting initiatives to tackle “discrimination, homophobia, transphobia, and intolerance on the basis of LGBTQI+ status or conduct”
Widening current efforts to make sure the department regularly engages “with governments, citizens, civil society, and the private sector” to advocate for the LGBTQI+ population’s human rights and tackle discrimination
Taking the potential impacts of DOD-funded programs on the human rights of all people (including the LGBTQI+ community) into account when deciding what to spend Pentagon funds on

F-22 Experiences In-Flight Emergency, Ground Mishap at Eglin

March 15, 2021 | By Brian W. Everstine

An F-22 assigned to the 325th Fighter Wing experienced an in-flight emergency and a subsequent mishap upon landing March 15 at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla.

The pilot was transported to the base’s flight medicine clinic for an evaluation immediately after landing, Eglin said in a statement.

The F-22 landed safely around 3:30 p.m., and there were no details available on the aircraft’s condition. Fire crews responded immediately.

The incident is under investigation, according to Eglin.

It is the second F-22 mishap involving the wing in less than a year. On May 15, 2020, an F-22 from the wing’s 43rd Fighter Squadron crashed north of the base. The pilot in that incident ejected safely. The Air Force has not released its findings into the crash.

After a hurricane struck nearby Tyndall Air Force Base in 2018, the Air Force moved most of the F-22s that had been based there to other bases, including Eglin.

‘Accelerated Path to Wings’ Graduates First Class of Pilots

March 15, 2021 | By Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory

Air Education and Training Command’s “Accelerated Path to Wings” program graduated its first-ever class of undergraduate pilots at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas, on March 12.

The program, also dubbed XPW, produces pilots in approximately seven months—five months shorter than typical undergraduate pilot training—and lets student pilots stick to a single aircraft, according to an AETC release.

Instead of learning how to fly both the T-6A Texan II and the T-1 Jayhawk like traditional undergraduate pilot training requires, XPW students start with classroom training, then proceed to the 12th Training Squadron’s simulator branch, the release said.

There, students practice flying the Jayhawk until they become “proficient in all the required training that will be carried into the aircraft,” Jack Burns, T-1 Academics & Simulation Branch supervisor, explained in a March 3 video about the program.

“Once they get through a certain level of simulator training, they are now opted to go fly in the T-1 with the 99th [Flying Training Squadron],” he says in the video.

Video: Benjamin Faske/12th Flying Training Wing

XPW looks to target “civilian-rated USAF officers or cadets who want to become Air Force pilots,” Air Force Magazine reported last September.

“We had students from various backgrounds, including five who had completed their initial flight training and two who had earned their private pilot’s license,” 99th Flying Training Squadron Commander Lt. Col. Eric Peterson said in the release. “This is a great program for students who want to go fly heavy aircraft in Air Mobility Command, or who want to go fly certain aircraft in special operations or in Air Combat Command.”

New Ribbon Recognizes Guard Troops Who Supported Biden Inauguration

March 15, 2021 | By Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory

The D.C. National Guard Presidential Inauguration Support Ribbon, a new award created by the head of the District of Columbia National Guard and approved by the Army last year, recognizes National Guard troops from the District and any U.S. state or territory who supported President Joe Biden’s inauguration on Title 32 orders, DCNG wrote in a March 15 release.

Troops may wear the ribbon on their dress uniforms after state- and federal-level awards when they’re “not on federal Title 10 orders,” the release explained.

“The ribbon is to recognize the sacrifice of Guardsmen who leave their businesses, their families, their educations to come here and ensure the peaceful transition of presidential power,” said DCNG Commanding General Army Maj. Gen. William J. Walker in the release. “They’re part of a security apparatus in support of the U.S. Secret Service. For many, it’s a once-in-a-career opportunity, and I think this ribbon is befitting of their time, energy and effort to support democracy.”

Many states who sent troops to the National Capital Region following the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection have long-standing histories of supporting inauguration security in D.C.

As of press time, though, Guard personnel who supported the 2021 inauguration were the only ones cleared to receive the award, the release stated.

However, in the release, Walker hinted at potential regulation changes that would greenlight Guard troops who supported past inaugurations to get it, too.

“We believe that it is fitting to award those Guardsmen,” Walker said in the release. “Any Guardsmen alive should be given this award in recognition of their service during the inaugural periods established by the Presidential Inaugural Committee. And it’s something they should look back on fondly for their participation in history.”

If such retroactive recognition is approved, Guard troops who’ve supported more than one inauguration will be able to indicate this service via “numeral devices,” it added.

The ribbon’s design incorporates both national and local symbolism, with its patriotically hued vertical bands representing the American flag, and its red stars against a white backdrop representing the D.C. flag, the release explained. The Army Institute of Heraldry gave the ribbon the official go-ahead late last year, it added.

The award also pays homage to the Guard’s legacy of securing presidential inaugurations dating back to the swearing-in of America’s first President, the release stated.

“The National Guard has been involved with the inauguration of [the U.S.] President since George Washington, when militia groups escorted him to New York for his first inauguration,” said DCNG Senior Enlisted Leader Army Command Sgt. Maj. Michael F. Brooks in the release. “The D.C. National Guard’s specific history with the inauguration starts in 1861, with the inauguration of President Lincoln, where there were credible threats to the [President-elect], so the D.C. National Guard escorted him to the Capitol. And the reason why that’s important is our primary role is not ceremonial, it is to provide security, and it has been since 1861.”

Military.com broke news of the award on March 5.

“In recognition of their service as part of the security mission at the U.S. Capitol and other facilities in Washington, D.C., before, during and after the 59th Presidential Inauguration, the District of Columbia National Guard plans to present all Soldiers and Airmen who took part in the mission one or both of the following decorations: the District of Columbia National Guard Presidential Inauguration Support Ribbon and/or the District of Columbia Emergency Service Ribbon,” Air Force Lt. Col. Robert Carver, spokesman for the Virginia Air National Guard and director of Joint Task Force-DC Joint Information Center, said in a statement provided to Military.com. “Both ribbons are District-level decorations. Plans for their presentation are not yet final. Other federal decorations are also being considered.”

And while civilian Guard personnel who backed up this year’s festivities can’t wear military ribbons, they may receive the same recognition in the form of a certificate, the release noted.

Lawmakers, NGAUS Call for End to Guard Mission at US Capitol

March 15, 2021 | By Brian W. Everstine

Bipartisan lawmakers and the main advocacy group for the National Guard are calling on the Defense Department to end the mission protecting the U.S. Capitol, as about 2,300 Guard personnel remain on duty.

Three days before the mission was slated to end on March 12, Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III extended the mission through May 23 at the request of U.S. Capitol Police. The Guard personnel will “fill some of the gaps” in protecting the Capitol complex, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said.

The decision to extend the mission reportedly came against the advice of National Guard Bureau Chief Army Gen. Daniel R. Hokanson, who in a memo wrote that the Guard could not secure enough volunteers to fill the needs.

“I am concerned that the continued indefinite nature of this requirement may also impede our ability to man future missions as both adjutants general and Guardsmen alike may be skeptical about committing to future endeavors,” Hokanson wrote, according to Fox News.

The National Guard Association of the United States, in a March 12 statement, echoed Hokanson’s concerns, saying the inability to find enough volunteers is a “reflection of the continuing demands of training and missions back in the states on a predominantly part-time force that must always balance military duties with civilian employers and families.”

Guard personnel need to leave Washington, D.C., and go home to their families, employers, and regular obligations. “They have completed their mission,” NGAUS wrote. “They have made us all proud.”

In a March 11 statement, House Armed Services Committee Chairman Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.) and Ranking Member Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) wrote that they have been “deeply troubled” by the security around the Capitol more than two months after the Jan. 6 insurrection. The current posture is not needed, though some Guard personnel could still provide support if there are credible threats.

“We cannot ignore the financial costs associated with this prolonged deployment, nor can we turn a blind eye to the effects it will soon have on the National Guard’s overall readiness,” the lawmakers wrote. “We appreciate our Guardsmen answering the call to protect the Capitol, but it’s time for us to review what level of security is required, so they can return home to their families and communities.”

The Senate Sergeant at Arms on March 15 announced that some of the security posture at the Capitol complex would change, with temporary fencing beginning to come down because of the lack of a credible threat, according to USA Today.