Lawmakers Urge Biden to Rethink USSPACECOM’s Move to Alabama

Jan. 26, 2021 | By Rachel S. Cohen

Colorado’s congressional delegation is pushing President Joe Biden to review the Trump administration’s recent decision to move U.S. Space Command headquarters to Huntsville, Ala., in a Jan. 26 letter signed by all nine senators and representatives.

After searching for two years on behalf of the Defense Department, the Air Force said earlier this month that Huntsville is its top choice to host the HQ, based on factors like infrastructure, community, and costs. Huntsville, home to the Army’s Redstone Arsenal, has only to pass an environmental review to finalize the decision.

The Jan. 13 announcement that SPACECOM is likely leaving Colorado Springs, Colo., for “Rocket City” in the South sparked protest among local and federal officials who thought remaining in Colorado was a done deal. The Colorado Springs Gazette reported the same day that the announcement followed a White House visit by then-Air Force Secretary Barbara M. Barrett to tell former President Donald J. Trump that DOD would go with Colorado.

“Sources at the White House and the Air Force have confirmed the Air Force’s site selection team recommended the permanent headquarters be located at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs,” said Lisa Landes, a spokeswoman for the Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce. “President Trump ignored their recommendation and selected Redstone Arsenal.”

Now, lawmakers want Biden to pause any work underway to relocate the projected 1,500-person SPACECOM headquarters until the review is done.

They argue the command, which oversees daily combat operations of satellites, radars, and other space assets, will be most successful in the longtime military space hub of Colorado Springs, Colo. The area already hosts satellite communications operations and parts of Space Force leadership at Peterson Air Force Base, the National Space Defense Center at Schriever Air Force Base, and missile-warning systems at Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station, among other assets.

“Our national security should be the most important consideration for this critical basing decision,” lawmakers wrote. “This decision will uproot the service members and civilians currently conducting the mission in Colorado and remove them from the nexus of military and intelligence space operations. It will undermine our national security mission and our superiority in space.”

They worry many employees will decline to relocate to Alabama, and accused the Air Force of a faulty decision-making process with incomplete state data.

“This move undermines our ability to respond to the threats in space and is disruptive to the current mission,” the letter said. “Significant evidence exists that the process was neither fair nor impartial and that President Trump’s political considerations influenced the final decision.”

Gen. James H. Dickinson, commander of U.S. Space Command, speaks with retired Lt. Gen. David A. Deptula, dean of AFA’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, during a virtual Aerospace Nation Space Power Forum on Jan. 26, 2021.

SPACECOM boss Gen. James H. Dickinson said Jan. 26 that changing cities wouldn’t harm the command’s capabilities.

“No matter where we’re located, … we will do what we need to do to make sure that the mission is never [in] jeopardy,” he said during an AFA Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies event.

If the Defense Department sticks with Huntsville as SPACECOM’s new home, the command will remain at Peterson as its interim headquarters for the next five years.

“There will be some time that we’ll need in order to construct the facilities and, quite frankly, modify them to fit our mission set, which … tends to be classified,” Dickinson said. “It’ll be several years before we see that.”

2 Russian Tu-142s Enter Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone

Jan. 26, 2021 | By Brian W. Everstine

North American Aerospace Defense Command on Jan. 25 tracked two Russian maritime patrol aircraft entering the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone.

NORAD tracked the two Tu-142s in international airspace, and they didn’t enter the sovereign airspace of either the United States or Canada. An Alaskan NORAD Region release did not say U.S. or Canadian aircraft scrambled to intercept.

“NORAD employs a layered defense network of satellites, ground-based radars, airborne radar, and fighter aircraft to track and identify aircraft and determine the appropriate response,” Alaskan NORAD Region said in the release. “This deliberate identification and monitoring of aircraft entering a U.S. or Canadian ADIZ demonstrates how NORAD executes its continuous airspace warning and aerospace control missions for the United States and Canada.”

It is the first disclosed account of Russian aircraft entering the Alaskan ADIZ in 2021. NORAD conducted more intercepts in 2020 than in recent years, senior officials said, as the Arctic region has grown in military importance for both NORAD and Russia.

In addition to Tu-142 maritime patrol aircraft, Russia has sent multiple other types to the Alaskan ADIZ in recent months, including IL-38 maritime patrol and anti-submarine planes, Tu-95 Bear bombers, A-50 airborne early warning and control aircraft, and Su-35 fighters, according to NORAD releases.

“This is all about an increase in interest in the Arctic,” Maj. Gen. David J. Meyer, NORAD’s deputy director of operations, said in an interview with Air Force Magazine. “It’s obviously becoming a greater and greater interest, and therefore the majority of the activity we encounter at NORAD and NORTHCOM is up in the Arctic region. … It’s been years since anything has come to our coast, at least in the air domain. … It’s all about the increased interest in the Arctic. We’re interested in it, they’re interested in it, the Chinese are interested in it, all of the Arctic nations are interested in it.”

Editor’s note: This story was updated at 9:34 a.m. EST Jan. 28 to clarify information from NORAD about aircraft responding to the incident.

30 Years After Desert Storm: Jan. 26

Jan. 25, 2021

In commemoration of the 30th Anniversary of Operation Desert Storm, Air Force Magazine is posting daily recollections from the six-week war, which expelled Iraq from occupied Kuwait.

Jan. 26:

Air emphasis shifts to strikes against an Iraqi field army in Kuwait.
Iraq sends aircraft to Iran for sanctuary (by war’s end, 122 had fled).
Marines fire 155 mm Howitzers at Iraqi troops six miles inside Kuwait.
In Washington, marchers protest war in Persian Gulf.
Anti-war protesters march in Bonn and Berlin, Germany, as well as in Switzerland and France.
Demonstrations are held in support of war in several U.S. cities, among them Boston and Chicago.

Check out our complete chronology of the Gulf War, starting with Iraq’s July 1990 invasion of Kuwait and running through Iraq’s April 1991 acceptance of peace terms.

All Three USAF Bomber Types to Fly Over Super Bowl

Jan. 25, 2021 | By John A. Tirpak

The Air Force will mount a first-of-its-kind flyover of the Super Bowl with all three types of strategic bombers, the service announced Jan. 25. The event will take place over Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla., on Feb. 7.

The flyover, timed to coincide with the National Anthem, will include a B-1B Lancer from Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D.; a B-2A Spirit from Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo., and a B-52H Stratofortress from Minot Air Force Base, N.D., the service said in a press release. Though the three have flown joint flyovers in airshows previously, this will be the first such formation over a Super Bowl.

“The aircraft will take off … from their respective bases, join up for the flyover, and return to base following the event, demonstrating the flexibility” of Air Force Global Strike Command’s bombers “and their ability to deploy anywhere in the world from the continental U.S.,” the Air Force said.

The service noted that it performs nearly 1,000 flyovers every year, and the missions serve “as a way to showcase the capabilities of its aircraft while also inspiring patriotism and future generations of aviation enthusiasts.” The flyovers don’t incur a cost to taxpayers, as they are counted as “time over target” training for aircrews and ground controllers, the service asserted.

Gen. Timothy M. Ray, AFGSC commander, said supporting the event is an honor “for our command and the U.S. Air Force,” and is an opportunity to demonstrate “the reliability, flexibility, and precision of our bomber fleet.”

Austin Ceremonially Sworn in at the White House

Jan. 25, 2021 | By Brian W. Everstine

Vice President Kamala Harris on Jan. 25 ceremonially swore in new Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III at the White House, days after he started the job and has already announced multiple changes to the Defense Department.

“Secretary Austin’s integrity, experience, and intimate knowledge of the issues facing our military make him the right leader for this moment,” Harris said in a Twitter statement.

Austin was already sworn in administratively on Jan. 22 at the Pentagon, and had served in the role for about three days before the White House ceremony. With Harris participating, it was the first female, Black, and south Asian Vice President swearing in the first Black Defense Secretary.

It’s an honor and a privilege to serve as our country’s 28th Secretary of Defense, and I’m especially proud to be the first African American to hold the position. Let’s get to work. pic.twitter.com/qPAzVRxz9L
— Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III (@SecDef) January 22, 2021

The ceremony came shortly after Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark A. Milley attended the signing of the Executive Order that ends the Pentagon’s ban on transgender individuals serving in the military.

In one of his first steps as Defense Secretary, Austin ordered the services and combatant commands to provide a summary of sexual assault and sexual harassment prevention and accountability measures taken within the past year by Feb. 5. In a memo, Austin said he wants to know more about how data would support addressing sexual misconduct “within a broader violence prevention framework.” He said there will be a meeting of senior leaders “in the coming days” to address the problem.

The order comes alongside a similar one from President Joe Biden, which called for a 90-day commission to pursue ways to fix the problem of sexual assault in the military—a move that the DOD will “aggressively support,” Austin wrote.

“I look forward to working with you as we defend the United States,” Austin wrote to DOD leaders in the memo. “But, as I said before the Senate Armed Services Committee, we cannot accomplish that mission if we also have to battle enemies within the ranks. I’m speaking here about the scourge of sexual assault.”

Brown on Capitol Riot: ‘I Struggled on That Day’

Jan. 25, 2021 | By Rachel S. Cohen

On Jan. 6, as a throng of supporters of former President Donald J. Trump and right-wing extremists mobbed the U.S. Capitol, the Air Force Chief of Staff couldn’t tear himself away from the television.

Brown, teleworking away from the Pentagon, said he watched in shock and disbelief as events unfolded that killed five people and sent hundreds of lawmakers, staffers, and journalists running for cover.

“I was very disappointed, and it hurt,” he said in a live conversation with The Washington Post on Jan. 25. “I struggled on that day to understand what was going on and where we were going to go as a nation.”

Brown, who last summer became the first Black four-star general in American history to lead a branch of the armed forces, grappled with the sight of the Confederate flag being paraded through the halls of the U.S. Capitol—something not done even during the Civil War.

“The Confederate flag, throughout my career, has … never really sat well with me, just watching around our force or other locations, and having been stationed at locations in the South where you saw it,” he said. “To see it up on the Capitol, and to be walked through the Capitol, gives me an indication that … there is a bit of division.”

It drove home the work America must take on to bridge those differences and “be the nation we’ve all grown to know and love,” he said.

His sentiment echoes that of others in the Air Force who voiced their worries on social media.

“Internal division is our biggest threat, and it is being exacerbated skillfully by state and non-state actors that want to see us weakened & discredited,” Lt. Gen. S. Clinton Hinote, deputy chief of staff for strategy, integration, and requirements, wrote in a Jan. 7 Twitter thread. “We are in danger of losing our republic.”

https://twitter.com/ClintHinote/status/1347254207888420864

Brown suggested race may have played a factor in how Capitol Police and other law enforcement responded to the masses forcibly entering the seat of government, compared to aggressive policing tactics used against people protesting systemic racism in D.C. last year.

“There was a pendulum swing of the reaction then, and I think in this case, the pendulum swung a different direction,” Brown said. “It does make you wonder how we reacted, as a nation, to these particular events on the 6th, and how I think, in some cases, we underestimated the reaction from those who participated on the 6th.”

Reporting following the Capitol riot found that nearly 20 percent of individuals facing federal or local charges in connection with that day’s events have served or are serving in the U.S. military. The presence of current and former military members at the violent event, driven by ideological extremism in support of Trump, has spurred the military to take a new look at white supremacists and other extremists in its ranks.

“We witnessed actions inside the Capitol building that were inconsistent with the rule of law,” a memo signed by all eight members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said. “The rights of freedom of speech and assembly do not give anyone the right to resort to violence, sedition, and insurrection.”

“Any act to disrupt the Constitutional process is not only against our traditions, values, and oath; it is against the law,” they continued. The events took place as lawmakers were certifying Joe Biden as the winner of the 2020 presidential election.

On Jan. 13, one week after the deadly day in Washington, Brown and other senior leaders in the Department of the Air Force also wrote a brief letter to their troops urging them to “remain steady and stay focused on your duties to the country.”

“On the 6th of January, the violent assault on our Nation’s Capitol was an attack on the foundation of our great republic. Our oath demands that we are unwavering in safeguarding American ideals,” leadership wrote.

Speaking to the Post, Brown indicated extremism is a social issue on par with sexual assault and racial inequality that stops the Air Force from reaching its full potential. Nearly eight months after releasing a viral video entitled “What I’m thinking about,” a discussion of George Floyd’s death and the racism he’s faced in the Air Force, Brown said he’s pursuing meaningful, sustainable, and enduring cultural improvements for minorities in the military.

“We have to talk about our core values and our standards, but we need to be open and transparent about how we talk about those,” he said, adding that more could be done to make Airmen more tolerant of people from other backgrounds who they may not have interacted with before joining the military.

Brown also pointed to changes underway to more intentionally diversify service leadership, and to unpack other unconscious biases that may be holding the Air Force back or creating an uncomfortable environment for minority Airmen.

The Defense Department is wrestling with those issues as it welcomes its first Black Secretary, Lloyd J. Austin III. Brown served as the top officer providing air assets to the Middle East while Austin ran U.S. Central Command in the mid-2010s, and said the new Defense Secretary is straightforward, thoughtful, and inclusive.

“I think he’s going to hold us to account as well, to ensure that we deliver on … his priorities, the President’s priorities, to do the things that the Department of Defense does to secure our national security,” Brown said. That extends to “how we work with allies and partners and also have the right environment within the force.”

DOD and the Department of the Air Force will move forward in 2021 on several major initiatives, including continuing to stand up the Space Force and modernizing the air and space inventory. Brown praised speedy software development, plug-and-play software interfaces, and digital engineering as the biggest game-changers the department is pursuing. He also defended the need to continue the Space Force past the Trump administration.

“There are some opportunities here to actually increase our visibility on space,” he said. “Because the Space Force is coming out of the Air Force, it’s given us an opportunity to take a hard look at ourselves as an Air Force. There’s some things that we could do differently, and better, and there’s some things we may be able to learn as we look at a separate service now that starts from scratch.”

About 5,000 Guard Troops to Stay in D.C. Through Mid-March

Jan. 25, 2021 | By Brian W. Everstine

Approximately 5,000 National Guard troops will remain on the streets of Washington, D.C., with most protecting the U.S. Capitol for almost two more months, in response to requests from federal agencies and local police who anticipate additional unrest.

As of Jan. 25, there were about 13,000 Guard personnel still in the District, down from the more than 25,000 in D.C. to protect the Jan. 20 inauguration of President Joe Biden after the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol.

The U.S. Park Police, U.S. Secret Service, Capitol Police Department, and Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police Department all requested National Guard help in the coming weeks, and those requests have been approved, Acting Army Secretary John E. Whitley told reporters in a Jan. 25 briefing.

Through early February, about 500 will help the Park Police, 550 will help the Metropolitan Police, 600 will help the Secret Service, and about 5,000 will remain at the U.S. Capitol to help the Capitol Police, Whitley said.

National Guard troops will continue helping with security, communications, medical evacuation, logistics, and safety support. The forces will wear protective equipment and remain armed “if necessary,” Whitley said.

Whitley and National Guard leaders would not share specific threats coming in the near future, though Politico reported the upcoming Senate impeachment trial of former President Donald J. Trump has created “security concerns” necessitating the use of the Guard.

“We do not engage in that intelligence work ourselves, we rely on our federal partners, particularly the FBI, to provide that information,” Whitley said. “And so what I can tell you in terms of what they’re briefing us, there are several upcoming events, we don’t know what they are, over the next several weeks, and they’re concerned that there could be situations where there are lawful protests, First Amendment protected protests, that could either be used by malicious actors or other problems may emerge.”

Since Guard personnel began arriving in Washington, D.C., shortly after the Jan. 6 incident, about 200 personnel have tested positive for COVID-19. Maj. Gen. William J. Walker, the commanding general of the District of Columbia National Guard, told reporters that Guard personnel follow CDC guidelines and Defense Department protocols, and are tested for the virus. When they are positive, the Soldier or Airman is quarantined in the D.C. area until they are cleared to return home.

While the number is concerning, it is still less than 1 percent of the total National Guard presence at its peak, National Guard Bureau Chief Army Gen. Daniel R. Hokanson told reporters.

Biden Reverses Ban on Transgender Individuals Serving in the Military

Jan. 25, 2021 | By Brian W. Everstine

President Joe Biden on Jan. 25 reversed the ban on transgender individuals serving in the military, opening the door to thousands barred from service and correcting the service record of anyone affected by the ban.

The executive order, announced before Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III’s swearing-in ceremony at the White House, reverses an order from former President Donald J. Trump that cited “tremendous medical costs and disruption” from transgender individuals serving in uniform. The order reverts to the Pentagon’s prior position of allowing transgender people into the military, so the DOD can recruit and retain “those who can best accomplish the mission.”

“President Biden believes that gender identity should not be a bar to military service, and America’s strength is found in its diversity,” the White House said in a statement. “This question of how to enable all qualified Americans to serve in the military is easily answered by recognizing our core values. America is stronger, at home and around the world, when it is inclusive. The military is no exception. Allowing all qualified Americans to serve their country in uniform is better for the military and better for the country because an inclusive force is a more effective force.”

In a statement following the executive order, Austin said the Pentagon will immediately take steps to ensure individuals who identify as transgender are able to enlist and serve in their self-identified gender.

“These changes will ensure no one will be separated or discharged, or denied reenlistment, solely on the basis of gender identity,” Austin said.

Additionally, all medically necessary transition-related care will be available to service members.

“We would be rendering ourselves less fit to the task if we excluded from our ranks people who meet our standards and who have the skills and the devotion to serve in uniform,” he said. “This is the right thing to do. It is also the smart thing to do.”

A 2016 study by the RAND Corp. estimated there are between 1,320-6,630 transgender service members in Active duty, but that number varies widely based on a lack of data and current military policies. The same study estimated that Active component health care costs would increase by between $2.4 million and $8.4 million annually if DOD covered transition-related care.

The White House in its statement pointed to a 2016 DOD study that noted that “open transgender service has had no significant impact on operational effectiveness or unit cohesion in foreign militaries,” and testimony in 2018 by each service uniformed leader stated that they were not aware of issues of unit cohesion.

The White House also said the Pentagon would report back in 60 days on its progress implementing the order.

Trump first announced the ban in July 2017 on Twitter, saying “please be advised that the United States government will not accept or allow transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the US military.” Days later, then-Defense Secretary James N. Mattis delayed implementation so the policy could be reviewed.

Advocacy groups on Jan. 25 lauded the ban’s reversal. In a joint statement, the Service Members, Partners, Allies for Respect and Tolerance for all and the Modern Military Association of America said the move is a “victory” for inclusion in the government.

The reversal “enhances national security by allowing otherwise qualified Americans to serve their country, and for transgender people already serving to reach their full potential,” said Jennifer Dane, MMAA executive director and Air Force veteran, in the statement.

Air Force Projects Halted by Continuing Resolution Now Move Forward

Jan. 22, 2021 | By Rachel S. Cohen

A three-month continuing resolution that ended in December inflicted less pain on the Department of the Air Force than it had expected, as procurement and construction continue in the new year.

The federal government operated under a stopgap spending measure that stretched from the beginning of the fiscal year on Oct. 1 to Dec. 27, when former President Donald J. Trump signed the fiscal 2021 funding bill into law.

Under the CR, the Air Force warned it risked being placed on a waiting list to purchase manned E-11A Battlefield Airborne Communications node jets that are used to share data during combat missions. The service planned to buy five new planes from Bombardier starting in fiscal 2021 to replace the EQ-4B, a variant of the Northrop Grumman Global Hawk drone that also flies the BACN mission.

“The contract award for the procurement of an E-11 aircraft was delayed six months; however, negotiations are now proceeding and no additional delays are anticipated,” Air Force spokesman Capt. Jacob N. Bailey said in a Jan. 19 email.

That contract should be inked by the end of March, and the plane is on track for delivery by the end of June.

“No cost impacts are expected,” Bailey added. “There are no immediate operational impacts due to delayed procurement.”

In the meantime, the Air Force also awarded Northrop a five-year, $3.6 billion contract for BACN operations and sustainment. The funds cover use and upkeep of the current aircraft and their communications hardware, plus research for future payloads.

The Air Force also warned last fall that a CR would drag out construction of the Consolidated Space Operations Facility at Schriever Air Force Base, Colo., a larger building for troops that control satellites and radars and gather intelligence.

“The project is still in design and not impacted by the … CR,” Bailey said. “Construction is estimated to be complete in early 2025 based on current timelines. There are no anticipated cost increases at this time due to the recent CR.”

Continuing resolutions block federal agencies from starting new programs and buying more resources than they were allowed to in the previous year’s budget, among other restrictions. The Air Force said a yearlong stopgap would have blocked 48 new programs, cut production increases for seven aircraft and weapons, stopped 19 construction projects, limited hiring, and curbed the service’s measures to fight the coronavirus pandemic, among other effects.

Officials have indicated they will need to work through the ripple effects with the Biden administration and a new Congress.

“[A CR] doesn’t help us accelerate change, or be able to do things a bit faster with some predictability,” Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. said in September. “It will cause us to take a step back and then have to take a relook, realizing that no matter who gets elected in November, we will actually continue to work through this.”