SECARMY Clears Guard Troops at Capitol to Carry Weapons

SECARMY Clears Guard Troops at Capitol to Carry Weapons

Jan. 13, 2021 | By Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory

Army Secretary Ryan D. McCarthy has authorized Guard troops safeguarding the U.S. Capitol in the wake of its Jan. 6 breach by violent supporters of President Donald J. Trump to carry lethal weapons, the District of Columbia National Guard said in a statement shared with Air Force Magazine.

These personnel were armed as of around 6 p.m. on Jan. 12, in response to a request from “federal authorities” that was given the go-ahead by McCarthy, according to the statement.

“National Guard members are postured to meet the requirements of the supported civil authorities, up to and including protective equipment and being armed if necessary,” the statement said. “The public’s safety is our top priority.”

Earlier in the week, National Guard Bureau Chief Army Gen. Daniel R. Hokanson told reporters Guard troops generally travel with their full array of safety equipment—including their weapons—in case situations on the ground deem it necessary, Air Force Magazine previously reported. However, he noted at the time, decisions about whether troops deployed to the National Capital Region would be asked to carry their weapons were in the hands of “senior leadership,” and those determinations would grow out of conversations between NGB, federal agencies, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and law enforcement.

It was not immediately clear whether this decision will extend to all Guard personnel who are being mobilized to the National Capital Region in the lead-up to the presidential inauguration—whose numbers may reach 15,000—or if it just applies to those currently safeguarding the U.S. Capitol grounds.

The current deployment marks the first time since the Civil War that Guard troops have taken temporary shelter within the U.S. Capitol, Bloomberg News’ Erik Wasson reported on Twitter.

Congressional reporters from other outlets also posted photos of the unorthodox camping quarters on the social platform.

“Photos have circulated this morning showing National Guard troops resting in the Capitol building,” the DCNG later clarified in a Jan. 13 statement shared with Air Force Magazine. “This area of the Capitol has been designated a rest area for National Guard members when they are on duty but between shifts. To be clear, this [is] not where they are lodging when off duty. Being present is the first step in ensuring the safety of our citizens and our Nation’s Capital. Our security personnel work in shifts and rest when they can as others stand watch.”

The photos have inspired grassroots efforts to gather donations of “comfort items” for troops deployed within the District, but the NGB asked the public to refrain from these well-intended gestures, according to a release.

“While we appreciate the many offers and people who care about our Soldiers and Airmen, we are not logistically able to accept donations of any kind,” NGB wrote.

Editor’s Note: This story was updated on Jan. 13 at 4:16 p.m. EST to include new comment from the DCNG and at 6:37 p.m. with additional information from the National Guard Bureau.

Air Force, Space Force Leaders Now Vaccinated Against COVID-19

Air Force, Space Force Leaders Now Vaccinated Against COVID-19

Jan. 12, 2021 | By Rachel S. Cohen

The top three leaders in the Department of the Air Force have received their first coronavirus vaccinations, as the shot rolls out across U.S. military bases worldwide.

Air Force Secretary Barbara M. Barrett and Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. were both vaccinated Jan. 12, service spokeswoman Ann M. Stefanek said. Space Force Chief of Space Operations Gen. John W. “Jay” Raymond received his vaccine on Jan. 5.

Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force JoAnne S. Bass is also vaccinated, according to a Jan. 12 Facebook post. “Didn’t even feel it,” she said.

CMSAF JoAnne S. Bass receives a COVID-19 vaccine. Photo: USAF on Facebook

The department declined to answer whether other senior officials, like the Air Force and Space Force’s vice chiefs or the Space Force’s top enlisted leader, have been vaccinated as well. “We don’t plan to release medical data on individuals beyond those leaders,” Stefanek said of Barrett, Brown, and Raymond. She didn’t say whether they have gotten both of the two-dose vaccines.

The Food and Drug Administration so far has approved two emergency vaccines developed by a Pfizer-BioNTech team and Moderna to fight COVID-19.

Airmen and Guardians began getting their two-part shots on Dec. 15. More than 139,400 Pentagon employees had received their first vaccines as of a Jan. 12 review of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s tracking website. More than 376,000 vaccines have been distributed across the Department of Defense, in a pool separate from the supply available to the general public.

DOD is prioritizing its health care workforce, emergency services personnel, and public safety workers as the first vaccine recipients. That first phase “may include military, civilian, contractors, students, and other hospital non-clinical staff authorized to receive [the] vaccine from the DOD supporting patient care with a high risk of exposure or potential to interface with COVID-19 positive case,” according to the Pentagon’s phasing plan.

They are followed by people preparing to deploy overseas, high-risk populations, those involved in “critical national capabilities,” and other essential workers. Healthy employees will be the last to become eligible as vaccinations settle into a normal rhythm resembling that of annual flu shot distribution.

“More than 100 DOD locations have received vaccines or are scheduled to receive vaccines in the coming days, which means vaccines are available at nearly one-third of DOD military treatment facilities,” Army Maj. Cesar Santiago-Santini, a Pentagon spokesman, recently told Military Times.

Air Force and Space Force installations around the world have cheered the arrival of COVID-19 vaccines in the past month. Military members are encouraged but not required to get the shots, which were vetted in months-long medical trials that included service members.

“I’m not getting vaccinated only for my own benefit,” said Col. Ryan Mihata, 86th Medical Group commander at Ramstein Air Base in Germany. “This is a way to help protect my daughter, my wife, my wingmen, and most importantly, our patients in high-risk categories.”

“I did have reservations,” added Airman 1st Class Douglas Moore, a medical worker at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. “After reading the Pfizer study and doing a little research, I decided that the benefits outweigh any risks.”

Stefanek said the Department of the Air Force doesn’t yet have an estimate for when everyone at Air Force and Space Force facilities will be vaccinated. As of 2 p.m. on Jan. 11, the Department of the Air Force had logged 38,471 cases of COVID-19 and 53 deaths.

Senior military officials dealt with multiple coronavirus incidents throughout 2020. Space Force Vice Chief of Space Operations Gen. David D. Thompson tested positive for the virus in late October, shortly after Raymond and Brown ended their own time in isolation after a COVID-19 scare among the Joint Chiefs of Staff left them potentially exposed to the virus.

Thompson returned to work at the Pentagon Nov. 9.

Granting Austin’s Waiver Could Damage US Politics, Experts Tell Senators

Granting Austin’s Waiver Could Damage US Politics, Experts Tell Senators

Jan. 12, 2021 | By Rachel S. Cohen

Experts warned the Senate Armed Services Committee at a Jan. 12 hearing that approving a waiver for retired Army Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III to serve as Defense Secretary would damage the norm of civilian control of the military and cautioned against relying on veterans to lend credibility to American politics.

President-elect Joe Biden said in December he would turn to Austin, a former U.S. Central Command boss who would be the first Black Defense Secretary if confirmed, to run the Pentagon. Austin left military service in 2016 and needs a congressional waiver to hold the Defense Department’s top civilian job because he has not yet been retired for seven years.

“Secretary-designate Austin is going to work tirelessly to get it back on track,” Biden said of civilian-military relations last month. “There is no doubt in my mind whether this nominee will honor, respect, and on a day-to-day breathe life into the preeminent principle of civilian leadership over military matters in our nation.”

Senators are now in the position of deciding whether to waive that seven-year requirement for only the third time in U.S. history and the second time since 2017. It’s not only a matter of whether he has the integrity or the respect to lead, they said, but what is at stake by allowing him to do so.

The question of whether Austin is truly the best candidate for Defense Secretary hung over the hearing, one week before the secretary-designate is slated to appear before the committee. The House Armed Services Committee plans to vet Austin at a similar hearing on Jan. 21.

Lawmakers appeared to mull whether Austin’s nomination is fundamentally different enough to deny his waiver compared to President Donald J. Trump’s pick of former Marine Corps Gen. James N. Mattis. Many saw Mattis’s selection as a chance to boost the amount of government experience in Trump’s cabinet, as well as to introduce a check on potentially dangerous presidential requests.

Lindsay P. Cohn, an associate professor at the U.S. Naval War College who testified before the panel, said Mattis’s time as Secretary raised the issue of over-deference to the military voice in the room, as well as to the friends and colleagues of civilian officials with military experience.

“No one is worried” about the waiver decimating civilian control or the integrity of American democracy altogether, Cohn said. What is at stake is weakening those norms and institutions, she said.

“Choosing a recently retired general officer and arguing that he is uniquely qualified to meet the current challenges furthers a narrative that military officers are better at things and more reliable or trustworthy than civil servants or other civilians,” Cohn said. “This is hugely problematic at a time when one of the biggest challenges facing the country is the need to restore trust and faith in the political system. Implying that only a military officer can do this job at this time is counterproductive to that goal.”

Answering questions about the value of former generals as apolitical figures in hyperpartisan Washington, Cohn suggested that Mattis and retired Army four-star George C. Marshall were not “shining examples” of the best candidates for SECDEF. Instead, it’s often Secretaries with past political and legislative experience across a range of issues who are best equipped to take on the complexities of DOD.

Kathleen J. McInnis, an international security specialist with the Congressional Research Service, noted at the hearing that the U.S. has seen how the influence of retired generals who move to the civilian staff has manifested down the chain of command for planning and oversight, particularly in cases where the Joint Chiefs of Staff and their employees overshadow the work done in the civilian-led Office of the Secretary of Defense.

Senators have to decide that the value of a person’s contribution as SECDEF would outweigh that damage of approving another waiver, Cohn added. But greenlighting Austin to serve doesn’t mean future nominees with military backgrounds will be shoo-ins: “You can change the direction of that norm,” she said.

Though Austin may not end up facing much opposition in the final waiver and confirmation votes, SASC members in both parties raised questions about why Biden sees Austin as the best fit for the job and what the ripple effects of another former general in charge may be.

Outgoing Chairman Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) raised the question of whether Biden as commander-in-chief would hear enough diverse opinions because the Pentagon’s top civilian and military officials—Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark A. Milley—both come from the Army. He wondered whether tapping Mattis and Austin has contributed to further politicization of the military.

“After 40 years of successful military service, it would be natural and comfortable for Lloyd Austin to surround himself with previous military colleagues … rather than selecting or recommending strong civilian candidates for senior service and military service,” Inhofe added.

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) worries Austin’s career ties to the Pentagon may blind him to changes that need to be made or deter him from pursuing them. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), the only senator to vote no on Mattis’s confirmation in 2017, similarly questioned whether tapping a former Soldier would discourage women who fear being raped or murdered by their fellow troops that those problems wouldn’t be taken seriously at the top.

Democratic Sens. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Tammy Duckworth of Illinois oppose granting a waiver. Others, including Maine Independent Sen. Angus King, are still wrestling with the decision.

It risks “creating a danger that the exception will swallow the rule,” Blumenthal said. “It is a matter of principle.”

Still, Blumenthal said Austin has alluded to measures he could take to strengthen civilian control, such as taking back some of the power that has fallen to the uniformed Chiefs of Staff.

The experts stressed that Austin should be transparent with press and with lawmakers, and discuss how he differentiates between his military and civilian roles as well as how he plans to empower the civilian side of the house.

Confirming Austin will make restoring the electorate’s trust in American politics more difficult, Cohn said, and forces the Biden administration to work harder to build a strong national security civilian corps. If numerous defense jobs are left without formally appointed and Senate-confirmed staffers, as has happened throughout the Trump administration, those security matters will fall to agencies that are adequately staffed, McInnis added.

Top civilian posts, like deputy defense secretary and the Pentagon policy boss, should be filled as quickly as possible, the experts said. Biden is nominating Kathleen H. Hicks to be deputy defense secretary and Colin H. Kahl as undersecretary of defense for policy.

Over time, the statutory limitation on former troops serving as SECDEF has shrunk from 10 years to seven years—a move that can be interpreted as weakening the firewall between military and civilian service. But Congress has also implemented the seven-year waiting period for other civilian positions in DOD as a way to strengthen civil service overall, McInnis said.

“It’s not just the person of the Secretary of Defense and the particular qualities that they bring to the game,” she said. “It’s also, who are the service Secretaries? Who are the undersecretaries? Do they have, together as a team, the set of skills … this chamber feels is necessary to accomplish the national security business of the United States?”

Joint Chiefs Condemn Capitol Attack, Say Inauguration Will Proceed

Joint Chiefs Condemn Capitol Attack, Say Inauguration Will Proceed

Jan. 12, 2021 | By Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory

Just under a week after the U.S. Capitol Building was overtaken by rioters looking to interrupt the certification of electoral votes from the 2020 presidential election, the Joint Chiefs of Staff sent an internal memo to the joint force condemning the Jan. 6 attack and confirming that President-elect Joe Biden will be inaugurated as the 46th President of the United States on Jan. 20.

Six people died as a result of injuries sustained in the riot, including two Capitol Police officers.

“We witnessed actions inside the Capitol building that were inconsistent with the rule of law,” wrote the Joint Chiefs in the undated internal memo, a copy of which was obtained by Air Force Magazine on Jan. 12. “The rights of freedom of speech and assembly do not give anyone the right to resort to violence, sedition, and insurrection.”

The memo marked Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr.’s and Space Force Chief of Space Operations Gen. John W. “Jay” Raymond’s first public condemnations of the Jan. 6 events.

The Joint Chiefs asserted that the military will continue to follow legal orders from its civilian leaders, backup civil authorities to safeguard “lives and property,” guarantee the safety of the American public, and protect and defend the U.S. Constitution “against all enemies, foreign and domestic.”

“Any act to disrupt the Constitutional process is not only against our traditions, values, and oath; it is against the law,” they wrote.

They also stressed that U.S. troops must epitomize the country’s “values and ideals,” and urged them to “stay ready, keep [their] eyes on the horizon, and remain focused on the mission.”

As of Jan. 11, a total of 6,200 National Guard troops were mobilized in the National Capital Region, with that number slated to climb to at least 10,000 by Inauguration Day, Air Force Magazine previously reported.

Northrop Grumman EW System Could Be Installed On About 450 F-16s If Successful

Northrop Grumman EW System Could Be Installed On About 450 F-16s If Successful

Jan. 12, 2021 | By John A. Tirpak

The Air Force has chosen Northrop Grumman over L3 Harris to develop a Next Generation Electronic Warfare suite for the F-16 which, if development succeeds, could equip as many as 450 Vipers under a program potentially worth $2.5 billion, Northrop and service officials said Jan. 11.

The development contract, worth about $250 million, was actually awarded in November 2020, but the announcement was held until the start of calendar 2021. Because development is not yet complete, there’s been no decision made about whether it will be fielded, and for the same reason, the NGEW has not yet been assigned a nomenclature.

The system will defend F-16s from “radio frequency-guided weapons”—radar-guided missiles—by detecting, identifying, and defeating RF threats in an “increasingly contested environment,” the company said in a press release. It will offer advanced countermeasures and “also has proven pulse-to-pulse operability with the F-16’s newly-acquired AN/APG-83 Scalable Agile Beam Radar,” or SABR, also built by Northrop, the company said.

It’s “a fully integrated EW suite—a jammer plus Radar Warning Receiver built into the aircraft—that can meet the challenge of detecting and countering complex threat emitters,” an Air Force official said. If successfully developed and fielded, it will replace “an analog version of a legacy RWR and several legacy jammers,” he said. The system is more comparable to the Eagle Passive Active Warning and Survivability System (EPAWSS) for the F-15 than a specific jamming pod like the ALQ-131, he said.

The NGEW is being developed as a Section 804 rapid-acquisition program—using congressionally granted “other transaction authorities”—in response to a 2017 study by the Office of the Secretary of Defense identifying a need for better EW capabilities for the F-16. In 2018, the F-16 System Program Office “led a market research effort that resulted in the selection of two vendors (from five) for competitive prototyping,” a service official said. These were Northrop and L3H. A competitive prototyping program began in September 2019, and Northrop won that competition in November.

The system is “being developed for the U.S. F-16 fleet but is leveraging some new technology from other U.S. programs,” the company said. Some of it derives from the ALQ-251 used on the Air Force AC/MC-130J fleet flown by Special Operations Command, and “shares some common technology” with the AN/APR-39 radar warning receiver. The system is a “scalable capability” and could be exported either as a pod or an internal system, a Northrop spokesman said.

If further development and flight test proves successful, an Air Force official said the system could begin fielding circa 2024, adding that it’s “too early” to discuss the rate of installs or when they might be completed.

The work will be done at Northrop’s Rolling Meadows, Ill., facilities and will “leverage other partners both inside and outside” the company. Northrop will “continue to team with non-traditional defense contractors for the execution” of the project, the company said in a press release.

“This system draws on the best of our experience from multiple programs to create an effective and affordable solution to keep the Viper relevant throughout its service life,” said Ryan Tintner, Northrop VP for navigation, targeting and survivability. The EW suite will leverage “an open systems, ultra-wideband architecture for providing greater instantaneous bandwidth needed to defeat modern threats.” The NGEW is part of a “mature product line of electronic warfare capabilities that can be adapted to protect virtually any platform or mission requirement.”

Barrett, Five Other Top USAF Civilians to Leave Posts

Barrett, Five Other Top USAF Civilians to Leave Posts

Jan. 11, 2021 | By Rachel S. Cohen

Six high-ranking Air Force officials will say goodbye to the service Jan. 14 as they prepare to leave their posts when the Trump administration departs next week.

The Department of the Air Force will bid farewell to Secretary Barbara M. Barrett in a ceremony slated for Jan. 14. Also on the way out are acting Air Force Undersecretary Shon J. Manasco, Comptroller John P. Roth, General Counsel Thomas E. Ayres, acquisition boss Will Roper, and Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Installations, Environment, and Energy John W. Henderson, according to the event’s livestream page.

Their last full day on the job will be Jan. 19, the day before President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration. An Air Force spokeswoman said the department does not yet have a full slate of acting officials to fill the positions that will be open once the new administration is sworn in Jan. 20.

Biden hasn’t announced his picks for new officials who will take over the Department of the Air Force’s top jobs.

Barrett, the 25th Air Force Secretary and the fourth woman to hold the position, took the oath of office in October 2019. Previously discussed as a potential candidate for the Air Force’s top civilian job, she came to the department from chairing the board of the federally funded research and development center Aerospace Corp. She’s overseen the addition of a Space Force within her department and has run the services during a retention boom and a push to address racism and inequality in the ranks, among other issues.

While service Secretaries typically turn over between presidential administrations like other political appointees, longtime military employees are leaving as well. 

Manasco came to the Air Force in 2017 as assistant secretary of the Air Force for manpower and reserve affairs, and unofficially filled in as Air Force undersecretary for several months when Matthew P. Donovan left to become undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness. In May 2020, the White House nominated him to permanently serve as Air Force undersecretary, but the Senate never approved the pick after an August 2020 confirmation hearing with the Senate Armed Services Committee. 

Manasco’s nomination sat in limbo throughout the rest of 2020, and lawmakers “received message of withdrawal of nomination from the President” on Dec. 30, according to Congress.gov. His official biography again lists him in the top manpower policy job, but Air Force spokeswoman Ann M. Stefanek said he remains as acting undersecretary.

Roper, another longtime military employee, came to the department from the Pentagon’s Strategic Capabilities Office in early 2018. He spearheaded a new embrace of commercial industry and rapid prototyping, and has been the top acquisition official overseeing the push to modernize Air Force and Space Force inventories with multibillion-dollar programs like the B-21 bomber and F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

Roth has managed Air Force finances since January 2018, following his time as a budget official in the Navy and the Pentagon comptroller’s office. He also stepped in for stints as Air Force undersecretary.

Ayres joined the Air Force in 2018 as a career military legal official who previously served as Deputy Judge Advocate General of the Army. He was confirmed after the Trump administration withdrew its nomination of David G. Ehrhart, its first choice for USAF general counsel.

Henderson became the Air Force’s installations chief in early 2018 after a career with the Army Corps of Engineers, tackling mounting issues around the impact of climate change on USAF facilities as well as an enormous backlog of deferred maintenance.

The turnover offers Biden’s White House a chance to tap new officials at a crucial time for procurement, facilities, discrimination in the legal system, budget stability, and personnel management within the Department of the Air Force.

Editor’s note: This story was updated Jan. 13 at 2:09 p.m. to clarify when the outgoing officials will leave their jobs.

F-104 Record-Setter, River Rats Founder Howard Johnson, 1920-2020

F-104 Record-Setter, River Rats Founder Howard Johnson, 1920-2020

Jan. 11, 2021 | By John A. Tirpak

Howard C. “Scrappy” Johnson, who received the Collier Trophy for setting a record altitude in the F-104 Starfighter, a veteran of World War II, Korea, and Vietnam, and one of the founders of the Red River Valley Fighter Pilots Association, died Dec. 9, 2020, at age 100.

Johnson got his commission and wings in 1943 through the Aviation Cadet program, serving as a gunnery instructor throughout WWII. He served in the Air Force Reserve between the wars and went back on Active duty for the Korean conflict, flying 87 combat missions in the F-51 Mustang. In 1955, he was the first to pilot a jet fighter, the F-94 Starfire, over the North Pole, and in the late 1950s also flew the F-86 Sabre, F-89 Scorpion, and F-104 Starfighter operationally. In May 1958, despite having only 30 hours of flight time in the Starfighter, he piloted an F-104A model to 91,243 feet, besting previous altitude records by more than 10,000 feet in “Operation Sky High.” For the record-setting flight, Johnson received the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Robert J. Collier Trophy for one of the most outstanding aeronautical achievements of 1958.

After a number of staff and flying positions in the U.S. and West Germany, Johnson was deployed to Korat Royal Thai Air Base, Thailand, from September 1966 to August 1967, where he was deputy commander of operations of the 388th Tactical Fighter Wing. While there, he flew the F-105 Thunderchief, racking up 117 combat missions over North Vietnam and Laos and nearly 330 combat hours.  

Johnson organized a tactics conference in May 1967 for 8th Tactical Fighter Wing Commander Col. Robin Olds. Attended by fighter, bomber, escort, electronic warfare, and tanker pilots to discuss operations near and beyond the North Vietnamese border, it was called the “Red River Valley Fighter Pilot’s Tactics Conference,” and was followed by a lengthy party. Olds suggested a permanent unofficial organization to be called the Red River Valley Fighter Pilots Association, and Johnson was elected its first president. Also called the “River Rats”—which had its first stateside reunion in 1969—the social organization also raised money for the survivors or lost, captured, or missing Airmen, and raised awareness of those missing in action and prisoners of war. A statue recognizing the River Rats and participating units stands at the Museum of the U.S. Air Force Memorial at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.

After deputy and Wing command assignments around the U.S. following his Vietnam service, Johnson retired as a colonel in 1972. He published a book, “Scrappy: Memoir of a U.S. Fighter Pilot in Korea and Vietnam,” co-written with Ian A. O’Connor.

Support Grows for U.S. Capitol Police Officer, ANG Vet Killed in Capitol Attack

Support Grows for U.S. Capitol Police Officer, ANG Vet Killed in Capitol Attack

Jan. 11, 2021 | By Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory

A Michigan Congresswoman asked the Defense Department to allow Brian D. Sicknick, a Capitol Police Officer and New Jersey Air National Guard veteran who was killed in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol building, to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) said she reached out to Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark A. Milley, Army Secretary Ryan D. McCarthy, and Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. on Jan. 9 to ask that Sicknick be buried at Arlington National Cemetery and receive “posthumous special honors” for giving his life in service of his country. 

“This week, Officer Sicknick gave his life in service to the same oath he took as an Airman: to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States,” Slotkin wrote in a letter to the leaders, a copy of which she posted to Twitter. “He paid the ultimate price in fulfilling his oath. I urge you to take the necessary steps to give Officer Sicknick and his family the honor they deserve.” 

Task & Purpose reports that McCarthy is in favor of the proposed move.

Also on Jan. 9, officer Lindsey Taylor, a colleague of Sicknick’s, launched a GoFundMe fundraiser to benefit Sicknick’s family, with their blessing. 

By press time, the endeavor—which initially set out to generate $250,000 to be used by the Sicknicks “in whatever way the family needs”—had raised more than half a million dollars contributed by nearly 13,000 donors.

On Jan. 10, President Donald J. Trump issued a White House proclamation to honor Sicknick, fellow U.S. Capitol Police Officer Howard Liebengood—who Military.com reports also died following the attack—and law enforcement personnel throughout the country.

“As a sign of respect for the service and sacrifice of United States Capitol Police Officers Brian D. Sicknick and Howard Liebengood, and all Capitol Police Officers and law enforcement across this great Nation,” Trump ordered flags be flown at half staff, the proclamation states. “I also direct that the flag shall be flown at half-staff for the same length of time at all United States embassies, legations, consular offices, and other facilities abroad, including all military facilities and naval vessels and stations.”

Security forces Airmen from Sicknick’s former ANG wing, the 108th Wing from Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J., are among the New Jersey Air National Guard contingent that’s been mobilized to the National Capital Region following the Jan. 6 attack in Washington, New Jersey National Guard Interim Adjutant General Army Col. Lisa J. Hou told reporters during a Jan. 8 Zoom call.

“The New Jersey Air National Guard mourns the loss of our former Airman, Staff Sgt. Brian D. Sicknick,” wrote NJNG spokesperson Army Lt. Col. Barbara G. Brown in a Jan. 9 statement to Air Force Magazine. “When a tragedy like this occurs, every member of the Air National Guard feels it.  We share in the sorrow felt by Staff Sgt. Sicknick’s loved ones and will not forget the valuable contribution he made to his country and the impact he has left on our organization.”

Collaborative Bombs Fall Short in First Golden Horde Flight Test

Collaborative Bombs Fall Short in First Golden Horde Flight Test

Jan. 11, 2021 | By Rachel S. Cohen

A group of networked bombs failed to hit the right target in the Air Force’s first flight test of its nascent weapon-swarming technology last month, posing a new obstacle as the service tries to speed the concept to the battlefield.

On Dec. 15, the Air Force Test Center dropped two Collaborative Small Diameter Bombs from an F-16 jet to see whether the modified weapons could work together. The bombs use autonomous tools to “talk” to each other in flight and carry out missions as a team.

“The CSDBs quickly established communication with each other and their seekers detected a GPS jammer,” AFRL said in a Jan. 7 release. “The weapons referred to … a set of constraints preloaded by a mission planner, and determined that the jammer was not the highest-priority target. The weapons then collaborated to identify the two highest-priority targets.” 

Because of an “improper weapon software load,” however, the commands that would have told the bombs to move in tandem were not sent to the navigation system. After deciding not to go after the jammer, and without directions toward a different target to follow, the weapons defaulted to hit a fail-safe location instead.

The test offers new insight into how weapons that still rely on human instructions to shape their autonomy could work—or not—in combat. “Golden Horde” technology, as the program is known, uses a “playbook” of options to execute a mission. Using a seeker that looks for GPS jammers, a radio to communicate between weapons, and a processor loaded with collaborative algorithms, the bombs can follow the plays they are given but will not find targets that don’t meet those criteria.

“I’m very pleased with [the] results of this first test,” Steven Stockbridge, principal investigator for the Golden Horde program, said in the release. “The team saw good performance from the networked collaborative subsystems and understand the root cause of the weapons not impacting the desired targets. We anticipate readiness for the next flight test.”

The Air Force Research Laboratory and the tech firm Scientific Applications and Research Associates are planning two more CSDB flight tests in early 2021 with four bombs apiece. However, the modified Boeing SDB I is only a testbed for the collaborative tech and isn’t intended for real-life operations, AFRL said.

Golden Horde technology will later be added to “a variety of other weapon systems,” according to AFRL Munitions Directorate boss Col. Garry A. Haase. Air Force Magazine previously reported the service was considering dropping a collaborative version of Raytheon Technologies’s Miniature Air-Launched Decoy from the program. MALD can confuse or jam enemy air defenses to allow friendly aircraft to slip into a protected area.

“We’re still assessing [MALD] right now. It’s still in question whether we see that as existing in the long haul,” Weapons Program Executive Officer Brig. Gen. Heath A. Collins said in an interview last fall. “We’re going to continue with SDB I, and then pivot to both virtual and surrogate platforms as well, and continue a very rapid, regular assessment and evaluation of how to put that [software] onto existing weapons.”

Georgia Tech Applied Research Corp. has worked with the Air Force on the MALD piece of the program.

Golden Horde is one of three high-profile “vanguard” programs that pull resources and attention from across the Department of the Air Force to move faster than typical research projects. The department requested about $72 million for fiscal 2021 and had planned to vet different weapons in the same flight test next year.

“The Golden Horde demonstration with the Small Diameter Bomb flights is an important step on the path to networked collaborative weapon systems. Completion of this first mission sets the stage for further development and transition to the warfighter,” Christopher J. Ristich, director of AFRL’s Transformational Capabilities Office, said in the release.