Stoltenberg: NATO Training Mission in Afghanistan to Continue, for Now

Nov. 30, 2020 | By Brian W. Everstine

NATO leaders will discuss the way ahead in Afghanistan during this week’s defense ministerial meeting, but a final decision on whether to stay or leave the country is not expected until February, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Nov. 30.

Stoltenberg, speaking in advance of this week’s defense ministerial meetings in Brussels, acknowledged the United States’ decision to withdraw much of its forces, but said the alliance must remain coordinated and act in an “orderly way.” Stoltenberg said the Taliban is not holding up its end of the agreement announced in February, which calls for all NATO troops to leave by May 1.

“That’s the reason why we are now faced with a very clear decision, a very difficult choice to be made, which actually represents a dilemma for all of us,” Stoltenberg said in a press conference. “And that is either to stay, because we assess that [the] Taliban is not living up to their part of the agreement, not delivering on their promises. But then, of course, risk continued fighting long-term continued military involvement in Afghanistan. Or, to leave, but then risk jeopardizing the gains we have made in fighting international terrorism and preventing Afghanistan from being a platform for launching attacks against our countries.”

The Pentagon plans to draw down to about 2,500 forces inside Afghanistan by Jan. 15, 2021, from the current total of about 4,500, though Acting Defense Secretary Christopher C. Miller did not provide specifics on which troops would remain and which would be coming home.

Stoltenberg said there are about 11,000 NATO forces inside Afghanistan, including U.S. troops, with the rest from European NATO allies and partner nations. In addition to the personnel, NATO has committed to funding Afghan forces through 2024.

The announced U.S. withdrawal will “of course” reduce the American presence in the country, but NATO training missions will continue unabated at locations such as the German-led base in Mazar-e-Sharif, the Italian-led base in Herat, and NATO’s presence in Kabul, including the headquarters and the Turkish-led base at Hamid Karzai International Airport.

“The NATO Training Mission will continue and European NATO allies and partner nations have all stated clearly that they will continue to sustain their troop levels in Afghanistan,” Stoltenberg said.

Stoltenberg said the American forces will still “be able to deliver key enablers” for NATO, such as air transport, medical support, intelligence, and other missions.

Stoltenberg, who spoke with President-elect Joe Biden on Nov. 23, said he “underlined the importance of Afghanistan and I pointed out the dilemma we face that, of course, there is a price if we decide to stay, but there will also be a price if we decide to leave.”

Travis Doctor, USAFA Grad Dies in Al-Dhafra Accident

Nov. 29, 2020 | By Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory

A Travis Air Force Base doctor who was deployed to the United Arab Emirates in support of Operation Freedom’s Sentinel died in a “non-combat related vehicle accident at Al-Dhafra Air Base” on Nov. 27, a 60th Air Mobility Wing release stated.

Capt. Kelliann Leli, a 30-year-old Airman from Parlin, N.J., was a physician assigned to the 60th Healthcare Operations Squadron and the David Grant USAF Medical Center’s Family Medicine Clinic, the wing wrote.

It was the U.S. Air Force Academy alumna’s first deployment, the release added.

“Our entire Travis family is beyond heartbroken over the tragic loss of our teammate, Kelliann,” said 60th Air Mobility Wing Commander Col. Corey A. Simmons in the release. “We are thinking of and praying for all her loved ones during this unfathomable time.”

An investigation into the incident is underway, the wing wrote.

USAF, Boeing Finalizing Overhaul Design of Troubled RVS System

Nov. 25, 2020 | By Brian W. Everstine

The Air Force is finished evaluating the proposed “interim” fix for the KC-46’s troubled remote vision system, and is moving toward finalizing the design of the “2.0” overhaul of the system.

The service and Boeing agreed in April on the way ahead for the RVS—the system of cameras and sensors linking the operator inside the front of the tanker with the refueling boom system in the back—after design flaws had plagued KC-46 development and testing. The “2.0” proposal includes a hardware overhaul of the system, as well as the addition of new cameras, displays, laser rangers, and other components. In the short term, however, Boeing proposed a “1.5” interim fix largely focused on software tweaks to improve the quality of the image the boom operator sees.

Will Roper, the Air Force’s acquisition boss, said Nov. 24 the service finished its assessment of the latter system, and “there are a few capabilities” that will cut in to the current RVS, but there was “nothing that is Earth shattering or likely to change how the command views” the current capability.

The Air Force is more focused on the 2.0 overhaul, and “we’ve completed nearly every aspect of the design,” Roper said, except for how the image from the rear cameras will be projected to the operator. There are two options being considered:

A high-definition LCD-type screen, akin to an HD television
A collimated mirror screen, or a large, rounded screen like those used in training simulators.

Once this decision is made, the Air Force and Boeing team will be ready to build a system to test in a laboratory setting.

“Every component we would install on the jet, we will just do that on the ground, and that will give us a lot of confidence that when we go install in the jet itself, it will work as advertised,” Roper said.

Under the April agreement, Boeing expects to deliver 12 aircraft kits by 2023, with installation on the production line starting the following year.

Officials have made progress addressing the issues that have long plagued the Pegasus system, and “it really has felt different once we got past that RVS 1.0 impasse that was keeping us from looking at designs that really can meet warfighter needs,” Roper said. “It’s felt like a new program. It’s felt like an innovative program, and I actually enjoy doing reviews on KC-46.”

New Kirtland Lab to Explore How to Build a Better Spacecraft

Nov. 25, 2020 | By Rachel S. Cohen

A new space materials laboratory at Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M., is now open for business.

The Air Force Research Laboratory’s space vehicles directorate opened the $4 million Deployable Structures Laboratory (DeSel) on Oct. 29. It plans to begin testing hardware early next year.

“We’re one lab and opening our doors to different programs and projects,” Benjamin Urioste, research engineer and lead for the team that will use the lab, told Air Force Magazine on Nov. 23. “Whether they are large acquisitions or small acquisitions that want to come in and have an independent government assessment of their deployable structure, our lab facility is very capable of doing that.”

Structures that make up spacecraft like satellites and spaceplanes are “notoriously difficult” to create and test because of differences in gravity, radiation exposure, and other factors, Urioste said. The new lab—measuring more than 7,000 square feet—lets researchers better understand how those materials might hold up during launch and act on orbit.

“This new laboratory will continue the work of the Spacecraft Component Technology Center of Excellence that has a long history of technology development and transition in spacecraft structure materials. … The DeSel facility is capable of testing 20 meter x 15 meter (65.7 ft. x 49.2 ft.) structures in a secure, climate-controlled, vibration-isolated laboratory,” the Air Force said in a release. “Specialized equipment will be used to analyze the precision and repeatability of spacecraft structure deployments.”

As industry figures out how to stuff more capability into a smaller package, the DeSel can also investigate how shrinking technology works on orbit.

Urioste said smarter testing can help cut costs and boost system performance. For example, researchers could learn that materials need to be lighter or heavier, or more or less flexible, to work best.

There are still limits to being earthbound. The best place to vet hardware is in the cosmos itself, he added.

“We gravity offload our structures using counterweights at their centers of gravity. What that effectively does is … it performs as if it was in a microgravity environment,” he said. “But in test, anytime you have some sort of external disturbance or external input, it could create errors in your data-gathering and your analysis.”

One of the lab’s first projects is the Space Solar Power Incremental Demonstration and Research (SSPIDR) effort, a joint venture with Northrop Grumman to create a beaming system that could provide power to overseas bases using a receiving antenna on the ground. That would free up deployed installations’ reliance on vulnerable convoys and supply lines.

An Air Force press release shows an artist’s rendering of a flat, kite-like system of solar cells turned toward the sun while in orbit. Those would turn solar energy into radio frequency energy sent to the ground.

“SSPIDR is a collection of flight experiments designed to mature different critical technologies needed to build an operational solar power beaming system in space,” according to an AFRL fact sheet. “The SSPIDR project team examined the needs of the operational prototype and identified five critical technologies needing further development to make this system a reality. The technologies driving the effort are deployable structures, energy generation, thermal, radio frequency beaming, and metrology.”

Northrop received more than $100 million to develop SSPIDR hardware. The system could collect up to eight times more energy than technology on the ground, the Albuquerque Journal reported.

Urioste noted that the lab will test smaller versions of SSPIDR parts “to reduce risk and better understand how these structures perform at a much larger scale on orbit.” He declined to offer further details on the project or say what else the lab plans to work on in 2021.

The new coronavirus pandemic has slowed the integrated structural systems team’s access to the lab, Urioste said. Employees are still loading equipment into the building, and he hopes to be testing pieces by late January or early February.

Urioste’s team is largely comprised of civilian contractors, and is hiring at least one more person. As spacecraft design gets more complicated, he said the lab is canvassing universities and elsewhere for people who understand structural design as well as test validation and analysis. The Department of the Air Force needs more engineers with that specific expertise to keep up with the growing demand for innovative spacecraft.

They are also looking to the future of in-space manufacturing. Urioste imagines that early on-orbit builds could prove whether piecing together elements of a solar array could lead to a functioning power system.

“Deployable structures is kind of a niche research area, but now we’re seeing a great amount of interest,” he said.

Home for the Holidays: Kentucky Airmen Wrap Mideast Deployment

Nov. 25, 2020 | By Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory

More than 90 citizen-Airmen from the Kentucky Air National Guard’s 123rd Airlift Wing returned from a four-month Middle East deployment on Nov. 18, according to a wing release.

The wing’s aircrews completed nearly 5,000 combat sorties, moving 15,000 people and over 10,000 tons of supplies within the U.S. Central Command region in support of Operations Inherent Resolve and Freedom’s Sentinel, the release stated.

“While deployed, the unit achieved a 99 percent mission effectiveness rate, even while rotating new crews and staff members from other Reserve Component units into and out of the AOR every month,” stated the release.

The Airmen also brainstormed a methodology for and executed an airdrop of “high-illumination flares,” flew humanitarian response missions after August’s port explosion in the Lebanese capital of Beirut, and pulled off CENTCOM’s first-ever integration of a C-130H and C-130J within a single squadron, it added.

The Air Force has tentatively selected the wing to host eight C-130Js. If a mandatory environmental impact analysis goes well, the aircraft are slated to begin arriving in Kentucky next year, Air Force Magazine previously reported.

USAF Wants to Base C-130Js in Georgia, Kentucky, Texas, and West Virginia

Nov. 25, 2020 | By Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory

The Air Force on Nov. 25 publicly announced plans to house C-130Js at Air National Guard wings in Kentucky, Texas, West Virginia, and Georgia, pending environmental impact analyses. The tentative basing decisions were shared with Congress a day earlier, Air National Guard spokesperson Lt. Col. Devin T. Robinson told Air Force Magazine.

“The Air Force evaluated all C-130J candidate locations against objective criteria based on mission requirements,” a Department of the Air Force release stated. “The preferred alternatives were the highest scoring locations based on that criteria.”

The new tails will replace the selected wings’ time-worn C-130Hs.

The West Virginia Air National Guard’s 130th Airlift Wing, which is based out of McLaughlin Air National Guard Base in Charleston, will tentatively host eight of the aircraft, WVANG spokesperson Maj. Holli R. Nelson told Air Force Magazine in a Nov. 25 email.

The 130th Airlift Wing has flown C-130s since the 1970s, and currently has the Air National Guard’s second-highest C-130H3 mission-capable rate, a West Virginia National Guard release noted.

The wing’s “modern infrastructure” means that it wouldn’t need military construction funds to cover the cost of parking, operating, and maintaining the new tails. “Replacing the current C-130H planes with the modernized C-130Js will help grow opportunities within our state, and continue to foster positive relationships that enhance training partnerships between the West Virginia National Guard and military units from throughout the country,” Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.V.) said in the release.

The Kentucky Air National Guard on Nov. 25 announced that its 123rd Airlift Wing, which calls Louisville Air National Guard Base (located at Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport) home, is also slated to host eight aircraft.

“The selection is a reflection of the wing’s culture of excellence and strong operational impact to both overseas contingencies and homeland domestic operations,” said Kentucky National Guard Assistant Adjutant General for Air Brig. Gen. Jeffrey L. Wilkinson in a Nov. 25 release. “The 123rd Airlift Wing was selected because we will make the most impactful use of this capability for the Guard and the United States Air Force.”

The Texas Air National Guard’s 136th Airlift Wing, headquartered out of Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth, is also slated to host eight C-130Js, the Texas Military Department confirmed.

“We are indebted to Congresswoman [Kay] Granger for her tireless pursuit of this new airframe for Texas and the nation,” said Wing Commander Col. Keith Williams in a Nov. 25 statement provided to Air Force Magazine, adding that the new airframe “will carry the Citizen Airmen of the 136th to great heights, and be a great asset to ensure our nation’s security for decades to come.”

Finally, the Georgia Air National Guard’s 165th Airlift Wing, which is based out of Savannah Air National Guard Base at Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport, also made the preferred basing list, though the Department of the Air Force noted it’ll only get the tails “if they become available in the future.”

“This is extremely exciting news for Savannah’s Airmen and the entire coastal community,” said Republican Sen. David Perdue in a Nov. 24 release. “We’ve made it a top priority to modernize and upgrade military equipment in order to preserve our competitive advantage around the world, and the 165th Airlift Wing is a critical component of that effort.”

In the same release, Georgia Adjutant General Maj. Gen. Thomas Carden said the wing’s across-the-board readiness “made a solid business case for” the basing choice.

However, House Armed Services Committee Chairman Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.) in a Nov. 24 statement criticized the choice as unnecessarily politicizing the C-130J basing process.

Smith argued that Congressional deliberations still may decide that four C-130J sites aren’t needed, that the choice of four locations breaks with the Air Force’s previously briefed plan to pick three sites, and that the timing of the decision amid the state’s Senate runoff elections “raises questions about” Barrett’s motivations in choosing Savannah as a preferred basing location.

“The Air Force did not need to make this decision now—plain and simple—and should delay moving forward with these basing actions until conference negotiations have concluded and the decision is not at risk of being politicized,” Smith wrote. “If the Air Force plods ahead, the service runs the risk of undermining the strategic basing process and may force Congress to take action to protect the basing process from being used to potentially influence congressional action or election outcomes.”

The C-130J is a more cost-effective model and requires less manpower than its predecessors, the Department of the Air Force release stated. It also requires less space to take-off and land, travels longer distances “at a higher cruise speed,” and ascends “faster and higher” than older models, it noted.

Tankers Likely the First Aircraft to Receive ABMS Upgrades

Nov. 25, 2020 | By Brian W. Everstine

The Air Force’s aerial refueling fleet could be the first platform to adopt new technologies developed under the Advanced Battle Management System effort, integrating pods complete with advanced communications and data links to feed information, along with gas, to combat aircraft as early as next year.

The Air Force is evaluating new technologies, both hardware and software, under ABMS to create an “internet of military things” that will connect sensors and shooters at machine speeds. So far, no actual systems have been purchased, but Department of the Air Force acquisition boss Will Roper said Nov. 24 he could see the service push the new pods out to its KC-135, KC-10, or KC-46 fleets in the near future, revolutionizing the tanker’s role in a fight.

“If we try to do podded solutions to artfully move around legacy hardware, we can move pretty quickly,” Roper told reporters. “I think that’s something we can do within a year …. I think the tech has that level of maturity. Certainly within 18 months, I think we could have these platforms as true battle nodes.”

So far, the Air Force has tested satellite communication pods on KC-135s and used a KC-46 for tactical command and control. Roper said he envisions a tanker collecting data and intelligence about the battlefield, and passing it along to a fighter while it is receiving fuel, a capability that could be important in a high-end fight.

“I do like the idea of topping up on data while you’re topping up on gas. It makes a lot of sense to me, especially if that fighter or Next Generation Air Dominance platform is coming out of the fight, if it has had comms denied there,” Roper said. “And of course we’re working hard to make sure that’s not the case, but if it has, then coming out and getting the latest data might be something it needs to do completely separate from needing to get gas. That may be an important [concept of operations].”

While the goal of ABMS is to better connect all platforms, tankers “might get to the goal line first,” though Roper would not specify which of the service’s three refuelers is the leading candidate. Air Mobility Command has proven to be “one of the most forward leaning commands that we have” in joint all-domain command and control thinking and putting its tankers to the forefront. Recent upgrades to the tanker fleet have increased their capability in providing data, with the KC-135 receiving Link 16 datalinks as part of the Real Time Information in the Cockpit upgrade. The KC-46 has this capability from the factory, along with other improved communication and defensive systems.

The Air Force announced Nov. 24 it has designated its Rapid Capabilities Office to be the program executive for ABMS, signaling that the effort is moving beyond tests and experiments toward actual acquisitions.

Air Force Academy Looks to Become a Place for Space

Nov. 25, 2020 | By Rachel S. Cohen

The U.S. Air Force Academy has long been the training ground for cadets headed for careers in military space. But with the creation of a Space Force, the Colorado school is looking to expand the opportunities available to space-minded students.

“Where do you go if you want to be a pilot? I think most people would say, you go to the Air Force Academy if you want to fly in the United States Air Force,” Col. Jeffrey H. Greenwood, USAFA’s Space Force liaison, recently told Air Force Magazine. “I want that same mentality of, if you want to serve in the United States Space Force, then you come to the United States Space Force’s academy, and that’s here at USAFA.”

The Space Force, which falls under the Department of the Air Force, does not currently plan to establish its own service academy. Instead, USAFA brought in Greenwood in July to change up the space education experience. He’s modeling the Space Force detachment on the Marine Corps’ presence at the U.S. Naval Academy, alongside about 30 USAFA staffers who form the core of the school’s new Space Force detachment.

For starters, Greenwood launched a space introduction day that teaches incoming freshmen about opportunities in the Space Force and how to become an ideal candidate for the new service. Even before students vie for their preferred career fields as upperclassmen, the introduction day shows freshmen which majors and minors they could pick on their way to the Space Force, and which clubs and research programs might pique their interest.

“That was a great opportunity to hit them right away, right after basic training, to inform them on what opportunities lay before them at the academy and beyond,” he said.

USAFA already boasts an astronautics department where students can learn about space hands-on, for credit or as an extracurricular. Majors include astronautical engineering and space operations; cadets can design and fly test satellites with the Air Force Research Laboratory through the FalconSat program. They can also join the astronomy and physics club for planetarium trips and other experiments outside of class.

What’s new in the classroom this year is a space warfighting minor in one of four fields: operations, intelligence, acquisition, or cyber. Now cadets can major in fields like economics or political science while still adding space flavor to their education.

USAFA also created a space-focused Institute for Future Conflict that will look at ways to better integrate air, space, cyber, and other domains in combat. Greenwood said he’s trying to set up events for cadets at a Boeing-run wargaming center nearby as well.

As cadets get older, they will have access to a growing range of work experience programs. Greenwood is setting up a space mentorship program that pairs students with USAFA alumni in the Colorado Springs area, a longtime military space hub. “Ops Space Force,” a separate venture modeled after an existing Air Force career-shadowing initiative, will tentatively debut next summer.

A “bridging experience” can give seniors chosen for the Space Force more preparation for the real world, too. Greenwood envisions those students might visit the ops groups now known as deltas to sit in on daily satellite, radar, or launch missions, or spend a week with SpaceX or the United Launch Alliance to better understand the industry side.

“The intent is to try to integrate space across USAFA so that it’s not just the astro department, or it’s just the physics department, or the commanders over here are doing a career day for the cadets,” Greenwood said. “It’s bringing it all together so that there’s a cohesive space message being relayed to the cadets.”

He’s trying to be more intentional about building USAFA’s space education pipeline as well. The school is growing more selective after graduating more than 80 cadets into the Space Force for the first time in April.

USAFA held its first Space Force assignment board, choosing the top 60 prospects out of 443 candidates to join the service as space operators in 2021. There’s a similar process for people in support fields like acquisition.

Ninety-eight of the 256 officers who will commission into the Space Force into 2021 will come from USAFA, Greenwood said. The rest will join through the Reserve Officer Training Corps and Officer Training School. He expects USAFA will typically turn out around 80 Space Force second lieutenants each year.

The selection process will look a little different for the class of 2022: Everyone must be interviewed for a shot at joining the Space Force. Greenwood said the service was wrestling with how technical those discussions should be, and how to get a good sense of someone’s character and talent.

Cadets are asked open-ended questions like what qualifies them to be part of the Space Force, and in what situations they’ve had to think outside the box. Interview topics will evolve as the Space Force figures out its own culture and mission needs.

“It’s trying to find that balance of techy and leader in there,” Greenwood said, adding that other factors still matter in the selection process. “I don’t know if we’re necessarily going to get it right this first year.”

USAFA is the main guinea pig for trying out the new interviews, and will share its lessons learned with ROTC and OTS. All three commissioning sources want to take similar approaches for the class of 2023 and beyond.

The academy has asked third-year students for their career preferences and began narrowing the field on Nov. 4. Sixteen generals are conducting the one-on-one interviews with 104 candidates until Dec. 4, then settling on a final group of 60 space operators, two intel officers, two cyber officers, 10 engineers, and 11 acquisition personnel.

Space Force Chief of Space Operations Gen. John W. “Jay” Raymond and Vice CSO Gen. David D. Thompson will grill 20 cadets in January to make sure USAFA’s picks are on track.

Still, plans are changing even as officials piece together the future cohort.

“We did not experience the same amount of interest for the Class of 2022 as we did for 2021, so we’ve had to modify our process,” Greenwood said in a Nov. 25 email. They’re seeing less diversity than expected, with lots of management majors but fewer astronautics, math, and physics students.

All 104 cadets currently being vetted must resubmit themselves for consideration under the Air Force’s process early next year, to see if people who don’t get a first-choice job in the Air Force will head for the Space Force instead.

“There may be cadets out there who really want to fly, but if they don’t get a pilot slot, they may want to do space as a second choice,” Greenwood said. “If we have additional candidates … then we would have to conduct a second round or interview in the April/May timeframe to ensure we interview all potential candidates.”

If no other cadets turn to space in the spring, USAFA will continue with the pool of 85 officer-selects being vetted right now. Greenwood acknowledged changes in the selection schedule have frustrated students, but said the school just wants the best for the Space Force.

Going forward, the academy hopes to continue growing its space offerings once the ongoing coronavirus pandemic subsides. The virus has put a damper on everything from celebrations for the class of 2021 to in-person job shadowing and regular club meetings.

But there’s a silver lining: Nearly one-third of people in the class of 2024—a group of around 1,100 students—who responded to a recent USAFA survey said they are interested in joining the Space Force. Underclassmen are signing up in record numbers for the Cadet Space Operations Squadron that works with FalconSats, and students say they are more informed about the cosmos than before.

“USAFA always talks about the ‘long blue line,’” Greenwood said. “We’re creating a ‘long black line.’”

PACAF Surveyed Every ‘Piece of Concrete’ in the Pacific for Agile Combat Employment

Nov. 25, 2020 | By Brian W. Everstine

Pacific Air Forces has studied “every single piece of concrete” across the Indo-Pacific as it looks to find new ways to forward deploy different types of aircraft in a contingency, and to solidify the service’s Agile Combat Employment concept.

The command has surveyed available airstrips to see if they can host aircraft like F-22s, F-15s, and C-130s, said PACAF boss Gen. Kenneth S. Wilsbach. The goal for ACE is to be able to operate from an austere location with a skeleton crew of multi-capable Airmen.

“We have a plan for all of those airfields, and some of them meet the criteria and they are therefore part of what we call clusters,” he said Nov. 18, adding that while specifics are classified, the command has identified existing airstrips that will serve as a “hub” to reach other “spoke” locations.

PACAF validated its ACE concept in 2017, which has since spread across the Air Force. Wilsbach’s predecessor, current Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., said in 2019 that such surveys were necessary because unlike other operating areas, such as Europe, there is no road or rail infrastructure available to move materiel to austere locations in the Indo-Pacific.

Wilsbach said the Air Force’s plans do not involve building up the existing infrastructure.

“We’re not building them, we’re accepting the facilities that are there, and, as you might imagine, some of them are pretty bare,” he said. “And so what you might expect is, it’s a runway with a ramp. And that’s it. So, we go there for a short period of time, we stay there a little bit, or maybe we just go there for some gas and weapons, and we’re out.”

This ACE concept has become a part of almost all exercises in the command, with even commanders participating.

“We actually have a chance to practice this on a number of occasions,” he said. “I know when I was in Alaska we did this at literally a bare base, and everybody was camping in tents next to the ramp. … Everybody pitched their tent, and they were eating meals ready to eat, and we operated from that bare base for two weeks.”