‘Connection Toward Unity’: Guardian Wins Polaris Award for Championing Space at USAFA

‘Connection Toward Unity’: Guardian Wins Polaris Award for Championing Space at USAFA

The Space Force’s Polaris Awards annually recognize Guardians who best represent the Guardian Spirit. There are four individual award categories based on each of the core Guardian values—Character, Connection, Commitment and Courage—and a Team Excellence category that combines all four values. Air & Space Forces Magazine is highlighting each of this year’s winners before they receive their awards on stage at the 2024 AFA Warfare Symposium in Aurora, Colo.

The U.S. Space Force selected Lt. Col. Jessica M. Pratt of the United States Air Force Academy Cadet Wing in Colo. as the winner of the Polaris Award for Connection for “developing, growing, and sustaining connections while treating everyone with dignity, empathy, and respect” in 2023.

Then-Maj. Pratt played an integral role in the second year of USAFA’s Azimuth Space Program, a summer program designed to give USAFA cadets and ROTC cadets from all services a taste of a potential Space Force career. Azimuth started as a single two-week course in the summer of 2022 but, largely due to Pratt’s leadership, expanded into three separate three-week courses in 2023.

“Being part of Azimuth was really exciting because it was USAFA’s first Space Force summer program,” Pratt said. “We took advantage of the proximity to local Space Force units and commercial space partners. All the military, industry, and mission partners we reached out to went above and beyond to invest in the cadets.”

Connecting with Guardians and space professionals from 105 agencies, Pratt built and mentored a 33-person cadre that spent the summer training more than 200 cadets from three service academies and 45 ROTC detachments across the nation on the diverse career fields offered by the Space Force.

Maj. Jessica M. Pratt of the United States Air Force Academy Cadet Wing in Colo. USSF photo.

Following the resounding success of the Azimuth program, Pratt reported that Space Force applications at USAFA have increased by 300 percent.

“Cadets are very interested in the challenges Space Force is working on and enjoy being part of something new, too,” she said. “Right now, the Space Force application process is highly competitive at USAFA. The Air Force Academy has 100 slots for the Space Force and we had 445 cadets apply.”

Pratt also led a team of Guardians who developed and led USAFA’s first-ever space-domain scenario for the final exercise of the Academy’s senior class. The scenario exposed cadets to Space Force doctrine and how space is a crucial warfighting domain, an area of education that’s still growing at USAFA.

“Part of our goal was even just to expose the rest of the community cadets that will graduate into the Air Force and permanent party who just don’t know much about the Space Force yet,” Pratt said. “We thought the exercise was a great opportunity to show how space is a warfighting domain and describe some of the threats.”

Pratt said she looks for any opportunity to represent the Space Force career field at USAFA to help inspire cadets to consider joining the next generation of Guardians. Case in point, Pratt connected with Guardians from units around Colorado to produce static displays for the Air Force vs. Navy football game. The initiative helped demonstrate space capabilities to more than 35,000 attendees.

When asked about what motivates her to pursue the Guardian value of Connection in everything she does, Pratt said it’s a simple matter of loving the Space Force and its mission. 

“I think many people just haven’t had the opportunity to learn about the space domain, let alone view it as a contested environment,” Pratt said. “That’s why we do this job, to secure our Nation’s interests in, from, and to space.”

Meet the other 2023 Polaris Award winners below:

Four B-52s Arrive in Guam to Support Large PACAF Exercise with Australia and Japan

Four B-52s Arrive in Guam to Support Large PACAF Exercise with Australia and Japan

Four B-52 bombers from Minot Air Force Base, N.D. are deployed to Guam to support the Pacific Air Forces’ largest multilateral exercise, Cope North, a PACAF spokesperson told Air & Space Forces Magazine on Feb. 2.

The long-range bombers assigned to the 5th Bomb Wing landed at Andersen Air Force Base in Guam on Jan. 30, according to PACAF’s release.

While in Guam, personnel managing B-52 operations will be assigned to the 23rd Expeditionary Bomb Squadron.

“Finally have some iron on the ground,” Capt. Zachary Holmes, the weapons officer of the 23rd EBS, said regarding the bombers’ arrival in Anderson. “It’s great to finally receive our crews so we’re ready to go out and take part in the mission as well as get our maintenance personnel ready to support where they’re needed.”

The Cope North exercise, scheduled from Feb. 5-23, will be co-led by the Royal Australian Air Force and Japan’s Air Self-Defense Force.

A B-52H Stratofortress lands at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, Jan. 30, 2024. Bomber missions familiarize aircrew with air bases and operations in different Geographic Combatant Commands areas of operations. The aircraft is deployed from the 5th Bomb Wing at Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota. U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Alyssa Bankston

This year’s iteration boasts an increase of some 30 additional aircraft and 400 more personnel compared to last year. About 700 service members from the RAAF, JASDF, French Air and Space Force, Royal Canadian Air Force, and Republic of Korea Air Force will join forces with 1,700 U.S. Airmen, Marines, and Sailors for the exercise.

Japan is deploying six F-15J/DJ Eagles, six F-2As, two search and rescue aircraft (U-125A and UH-60J), an E-767 AWACS aircraft, and a C-130H transporter, along with some 500 airmen to Guam.

Australia has dispatched a C-27J Spartan aircraft along with 215 aviators to Anderson, according to the RAAF’s release.

ROK’s defense media reported the country is deploying two CN-235 cargo aircraft and approximately 30 personnel for the joint exercise, including pilots and maintenance personnel.

All told, 85 aircraft from these six nations are scheduled to fly 1,400 missions across three islands and six airfields. The locations include Andersen, Guam International Airport, and Northwest Field in Guam, as well as the islands of Tinian and Saipan, about 120 miles north of Guam.

The three-week exercise will emphasize integrating airborne forces for large-scale and agile combat deployment. Aviators taking part in the exercise will contribute to agile operations conducted from remote airfields.

PACAF aims to enhance security and stability to maintain a free and open Indo-Pacific by bolstering interoperability and cooperation with allies.

“The scenarios have been designed to allow our aviators to exercise agile operational concepts that enhance force projection, resilience and survivability of our allied air combat forces,” RAAF Task Group Commander, Group Captain Kylie Green said in the release.

The multinational training will also “reinforce unit capabilities and cooperation procedures between the countries through Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief training,” according to the JASDF’s release.

Launched in 1978 as a quarterly bilateral drill held in Japan, Exercise Cope North relocated to Andersen in 1999. The B-52 bombers from Barksdale Air Force Base, L.A., were previously featured in the exercise in Guam in February 2022.

Air Force Historical Foundation Honors MQ-9 Wing, Trailblazing General, Airpower Expert

Air Force Historical Foundation Honors MQ-9 Wing, Trailblazing General, Airpower Expert

The Air Force Historical Foundation announced the recipients of its most prestigious awards for 2023 on Feb. 1:

  • The 432nd Wing, which flies the MQ-9 Reaper remotely-piloted aircraft
  • Ret. Air Force Lt. Gen. and astronaut Susan Helms
  • Benjamin Lambeth; author, educator and contributor to numerous think-tanks and advisory boards

432nd Wing

The 432nd Wing received the AFHF James H. “Jimmy” Doolittle Award, which recognizes an active duty Air Force or Space Force unit for “gallantry, determination, esprit de corps, and superior management of joint operations” in accomplishing its mission under difficult or hazardous conditions in various conflicts.

“The 432nd Wing continues to be at the forefront of the USAF’s persistent attack and reconnaissance mission,” the AFHF said in its release. It is the first unit to win a second time, having previously received the Doolittle Trophy in 2017.

Throughout 2023, the 432nd Wing and its subordinate units have supported military operations in virtually every regional theater with the MQ-9, which can conduct persistent surveillance and strike.    

Over the course of the year, the wing generated more than 8,579 sorties, killed more than 67 enemies, and conducted more than 222,000 hours of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance activities, in support of U.S. European Command, Africa Command, Central Command and Indo-Pacific Command.

The wing trained and equipped 205 maintainers to support force deployments in Operation Atlantic Resolve, which bolstered forces to Europe in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The Hunters also “demonstrated exceptional agility” by swiftly outfitting and dispatching 13 “crucial assets” for time-sensitive operations in Juniper Shield (formerly Enduring Freedom) combatting terrorism and drug trafficking.

Responding to a Presidential Directive, the Hunters shifted two MQ-9 squadrons in the region to respond the Israel-Hamas conflict within 72 hours of the order. The Hunters drew assets from three other combatant commands to accomplish “persistent ISR support” of U.S. Navy operations in the area.

Lt. Gen. Susan Jane Helms, USAF (Ret.)

Retired Lt. Gen. Susan Jane Helms is the recipient of the AFHF Gen. Carl “Tooey” Spaatz Award, which recognizes individuals who have made significant lifetime contributions to the Air Force or Space Force. She is the first woman to receive the award.

Helms commanded 14th Air Force (Air Forces Strategic) and Joint Functional Component Command for Space at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. She retired from the Air Force in 2014.

She was the first military woman in space and was a mission specialist on five Space Shuttle missions; she was the first woman to make two trips to the International Space Station. On her second spaceflight, she was an ISS crew member for 167 days in 2001, during which she and fellow astronaut Jim Voss conducted a record 8-hour and 56-minute spacewalk.

Helms serves on NASA’s Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel and was appointed to the Board of Trustees of the Woodrow Wilson International Center (2014-2016). She is also on the board of the Association of Space Explorers and was elected to the Board of Trustees of The Aerospace Corporation in 2017.

Helms has received many awards, including the Gen. James V. Hartinger Award; the Thomas D. White Space Award for Outstanding Contributions to Space; the Dr. Kurt H. Debus Award; the Women in Aerospace Outstanding Achievement Award, and the the NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal. She was inducted into the Astronaut Hall of Fame in 2004, and the Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame in 2018.

Dr. Benjamin S. Lambeth

Lambeth received the AFHF Maj. Gen. I.B. Holley Award, which recognizes an individual who has made “sustained, significant contributions to the documentation of Air Force and Space Force history during a lifetime of service.”

Lambeth has been “one of the most informed and prolific observers of military affairs for the past several decades,” the AFHF release stated.

Since 2011, he has been a nonresident senior fellow with the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments in Washington, D.C. Previously, he worked at the RAND corporation for 37 years. Earlier, he worked with the CIA’s Office of National Estimates, at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and at the Institute for Defense Analyses.

A civil-rated pilot, Lambeth has checked out in or received orientation flights in more than 40 different types of fighter, attack, and jet trainer aircraft with all U.S. and eight foreign air services. He attended Air Force’s Tactical Fighter Weapons and Tactics Course and Combined Force Air Component Commander Course, the Aerospace Defense Command’s Senior Leaders’ Course, and portions of the Navy Fighter Weapons School (TOPGUN) and Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Instructor’s Course.

In 2002, Lambeth was elected an honorary member of the Order of Daedalians. In 2008, he was appointed by Defense Secretary Robert Gates to serve an eight-year term as a member of the Air University Board of Visitors.

Lambeth is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Air Force Association, the U.S. Naval Institute, the Association of Naval Aviation, and the Red River Valley Fighter Pilots Association. He also previously served on the editorial advisory boards of Air and Space Power Journal and Strategic Studies Quarterly.

Lambeth has authored numerous articles, papers and books, including articles for Air & Space Forces Magazine (formerly Air Force Magazine).

His book, “The Transformation of American Air Power” was recognized with the Gill Robb Wilson Award for Arts and Letters in 2001.

Lambeth has also written numerous other books on airpower around the world.

Haugh Becomes First Airman to Take Command at CYBERCOM

Haugh Becomes First Airman to Take Command at CYBERCOM

Airmen took command of two major defense intelligence organizations Feb. 2, as Gen. Timothy D. Haugh succeeded Army Gen. Paul M. Nakasone as head of U.S. Cyber Command, and Lt. Gen. Jeffrey A. Kruse became director of the Defense Intelligence Agency. 

Haugh is the first Airman to lead CYBERCOM, which was founded in 2010 and only became a unified combatant command in 2017. Kruse is the first Airman to lead the DIA since 1996. 

As head of CYBERCOM, Haugh is also director of the National Security Agency, continuing the dual-hat arrangement that has existed for the past six years. Haugh voiced support for the double assignment during his Senate confirmation hearing. In his new roles, Haugh leads some 27,000 military and civilian staff, the vast majority employed at NSA, the nation’s foremost signals intelligence agency. He will be the chief officer responsible for countering cyber warfare threats from Russia, China, North Korea, and others. 

Haugh moves up after 18 months as Nakasone’s deputy. Prior to that, he commanded Air Forces Cyber, also known as the 16th Air Force. He has commanded at the squadron, group, wing levels as well, and had a stint as director of intelligence at CYBERCOM.  

As the 16th Air Force’s first commander after its reactivation, Haugh was tasked by Air Combat Command boss Gen. Mark D. Kelly with leading ACC’s shift in culture from a focus on short-term combat to one of long-term competition. In that role, he built a new command responsible for cyber, spectrum, and information warfare, areas in the so-called “gray zone” of conflict. 

Now he’ll lead the nation’s joint cyber forces as they look to combat growing threats. Just a few days before he assumed command, the FBI announced it had shut down a Chinese-backed hacking group that was targeting critical U.S. infrastructure. In January, a report alleged North Korean hackers had targeted information security professionals. And Russia has used cyber warfare to attack critical Ukrainian infrastructure during their invasion.  

Haugh is the fourth Airman currently leading a combatant command, the most the service has had since May 2010. Gen. Jacqueline D. Van Ovost heads U.S. Transportation Command, Gen. Anthony J. Cotton is in charge of U.S. Strategic Command, and Gen. Glen D. VanHerck will lead U.S. Northern Command for a few more days before handing off to Air Force Gen. Gregory M. Guillot. Space Force Gen. Stephen N. Whiting also leads U.S. Space Command. 

DIA 

Kruse takes over at DIA after spending the last four years as the military adviser to the Director of National Intelligence. He’s also commanded at the squadron, group, and wing level within the Air Force and had stints as director of intelligence for U.S. Indo-Pacific Command and Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve, the U.S.’s anti-ISIS campaign. 

DIA is both a component of the Pentagon and a member of the Intelligence Community, with more than 16,000 employees. It provides intelligence on foreign militaries for combat-related missions and for the secretary of defense, Joint Chiefs, and combatant commands. 

“The world is in the throes of several concurrent challenges: geopolitical, technological, military, economics, and increasingly in the economic space,” Kruse said during the change of command ceremony. “My pledge is to ensure DIA remains an irreplaceable source of insights into tailored action … in securing the nation’s future. 

Why Does It Take So Long to Get a CCAF Transcript?

Why Does It Take So Long to Get a CCAF Transcript?

Air University formed a task force last month to address the lengthy delays in processing official transcripts and graduations from the Community College of the Air Force (CCAF), following months of mounting frustrations for Airmen.

The average processing time for official transcripts used to be 72 hours, an official told Air & Space Forces Magazine. The goal is now 14 days for high-priority requests and 90 days or more for other requests. Priority requests are ones that have implications for promotions, commissioning, developmental special duties, retirements, or separations.

The CCAF website says the current wait time is 150 days for processing transcripts coming into the college and 85 for those being sent to a third party such as an educational institution or employer. By comparison, civilian universities often process transcripts in one to five days.

“Our eventual goal is to be in line with the civilian standard, so that within a 72-hour turn time, you’d be able to get a transcript request,” Col. Damian Schlussel, head of the Thomas N. Barnes Center for Enlisted Education, told Air & Space Forces Magazine. 

CCAF offers associate degrees and professional credentialing programs for enlisted Airmen and Guardians. Last June, the college launched the Air University Student Information System (AU SIS), which was supposed to replace a dozen outdated systems and make it easier for students and educators to check academic progress. 

But after the switch, the data coming out of AU SIS proved to be inaccurate. Schlussel likened it to patching a software update on an iPhone—except here, the system is connected with legacy systems that are also being updated, so that “every time we push a patch or an update, sometimes the code that underlies the digital backbone needs to be tweaked.”

In the meantime, every request has to be processed by hand, with program managers validating every line of every transcript, from the student’s name to the courses they have taken to their number of credit hours. While the new system is not specific to CCAF, the college has a much higher number of degrees to process than other institutions at Air University. On a typical day, CCAF processes about 500 requests, but with about 400,000 total force enlisted Airmen and Guardians around the world and 22,000 degrees a year, a backlog was inevitable.

“We’re getting more requests than what we can manually stay up to speed with, or ‘hand jam’ to ensure data accuracy,” Schlussel said. 

Airmen and Guardians have noticed, with many airing their frustrations on social media. Several described losing out on scholarships because the application deadline passed while waiting on a CCAF transcript. When asked if there have been consequences amidst the rocky transition, Schlussel, who took command at Barnes a week after AU SIS came online, said he and his team are “more concerned with how we can make improvements into the future,” rather than “worrying about what got us here.”

Part of the objective of the new task force, which began Jan. 8 and was announced Jan. 30, is to figure out lessons learned from the experience. The task force is consulting with industry experts on resolving the technical and software issues, Schlussel said in a press release.

“Nothing is off the table,” he told Air & Space Forces Magazine. “We want to make sure that we hold faith with promises made to our Airmen for what CCAF could and should be. Whether it is help from the larger Air Force or contracting solutions, we are looking at all of those options and abilities through Air University.”

Besides fixing AU SIS, the task force has a range of other efforts, such as streamlining the user experience by making Air University online systems easier to understand and reducing the number of clicks needed to navigate them; consolidating registrar offices; working on a regular five-year re-accreditation process; and improving communications with Airmen past and present.

“We want to have better communications about what is happening, what the current problems are, what you can expect, and when things are going to get better,” Schlussel said. 

The colonel advised troops affected by the delay to consult their chain of command.

“If an Airman is being adversely affected by what is going on with CCAF, their squadron or group leadership have the ability to reach out directly to us and we can adjust an Airman’s priorities based on that input,” he said. “I really encourage folks to use their chain of command.”

The CCAF transcript issue is one of several technological frustrations Airmen have dealt with in recent years. Others include a buggy ‘myDecs’ platform for approving decorations that was recently replaced, and a malfunctioning ‘myEval’ evaluation platform that was relaunched in May after the branch stopped using it in 2022.

Brian Ferguson, a spokesperson for the Barnes Center, which oversees CCAF and enlisted Professional Military Education, said Air University staff and leadership are working as hard as they can to fix the transcript issue. 

“I know it sounds cliché, but this is a top priority here,” coming from “an individual concern for the service member out there,” he said. 

Editor’s Note: The original version of this article misidentified some degrees offered by the Community College of the Air Force. It was updated Feb. 5 to correct the error.

US Launches Dozens of Retaliatory Strikes in Iraq, Syria, and Yemen for Deadly Attack

US Launches Dozens of Retaliatory Strikes in Iraq, Syria, and Yemen for Deadly Attack

The U.S. launched dozens of airstrikes against Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Quds Force and Iranian-aligned groups in Iraq and Syria on Feb. 2, followed by more Feb. 3 against Houthi rebels in Yemen—retaliating after a drone strike killed three American service members in Jordan earlier this week. 

The Jan. 28 attack on Tower 22, a small outpost in northeastern Jordan, also wounded dozens of U.S. personnel and marked a major escalation amid growing unrest in the Middle East. 

In the immediate aftermath of the attack, President Joe Biden said the U.S. would respond, but offered no details. Days later, the counter strikes began hours after Biden attended a dignified transfer ceremony at Dover Air Force Base, Del., as the remains of the three Soldiers killed were returned to the United States.  

In a statement, Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III said the first round of strikes hit 85 targets at seven facilities. In a subsequent briefing with reporters, National Security Council spokesperson John F. Kirby said four of the facilities were in Syria and three were in Iraq.

Lt. Gen. Douglas A. Sims II, director of the Joint Staff, said fighter aircraft from U.S. Central Command and B-1 bombers flying from the continental U.S. conducted the strikes, deploying more than 125 precision-guided munitions.

“The facilities that were struck included command and control operations centers, intelligence centers, rockets, and missiles, and unmanned aerial vehicle storages, and logistics and munition supply chain facilities of militia groups and their IRGC sponsors who facilitated attacks against U.S. and Coalition forces,” a CENTCOM statement added.

Sims said the strikes appeared to be successful and all U.S. aircraft were safe.

Sims and Kirby said the decision to strike Feb. 2 was driven by the weather and a desire to avoid unnecessary casualties. Sims did say, however, that officials expected there to be militant casualties at the facilities.

In a statement from U.S. Air Forces Central, commander Lt. Gen. Alexus Grynkewich said he was “extremely proud of the discipline and professionalism with which our Airmen executed tonight’s mission. These defensive strikes highlight America’s commitment to defending our troops anytime, anywhere.”

Austin hinted at more strikes to come, following up on previous comments suggesting America would not be a passive witness to Iran-sponsored violence.

“This is the start of our response,” Austin said. “The President has directed additional actions to hold the IRGC and affiliated militias accountable for their attacks on U.S. and Coalition Forces. These will unfold at times and places of our choosing. We do not seek conflict in the Middle East or anywhere else, but the President and I will not tolerate attacks on American forces.”

U.S. and U.K. aircraft launched a second wave of strikes a day later in areas of Yemen controlled by the Houthis. All told, 36 targets were hit across 13 locations, including deeply buried weapons storage facilities, missile systems and launchers, air defense systems, and radars, the Pentagon said.

Since Hamas attacked Israel Oct. 7, prompting Israel to declare war on the group in Gaza, Iran-backed militia groups throughout the region have used ballistic missiles and drones to attack U.S. forces scores of times. That includes groups in Iraq and Syria, as well as Hezbollah in Lebanon and Houthi rebels in Yemen, which have launched dozens of attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea. 

Yet it wasn’t until Jan. 28 that any of the attacks killed American military members. The only prior U.S. death during the present run of violence was a contractor who died from cardiac arrest while sheltering from an attack. 

The U.S. had responded to those attacks with waves of targeted strikes, most recently hitting sites on Jan. 11 “associated with the Houthis’ unmanned aerial vehicle, ballistic and cruise missile, and coastal radar and air surveillance capabilities,” the Pentagon said at the time. 

The U.S. struck and killed a ranking Iraqi militia figure who was implicated in planning and carrying out attacks on U.S. service personnel on Jan. 4. American forces have also launched attacks in response to direct threats to personnel.

The Feb. 2 and 3 strikes stopped short of attacking Iran itself, a step some Republican lawmakers have been calling for as a means to hold Iran accountable for the actions of its proxy and partner forces. Pentagon officials have said they hold Iran responsible for the Tower 22 attack, because Iran provided the groups weapons and training.

Now Is Not the Time to Go Weak on the F-35

Now Is Not the Time to Go Weak on the F-35

The year 2024 will stand as a transformative year for modernizing the U.S. Air Force’s fighter force. Bottom line: the service needs to reset fast. That is why it was welcome news when Lockheed Martin recently announced the Tech Refresh 3/Block 4 variant of its F-35 are projected to join operational Air Force units by the third quarter of this year.  

This much-needed injection of new airframes and their advanced warfighting capabilities comes at a time when the Air Force’s fighter inventory is too small and too old to meet real-world global demands. Yet even as Tech Refresh 3/Block 4 F-35s roll off the line, there are threats to fiscal 2025 airframe orders. Money is tight, leaders are frustrated over program delays, and Congress is facing spending caps. But slowing F-35 buys would be a serious mistake, posing grave risk to long-term Air Force readiness in the face of growing threats.  

The Air Force must rapidly rebuild a fighter inventory that has grown old and weary to match the pacing threat—China—and that means buying as many of the Block 4 F-35s as it can at the fastest possible rate.   

One need only look at Ukraine to see what happens when a nation lacks a strong fighter force. Friendly forces are vulnerable to enemy aerial attack and the inability to penetrate air defenses renders a nation unable to strike targets at a decisive scale behind an adversary’s lines. The result we see today was predictable: Ground forces dug into fixed positions as in World War I, locked in an incredibly brutal, grinding battle in which both sides suffer high casualties and neither makes progress.  

This is a nightmare scenario U.S. forces could suffer as well, if our military cannot demonstrate an airpower advantage against a peer competitor. Adversaries like China will always win a numbers contest in a fight close to their homeland. They own the advantage in sheer size, would be closer to their supply base, and have local air defenses to shield their forces.  

Preventing a mass-on-mass war of attrition demands a more strategic approach to combat—the ability to strike anywhere in the battlespace with decisive force, while concurrently protecting against the enemy doing the same. That requires a right-sized fighter aircraft inventory.   

We have seen this before. In World War II, the P-51 was the lynchpin of the air war in Europe, enabling our bombers to inflict damage on the continent. Later in Korea, F-86s dogfighting over MiG alley earned iconic status. Deterrence in Europe during the Cold War hinged on U.S. F-15s, F-16s, and A-10s, which gave the U.S. air superiority and a crushing counter to the numerical advantage in ground forces boasted by the Soviet-led Warsaw Pact. These aircraft and their pilots set the conditions to deter adversaries from challenging the U.S. and defeat them if they did.  

Unfortunately, post-Cold War hubris and a myopic focus on ground operations after 9/11 ground down the U.S. fighter force. Rather than maintain the advantage, thousands of aircraft were retired, pilot ranks were decimated, and production of the most capable combat fighter ever built—the F-22—was terminated at less than half its original requirement. All this was done in the name of fiscal responsibility in the face of mounting costs for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.  

Today we know differently. The rapid rise of China, Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, perennial instability in the Middle East, and the nuclear ambitions of Iran and North Korea make clear that risks taken in the fighter inventory went too far. These risks have allied air forces around the globe—including the U.S. Air Force—scrambling to reset their capacity and capability to counter mounting threats.  

The F-35 is the only stealthy U.S. fighter in production with the mission attributes needed to succeed in modern threat environments. That’s why so many nations, from the United Kingdom and to Israel, Italy to Australia, and the Netherlands to Japan are all lining up to buy this airplane. It dominates fighter competitions in almost every international market.  

Recent delays in the program are tied to comprehensive upgrades that will radically enhance the aircraft’s performance against top-end threats, especially those posed by China. They amount to one of the largest software upgrades ever tackled by the Department of Defense. These delays have frustrated the Pentagon and Congress, but they should not trigger moves to undercut the program. Mission imperatives must prevail.  

Short-term decisions to delay or limit procurement will have long-lasting consequences. The F-35s authorized and paid for by Congress in the fiscal year 2025 budget will not land on Air Force runways until the latter part of the decade. The bureaucratic process of moving money, securing long-lead supplies, and acquiring all the component parts takes time. Cuts made now will hit the force three or more years down the road, by which time the latest upgrade challenges will be long solved. Such actions would deprive the service of combat capacity it badly needs and damage the supplier base. This is self-defeating.   

Fighter aircraft underpin the viability of the entire joint force. Ships at sea, forces on land, space and cyber centers, and rear bases are all vulnerable to aerial attack. Fighter aircraft are vital to their defense, and fighters are crucial to U.S. and allied power-projection strategies. Limiting procurement of fighter aircraft today that will be delivered fully combat ready three years from now will degrade overall our military’s effectiveness. This is not a rational choice. It’s a dangerous course. This is why F-35 procurement must be maximized, not cut at a time when the risk of conflict is growing. Let’s not send the wrong signals to America’s adversaries. 

Douglas A. Birkey is the executive director of the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies.

3 F-16 Crashes in 9 Months in Korea, But USAF Says Mishaps Are Unrelated

3 F-16 Crashes in 9 Months in Korea, But USAF Says Mishaps Are Unrelated

Following the third crash of a U.S. Air Force F-16 in South Korea in nine months on Jan. 31, the head of the 7th Air Force released a statement saying the incidents do not appear to be related. 

Some USAF flight operations have resumed on the Korean Peninsula after a brief pause, Maj. Gen. David Iverson added. 

The latest crash occurred after the F-16 suffered an in-flight emergency over South Korea’s southwestern coast. The pilot ejected and was recovered safely within an hour of the crash and transported to a local medical facility for an assessment. The jet went down in the ocean. 

The two previous incidents occurred May 6 and Dec. 11 last year. No personnel have been injured in any of the crashes.

In December, an F-16 from Kunsan Air Base was flying over the Yellow Sea, which borders the west side of the Korean Peninsula, when it suffered an in-flight emergency. The pilot ejected safely. The investigation of that incident is in its “final stages,” Iverson said in his statement. 

Last May, a routine daytime training sortie went sour when something went wrong and the pilot ejected near Osan Air Base, about 80 miles north of Kunsan. The fighter made a fiery impact in a local field, which was captured by local cameras. Iverson said the incident has been investigated, but results have not been released. Air Force Accident Investigation Board reports are typically published. 

F-16 crash south korea video
South Korean broadcaster SBS News obtained footage purportedly showing the moment a U.S. Air Force F-16 crashed near Osan Air Base. Screenshot

After the latest incident, the 7th Air Force paused flying operations to focus on search and recovery operations. Iverson said “some” flying ops began again Feb. 1, though he did not specify which. 

“I also want to acknowledge that this is the third F-16 crash on the peninsula in the last nine months. Thus far, including the preliminary findings from yesterday’s mishap, there are no indications these incidents are related,” he said. 

From 2010 to 2021—the latest year for which the Air Force Safety Center has published statistics—33 F-16s have been destroyed in mishaps, or 2.75 per year. Six fighters each were destroyed in 2013 and 2015. 

Austin Suggests Retaliation Against Iran for Deadly Strike Could Be a Campaign

Austin Suggests Retaliation Against Iran for Deadly Strike Could Be a Campaign

The Pentagon‘s retaliation for the killing of three U.S. troops in Jordan by Iranian-backed militants may take the form of a campaign that will directly target Iranian capabilities and interests, rather than a one-off raid the likes of which have not deterred Iran and its proxies in recent months, Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III told reporters Feb. 1.

Austin, making his first appearance at the Pentagon podium since entering the hospital in December to treat prostate cancer, said the militants that have struck at, injured, or killed U.S. troops in the Middle East in recent months could not have done so without Iran’s help, and a mere tit-for-tat attack on its capabilities isn’t sufficient.  

“At this point, it’s time to take away even more capability” from Iran and its proxies “than we’ve taken in the past,” Austin said.

“I don’t think the adversaries are of a ‘one and done’ mindset,” he added. “They have a lot of capability. I have a lot more. So we’re going to do what’s necessary to protect our troops and our interests.”

While Iran has said that it provided weapons to Islamist groups in the region, it denies having urged or directed any attacks against U.S. forces. But Austin said, “how much Iran knew or didn’t know really doesn’t matter because Iran sponsors these groups.” Without Iran’s aid, “these kinds of things don’t happen,” he said.

President Joe Biden has said that he has decided how to respond to this latest strike in Jordan but has offered no more details. Austin declined to elaborate.

U.S. forces have been attacked in the Middle East more than 160 times since the latest Israel-Hamas conflict began. Iran-aligned groups have launched airstrikes in Yemen, Syria, and Lebanon, and Iran continues to supply its proxies with weapons such as drones and missiles capable of carrying out these assaults.

While some Iran-backed militants have halted their attacks on U.S. forces in the region since the deadly attack on Tower 22 in Jordan, the Houthi rebels in Yemen continue to attack commercial shipping in the Red Sea region.

Asked whether the U.S. will “escalate” military action in retaliation for the killings, Austin said the U.S. has so far done a good job at the opposite, preventing the Gaza crisis from becoming a regional war.

The U.S.’s goal since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel “was to make sure that we contain this crisis in Gaza and that we prevented things from spreading to a wider conflict,” he said.

The fact that there is not “an all-out conflict between Israel and Lebanese Hezbollah” means the crisis has been managed, he argued. The U.S. is in tight contact with the Israeli military to “make sure that that doesn’t blossom into … a war on another front. We don’t see Israel engaged in a conflict with other countries in the region.”

Austin acknowledged that “there’s been a lot of activity in the region,” but argued that “Iranian proxy groups have been attacking our troops even well before Oct. 7.”

“We’re not at war with Iran,” Austin said. “And, yeah, the Houthis continue to do things that are very irresponsible and illegal. So our goal is to make sure that we … continue to take away capability from the Houthis to do what they’ve been doing.”

The U.S. has struck Houthi missile and sensor sites in collaboration with British forces in recent days.

“We’re going to either be serious about freedom of navigation … or we’re not,” Austin said. The world is watching to see “how serious we are about this, and we are serious. And again, our partners and allies are serious about it, as well.”

Austin also called on Iran to stop providing the Houthis with “advanced conventional weapons.”

U.S. officials have said they believe another Iranian-backed group, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, is responsible for the attack on Tower 22, a U.S. drone base in Jordan, where the three Army troops were killed.

Also during his briefing, Austin apologized for attempting to keep his recent medical treatment for cancer secret, saying that he had wanted to keep his diagnosis “private.” He acknowledged that President Biden was not informed of Austin’s incapacitation in a timely or appropriate manner.

“We did not handle this right, and I did not handle this right,” Austin admitted. “I should have told the President about my cancer diagnosis. I should have also told my team and the American public. And I take full responsibility. I apologize to my teammates and to the American people.”

Austin said flatly he does not plan to resign as a consequence of the incident, but an internal review is underway in the Pentagon which will fully explore what happened, what should have happened, and whether any punishment is warranted.