USAF Report Faults Lax Security Culture in Unit of Airman Who Allegedly Leaked Documents

Dec. 11, 2023 | By Chris Gordon

The Air Force announced Dec. 11 that it has initiated disciplinary and other administrative actions against 15 Airmen and implemented reforms service-wide after scores of classified documents were allegedly leaked earlier this year by Airman 1st Class Jack Teixeira.

The disciplinary actions were taken against Airmen ranging from staff sergeant to colonel and followed an Air Force inspector general’s report that found a “culture of complacency” and lax security protocols in the Massachusetts Air National Guard wing in which Teixeira served.

“Every Airman and Guardian is entrusted with the solemn duty to safeguard our nation’s classified defense information,” Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall said in a statement. “Our national security demands leaders at every level protect critical assets, ensuring they do not fall into the hands of those who would do the United States or our allies and partners harm.”

The Air Force Inspector General’s office determined that Teixeira acted alone in obtaining classified information and sharing it in online chat rooms but that his actions were enabled by a “lack of supervision.”

The IG’s investigation described several incidents when Teixeira’s supervisors and colleagues in the 102nd Intelligence Wing at Otis Air National Guard Base, Mass., were aware of his improper actions and did not act to stop them or share their concerns above the squadron level.

“Evidence indicates some members in A1C Teixeira’s unit, reporting chain, and leadership had information about as many as four separate instances of his questionable activity,” the inspector general report, dated August 2023, states. “A smaller number of unit members had a more complete picture of A1C Teixeira’s intelligence-seeking behaviors and intentionally failed to report the full details of these security concerns/incidents as outlined in DoD security policies, fearing security officials might ‘overreact.’ Had any of these members come forward, security officials would likely have facilitated restricting systems/facility access and alerted the appropriate authorities, reducing the length and depth of the unauthorized and unlawful disclosures by several months.”

The inspector general report is separate from the criminal investigation of Teixiera being led by the Department of Justice.

The 15 Airmen facing disciplinary and other administrative actions at the base include Col. Sean Riley, 102nd Intelligence Wing commander, who received administrative action and was relieved of command for cause, and Col. Enrique Dovalo, 102nd Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Group commander, who received administrative action for concerns with unit culture and compliance with policies and standards.

In the most detailed publicly released account yet of Teixeira’s actions in his unit, the Air Force inspector general paints a picture of an Airman who repeatedly violated protocols but who had supervisors who tried to downplay his actions. It also notes the unit encouraged the sharing of classified intelligence that should not have been widely disseminated as part of an effort to educate Airmen about their part in the nation’s intelligence mission.

Members of the 102nd Intelligence Support Squadron, including Teixeira, were “encouraged to receive weekly intelligence briefings to better understand the mission and the importance of keeping the classified networks operating. This ‘know your why’ effort was improper in that it provided higher-level classified information than was necessary to understand the unit’s mission and created ambiguity with respect to questioning an individual’s need to know,” the inspector general found.

Beyond the broad oversharing of information, Teixeira’s superiors repeatedly had reason to suspect that he obtained and kept records of classified information. Teixeira was cited for his improper handling of classified information, though not through the correct reporting channels, the inspector general found.

During the summer and fall of 2022 and continuing into 2023, Teixeira was observed looking at top secret/sensitive compartmented information (TS/SCI) or referencing the contents of that material in a number of suspicious incidents.

In the first case, around July or August of 2022, he was seen looking at TS/SCI information and one of his supervisors was informed. On Sept. 15, 2022, Teixeira was seen viewing intelligence and copying information down on a post-it note.

“However, it was never verified what was written on the note or whether it was shredded,” the IG report states. “His supervisor and another unit member documented the event via Memorandum for Record (MFR), and A1C Teixeira was directed to stop taking notes on classified information and ‘to cease all research where he did not have a need to know.’ These incidents were not reported to the proper security official.”

Despite the warnings, Teixeira’s activity continued. Roughly a month later on Oct. 25, 2022, Teixeira “asked very detailed questions and even attempted to answer questions using suspected TS-SCI information he did not have a need to know,” the IG states. “Teixeira was again ordered to ‘cease and desist’ intelligence ‘deep dives.’ This third incident was documented with another MFR, but not reported to the proper security official.”

Then on Jan 30, 2023, Teixeira was again seen viewing intelligence. The incident was finally reported, but the unit appears to have tried to downplay the severity Teixeira’s actions.

“The supervisor was informed, an MFR was written, and more senior members of the squadron’s leadership were made aware of three of the four preceding incidents,” the IG report states.

After some internal discussion the episode was reported to security officials but in a way that minimized concerns over Teixeria’s activities.

“As a result, additional available security actions were not taken and no further inquiry or investigation occurred,” the IG report said.

The Department of Air Force says as a result of the investigation it has reformed its processes.

They include determining whether an individual with a security clearance actually has a “need to know” specific classified information, improved security training, and emphasizing the responsibility of commanders and other personnel to report concerning behavior up the chain of common–all key failings in the Teixeira case.

Speaking to reporters shortly after the findings were released, Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Maj. Gen. Patrick S. Ryder said Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III was “confident the Air Force is taking necessary steps to look into this.”

IGReportTeixeira Download

Lawmakers to Pentagon: Give Us Hypersonics Strategy Updates, Plan for Test Corridors

Dec. 11, 2023 | By John A. Tirpak

Looking to keep pace in the fast-evolving field of hypersonics, lawmakers are directing the Pentagon to submit an overhauled strategy for the technology at least every two years as part of the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act, which is poised to pass both chambers of Congress this week.

As part of the compromise conference report on the NDAA issue last week, lawmakers said they also want the Secretary of Defense to identify, within a year, additional overland corridors in which hypersonic weapons and aircraft—which create large sonic booms—can be tested.

“Not less frequently than once every two years,” the Defense Secretary is to “revise and update” the department’s hypersonics strategy and submit it to the “appropriate congressional committees,” according the bill. The directive will sunset on December 31, 2030.

There are numerous hypersonics programs underway within DOD and the armed services—ranging from both air-breathing and boost-glide offensive hypersonic missiles to hypersonic interceptors—but only a few are closely coordinated. The study wants a detailed DOD plan for “funding and investments … related to the procurement, research, development, test, evaluation and operation and maintenance of offensive and defensive hypersonic weapons.” The new language sets the timing for these reports and specifies the cost breakouts for various aspects of such systems.

“Each report [shall] include cost data on the hypersonic capabilities of the Department of Defense, including vehicles, developmental and operational testing, hypersonic sensors, command and control architectures, infrastructure, testing infrastructure, software, workforce, training, ranges, integration costs, and such other items as the Secretary of Defense considers appropriate,” the bill states.

Each is to be ascribed to “an offensive or defensive mission,” down to the particular program element numbers covered and “the name of the entity that is carrying out the activity”—i.e., the Air Force, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the Rapid Capabilities Office, etc.

Each report is to be presented in an unclassified form, but may include a classified annex.

Some Hill staffers have complained privately that the Air Force has not been fully transparent about its plans and the estimated costs for programs such as the AGM-183 Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW), Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile (HACM), and MAYHEM, a planned reusable air-breathing hypersonic system expected to become available in the early 2030s.

The Air Force dropped out of the multiservice Hypersonic Conventional Strike Weapon in early 2020, saying at the time that it preferred the ARRW. But earlier this year, Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said the Air Force wouldn’t pursue ARRW, either, and would focus its money and efforts on HACM, which is a smaller, longer-ranged, air-breathing weapon that can be carried by a fighter.

Kendall has also argued that it isn’t necessary for the U.S. to match China’s development and deployment of hypersonic systems, as the two countries have different operational concepts for warfare and the Air Force’s priorities put less priority on such systems. However, lawmakers have frequently expressed concern about China’s edge in developing hypersonic weapons.

The NDAA also directs the Pentagon to conduct a study of “at least two” corridors within the U.S. for “additional … long-distance hypersonic system testing,” after which officials are to launch the necessary environmental impact analyses for implementation. A report on the preferred corridors is due by the end of 2024.

The Pentagon now does most of its hypersonics testing on over-water ranges off the East and West coasts of the continental U.S., but hypersonic missile programs will soon move into a phase where their ability to navigate over varied terrain will have to be tested, as will their effectiveness against ground targets. The flight profile of hypersonic systems will require that they function over thousands of miles of land, or ocean as well as land.

Air Force officials have said they are looking at a number of potential hypersonic weapon ranges that may transit the Gulf of Mexico and the Southwest U.S. en route to impact points in Nevada or Utah. They have also said they are looking at ranges from the Pacific Ocean that would transit Alaska ranges.

However, the most likely initial overland test corridor is not in the U.S., but in Australia, at that country’s Woomera range. Australia and the U.S. are partnered on a number of hypersonics projects, including airborne testing, wind tunnel testing, and mutual development efforts.

‘The Best of Us’: AFSOC, Families, Friends Pay Tribute to 8 Airmen Killed in CV-22 Crash

Dec. 11, 2023 | By David Roza

Air Force Special Operations Command paid tribute to the eight Airmen killed in a CV-22 Osprey crash off the coast of Japan last month, as the command posted a brief biography of each Airman on its Facebook page on Dec. 7—the latest in a line of tributes shared by friends and family members of the fallen in local news reports and on social media.

The crew of the Osprey, callsign ‘Gundam 22,’ were on a training mission out of Yokota Air Base on Nov. 29 when the tiltrotor aircraft caught fire and crashed. It was the deadliest Air Force aviation mishap since 2018, when nine Air Guardsmen were killed in a WC-130 crash in Georgia. American and Japanese military and civilian search teams found the wreckage off the southern coast of Japan on Dec. 4. As of Dec. 11, the remains of seven out of the eight Airmen aboard had been recovered.

“In times like these, where service to our nation is not just a personal commitment but also a legacy woven into the fabric of our families, the depth of sorrow is immeasurable,” Lt. Gen. Tony Bauernfeind, AFSOC commander, said in a Dec. 5 statement.

The Airmen aboard Gundam 22 were assigned to the 353rd Special Operations Wing, and several had deployments to the Middle East and Afghanistan under their belts. The oldest, Maj. Eric Spendlove, 36, of St. George, Utah, was a special operations flight surgeon and medical operations flight commander who led his medical team to improve readiness at the 1st Special Operations Squadron by 94 percent and at the wing by 25 percent, according to his AFSOC biography.

“When he had the opportunity to join a special operations group, he was all over that,” Spendlove’s older sister, Monica Murset, told news station FOX 13 Salt Lake City. “It gave him access to traveling the world alongside some true heroes, and he absolutely loved serving his country.”

Capt. Terrell Brayman, 32, of Pittsford, N.Y., felt a similar dedication to his job. The former U-28A Draco pilot became a CV-22 pilot in 2020 and was “a naturally talented pilot and officer,” Lt. Col. Tyler Oldham, head of the 21st Special Operations Squadron, said in Brayman’s biography. Daniel Bobry, a friend of Brayman, was impressed by his work ethic at Ohio State University, where Brayman studied astronautical engineering.

“He was up at 3:30, 4 o’clock every day at ROTC, always smiling, never complained,” Bobry told New York news station WHAM-Rochester. “He just did his job and did it well and always had a smile on his face.”

A fellow CV-22 pilot, Maj. Luke Unrath, 34, hailed from Riverside, Calif., where the triplet left a mark on his parents and siblings.

“It would be impossible for us to express in a few words what an amazing son Luke was,” Unrath’s parents told southern California newspaper The Press-Enterprise. “Even though we raised him in faith, he taught us so much, what it is to live a Christ-centered life. He chose this path and career because he wanted to help people.”

Oldham was also impressed by the pilot, who started his career as an engineer before cross-training into aviation in 2019.

“People gravitated toward him and would follow him due to his cool, calm demeanor and high standards,” the squadron boss wrote.

The third pilot aboard ‘Gundam 22’ was Maj. Jeffrey Hoernemann, 32, of Andover, Minn. A Weapons Instructor Course graduate, Hoernemann was an instructor pilot and chief of weapons and tactics at the 21st Special Operations Squadron, where “his character was the benchmark of officership in the United States Air Force,” Oldham wrote.

“Jeff was the best of us,” he added. “His selflessness and leadership through example have left enduring marks upon the culture and values of the members of Air Force Special Operations Command.”

In a statement published by CBS Minnesota, Hoernemann’s family said the major “was proud to have been chosen to fly the CV-22B Osprey. He loved to fly the hybrid aircraft and was never afraid of it.”

Despite being the youngest Airmen aboard, Staff Sgt. Jacob Galliher, 24, of Pittsfield, Mass., made a lasting impression on those around him.

“I looked up to Jake in more ways than one,” Galliher’s best friend, Air Force Staff Sgt. Edward Dobransky, told The Berkshire Eagle, a Massachusetts newspaper. “We lost a superhuman when we lost Jake.”

An airborne linguist specializing in Mandarin, Galliher was an honor graduate or distinguished graduate of several Air Force schools, and his commander said he was just as distinguished as a teammate.

“With a ready smile, Jake brought the unit together on and off-duty through humor and an inexhaustible supply of energy,” Maj. Gilbert Summers, head of the 43rd Intelligence Squadron, Detachment 1, said in a statement. “Everywhere he went, and everyone he met, was made better for him being there.”

Staff Sgt. Jake Turnage, 25, of Kennesaw, Ga., was a special missions aviator and served as lead flight engineer and noncommissioned officer in charge of training at the 21st Special Operations Squadron. He had a lot of responsibility: alongside his normal duties as flight engineer, loadmaster, and aerial gunner, he also managed the combat arms, survival evasion, resistance, and escape, and chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear training requirements for the squadron. But he seemed to bear it well, according to Oldham.

“Jake’s humor and zeal were contagious,” the commander said. “His magnetic personality was always uplifting and lightened the load of his squadron mates.”

Turnage’s fellow special missions aviator aboard the Osprey was Senior Airman Brian Johnson, 32, of Cincinnati, Ohio. In a statement published by Ohio news station Dayton 24/7 Now, Johnson’s family described him as “an amazing and caring son, brother, uncle and friend to all.” Oldham praised his “tireless work ethic … his knowledge, skill, and attention to detail inspired competence and trust amongst his fellow aircrew.”

The eighth Airman aboard ‘Gundam 22’ was Tech Sgt. Zachary Lavoy, 33, of Oviedo, Fla. A medical operations flight chief, Lavoy picked up a number of honors in training, and contributed to multiple unit awards such as the 2019 Air Force Medical Service Medic Rodeo Team of the Year. His commander, Lt. Col. Christopher Pellegrino, head of the 1st Special Operations Squadron, described him as “a compassionate medic with a steadfast devotion to supporting the needs of those around him.”

Lavoy’s mother, Gabriela, could not believe her son was gone when she spoke with Florida news station FOX 35 Orlando on Dec. 6.

“I didn’t think anything could hurt my son,” she said. “You think your kids are invincible. I didn’t think anything could happen to him. I always thought he would be found alive.”

The Air Force, Marine Corps, and Navy announced on Dec. 6 that they were standing down all Osprey operations as the Air Force investigates the cause of the crash.

The Air Force said initial findings suggested there was a “material failure” with the Osprey, indicating pilot error was likely not the primary cause and there was an issue with the aircraft itself.

“The standdown will provide time and space for a thorough investigation to determine causal factors and recommendations to ensure the Air Force CV-22 fleet returns to flight operations,” AFSOC boss Lt. Gen. Tony Bauernfeind said in a statement at the time.

New CMSAF: David Flosi Selected as Top Enlisted Airman

Dec. 11, 2023 | By Chris Gordon

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David W. Allvin selected the service’s next senior enlisted leader Dec. 11, the service announced—Chief Master Sgt. David A. Flosi will become the 20th Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force when current CMSAF JoAnne Bass departs.

“Our Airmen deserve the best leaders possible—and that’s Chief Flosi,” Allvin said in a statement.

Flosi is the current Command Chief Master Sergeant of Air Force Materiel Command at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. In that role, he advises the AFMC commander on issues affecting roughly 89,000 Airmen. In a statement, the Air Force said Flosi was the “clear choice” out of a group of command chief master sergeants from across the service to become the Air Force’s senior-most enlisted member.

Enlisted Airmen make up roughly 80 percent of the Active-Duty Air Force, and Flosi will be charged with advocating for their interests.

“He is a phenomenal leader and wingman who will empower our total force,” Allvin said. “His unique experiences, attitude, and commitment will prove essential as we re-optimize our force for great power competition.”

The Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force serves as an advisor to the Chief of Staff of the Air Force and Department of the Air Force leaders on personnel matters, such as welfare, morale, quality of life, and other issues that affect Airmen. The CMSAF also serves as the public face of the force to Congressional leaders and other levels of government.

“We are serving at a time of great consequence where success hinges on our ability to optimize this team toward the changing character of war,” Flosi said in a statement.

Flosi’s career began in 1996 as a nuclear weapons specialist, and he has held various leadership duties in conventional and nuclear munitions as well as missile operations, program management, and test and contingency operations, the Air Force said. He deployed in support of Operations Southern Watch, Iraqi Freedom, Inherent Resolve, and Freedom’s Sentinel. Flosi has served in his current role since October 2021.

“The Department of the Air Force relies on our Senior Enlisted Advisors to represent the needs and perspectives of all our enlisted Airmen and Guardians, the majority of our force,” Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall said in the statement. “I have high confidence that Chief Flosi will build upon the great example provided by his predecessors and serve with distinction as our 20th Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force.”

Bass will soon close out her tenure. The first woman to serve as CMSAF, she has been the Air Force’s highest-ranking noncommissioned leader since August 2020.

“Chief Flosi is an incredibly strong leader who has proven himself in every role at every level,” Bass said. “I have no doubt he will continue building and developing our Air Force to be the future force our nation needs to compete, deter, and win in any domain.”

USAF F-16 Crashes in Korea For Second Time This Year, Pilot OK

Dec. 11, 2023 | By David Roza

A U.S. Air Force F-16 fighter crashed off the coast of South Korea on Dec. 11, according to local media reports and a statement from the 8th Fighter Wing at Kunsan Air Base. The pilot ejected from the aircraft and is in stable condition.

This marks the second USAF aircraft crash in the region recently—two weeks ago, an Air Force CV-22 Osprey caught fire and crashed off the southern Japanese coast on Nov. 29, killing all eight Airmen aboard. The Air Force, Marine Corps, and Navy are all standing down operations for the tiltrotor aircraft as the Air Force investigates the cause of the crash.

This is also the second crash of an F-16 assigned to Kunsan this year. On May 6, a jet was flying a routine daytime training sortie 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, captured by local cameras.

The Air Force has yet to release an accident investigation report into what caused the May crash.

This latest incident took place over the Yellow Sea, which borders the west side of the Korean Peninsula and separates it from China. According to the 8th Fighter Wing, the jet suffered an in-flight emergency at about 8:43 a.m. local time. Yonhap News Agency reported that the jet had taken off from Kunsan.

The pilot ejected and was recovered by Republic of Korea Maritime Forces “awake and in stable condition,” the statement said. The pilot was then returned to Kunsan for further evaluation.

The base withheld the name of the pilot and additional details on his current condition.

“We are grateful for the safe recovery of our Airman by our ROK Allies and that the pilot is in good condition,” 8th Fighter Wing commander Col. Matthew C. Gaetke said in a statement.

The cause of the in-flight emergency is under investigation.

Now Enlisted Airmen Can Stay in Uniform Longer

Dec. 8, 2023 | By Greg Hadley

Faced with a recruiting shortfall, the Air Force is loosening its “up or out” rules, adding two years to the maximum time in service at every enlisted grade up to E-8.

The new High Year of Tenure (HYT) limits go into effect immediately, although Airmen have been able to ask for extensions for the past year. The Air Force confirmed the changes, which were detailed in a memo leaked to Reddit this week. The new rates:

GRADE	RANK	Old High Year of Tenure	New High Year of Tenure
E-1	Airman Basic	8	10
E-2	Airman	8	10
E-3	Airman 1st Class	8	10
E-4	Senior Airman	10	12
E-5	Staff Sergeant	20	22
E-6	Technical Sergeant	22	24
E-7	Master Sergeant	24	26
E-8	Senior Master Sergeant	26	28

The added time gives Airmen the option to stay and continue to compete for promotion, rather than face a deadline to leave. To opt out of the extension, Airmen facing HYT limits between Dec. 8, 2023 and Sept. 30, 2024 must ask for and receive approval prior to their original HYT date of separation or by Feb. 16, 2024, whichever comes first.

Airmen already approved for separation or retirement under the original HYT rule will automatically have their HYT extended.

“The Air Force is taking proactive action to fully leverage our Congressionally authorized end strength and HYT extensions maximizes the retention of experienced talent to enhance mission effectiveness,” an Air Force spokesperson said.

Enlisted retention remains strong at around 89 percent in fiscal 2023, down only slightly from the highs of the COVID-19 pandemic and largely in line with historical trends. But the Air Force finished fiscal 2023 about 10 percent short of its Active-Duty recruiting goal, and the lingering effects of record-high retention have slowed promotion rates in the noncommissioned officer ranks. That’s pushed more Airmen up against their HYT limits.

Air Force officials say they need to rebalance the force to ensure the force is sized for effectiveness and that Airmen gain the experience needed to take on leadership positions. Extending HYT will give more Airmen another shot at promotion and the Air Force time more flexibility to keep the experienced Airmen already in the force.

‘Presence Matters’: Space Force Activates New Component for Europe and Africa

Dec. 8, 2023 | By Chris Gordon

The U.S. Space Force, U.S. European Command, and U.S. Africa Command activated their newest service component on Dec. 8, in an expansion of USSF’s growing reach into combatant commands.

“This is an important day in the history of the Space Force as we mature our organization and our partnerships to take on the challenges of the space domain,” Chief of Space Operations Gen. B. Chance Saltzman said in remarks at a ceremony held at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, where the component will be headquartered.

U.S. Space Forces Europe and Africa (SPACEFOREUR-AF), under the command of Space Force Col. Max Lantz, gives the USSF into its own organization in the vast combined area of U.S. European Command and U.S. Africa Command.

“We are activating the component because presence matters,” Lantz said.

Previously, U.S. military space capabilities in Europe and Africa, which Lantz already headed, were part of the air component, U.S. Air Forces in Europe-Air Forces Africa (USAFE-AFAFRICA), in a model that predated the Space Force as an independent service. Inside combatant commands, services provide their own components that the command can draw on. Now, the Space Force has its own organization.

The activation of Space Forces Europe and Africa is a “critical step” in USSF’s growth as its own service with its own voice in operations, Saltzman said.

“Space has become more and more central to joint operations,” he added. “We are better connected, more informed, more precise, and more lethal thanks to space.”

The official party for the U.S. Space Forces Europe & Africa activation ceremony stand at attention during the USSPACEFOREUR-AF activation and assumption of command, at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, Dec. 8, 2023. USSPACEFOREUR-AF will provide U.S. European Command and U.S. Africa Command a cadre of space experts who collaborate with NATO allies and partners to integrate space efforts into shared operations, activities and investments. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Edgar Grimaldo

SPACEFOREUR-AF is now the fourth service component embedded in one of the U.S. military’s regional commands, joining U.S. Central Command, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, and U.S. Forces Korea. Joint combatant commanders and Space Force leaders say the new organizations help better articulate what space capabilities are available and ensure they are taken into account and put to use.

“The joint force’s missions increasingly rely on space and the Space Force is committed to ensuring that the force has the space resources it needs to succeed,” Saltzman said. “That is particularly important here in the European and African theaters of operation. The Space Force is already very actively involved in supporting efforts in the region, with our support to Ukraine being most visible.”

The USSF is considering establishing components in other commands, possibly including U.S. Cyber Command, U.S. Special Operations Command, and U.S. Forces Japan.

“Space operations is our daily lives, our operations, our activities, and our investments,” Marine Corps Gen. Michael E. Langley, the head of U.S. Africa Command, said during the ceremony. “All the space-based assets [are] ensuring the joint force has the right information at the right time to fight and to win. SPACEFOREUR-AF will work with all other components to ensure that space planning and support is embedding in all of our operations.”

Like the rest of the Space Force, SPACEFOREUR-AF is a small organization. But throughout 2023, after the plans for SPACEFOREUR-AF were announced, senior U.S. military space leaders visited Europe to strengthen the U.S. military space alliances. On Dec. 1, the U.K. agreed to host a new advanced space tracking radar system along with Australia and the U.S.

The activation will “finally normalize how space forces are presented to the theaters—sound, structural changes,” Lantz said. “The component we’re standing up today will never be as small, under-ranked, or less resourced than at this very moment. Starting tomorrow, we will gain in strength, understanding, and resources in order to add value to EUCOM and AFRICOM. Every day we will get better.”

The new U.S. Space Forces in Europe-Space Forces Africa patch is displayed at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, Dec. 6, 2023. U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Jared Lovett

Here Is How Congress Plans to Keep Tight Oversight of New Fighters and CCAs

Dec. 8, 2023 | By John A. Tirpak

House and Senate lawmakers, in their recently unveiled compromise 2024 National Defense Authorization Act, are seeking tight oversight of both the Air Force and the Navy on their respective versions of the new and highly secret Next Generation Air Dominance fighter and the Collaborative Combat Aircraft programs

Specifically, lawmakers are demanding briefs every six months on virtually all metrics of the projects.

NGAD is a term used by both the Air Force and Navy to describe their future crewed stealthy air dominance aircraft; in the Air Force, the NGAD will succeed the F-22 and is described as a “family of systems” to include offboard sensors and accompanying aircraft. CCAs are uncrewed, autonomous aircraft that will accompany and fight alongside crewed aircraft, performing missions such as electronic warfare, defense suppression, or as carriers of additional weapons.

Though similarly named, the Air Force and Navy/Marine Corps NGADs and CCAs are not joint programs like the F-35, although program officials have said they are sharing information and coordinating as the projects develop.

In reporting language attached to the NDAA, conferees said their provisions are aimed at program “accountability” for NGAD and CCAs. First, they want a baseline for the programs, and then “a matrix that identifies, in six-month increments, key milestones, development and testing events, and specific performance goals for the engineering manufacturing and development [EMD] phase … of the programs.”

The matrix would give the Technology Readiness Levels “of major components and subsystems” as well as “key demonstration and testing events.” A TRL identifies where a particular technology is on a scale of 1-9, with 1 being highly experimental and 9 being mission-proven in the field. In recent years, the Pentagon has demanded a TRL of 6 for most new capabilities to proceed to engineering manufacturing and development.

“Key demonstration and testing events” is likely a reference to milestones such as first major aircraft joins; first systems power-ons, first flights, etc.

Lawmakers also want regular updates on design and software maturity; subsystem and system-level integration maturity; manufacturing readiness levels for critical items; the status of manufacturing; “system verification, validation and key flight test events;” reliability; availability for flight operations, and maintainability.

Possibly more problematic for the services, the lawmakers specified a long list of items for which they want detailed, itemized costs. For some programs in recent years, Congress has directed the Pentagon to identify costs over the program’s entire service life—which could be more than 50 years. Such estimates are challenging, small variations can become quite large over times, and inflation estimates are scarcely more than a guess.

Nonetheless, every six months lawmakers want the service Secretaries to give their “cost position … on the total cost for … the EMD phase and low initial rate of production lots of the programs” and a matrix “expressing the total cost for the prime contractor’s estimate for such EMD phase and production lots, both of which shall be phased over the entire EMD period.”

Specific costs must be provided for:

the air vehicle

propulsion

mission systems

vehicle subsystems

air vehicle software

systems engineering

program management

system test and evaluation

support and training systems

contract fees

engineering changes

direct mission support

government testing

ancillary aircraft equipment

initial spares

contractor support

modifications

The first update will be required six months after the Secretaries provide their initial reports, and these will represent the program baseline for EMD as well as low-rate initial production. Each update will have to explain progress made on the specific category, cost changes incurred, and the Pentagon Comptroller will have to sign off on these reports as accurate, with their assessment of cost, performance, and schedule “trends.”

Moreover, each Secretary is to define Key Performance Parameters (KPPs) for the NGAD and CCA for the “threshold and objective costs.” These KPPs are also to be stated for “each cost category” outlined in the language.

The services are also told to identify “the highest acceptable cost for that category” as well as “an objective value indicating the lowest cost expected to be achieved by that category.” Those costs are to be stated in various ways, including:

Unit recurring flyaway cost

Average procurement unit cost

Gross/weapon system unit cost

Aircraft cost-per-tail-per-year

Aircraft cost-per-flight-hour

Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall announced in May that solicitations for NGAD have gone out, and that a single offeror will be selected in 2024 to build it. Operational capability is expected circa 2030. Kendall has voiced a somewhat shorter timeline for the initial version of CCAs to be in service, saying the first ones could be flying in 2028.

The Senate is expected to action on the NDAA in the next few days, and the House could pass it shortly thereafter, putting the defense policy bill on track to become law before January.

Air Force to Start Tracking Why Some Recruits Back Out Before Joining Up

Dec. 8, 2023 | By David Roza

Starting in January, the Air Force Recruiting Service will track why applicants leave the accessions process before signing the dotted line. The goal is to understand what makes people who are interested in serving decide to leave, and if there is something the Air Force can do to improve its processes.

“We currently have only anecdotal data that says why someone leaves the process,” an AFRS spokesperson told Air & Space Forces Magazine. “This will require the recruiter to go in and annotate a specific reason why someone is stopping the process.”

One person keen to see the resulting data is Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee’s subcommittee on personnel. Warren grilled the heads of the services’ recruiting commands, including AFRS boss Brig. Gen. Christopher Amrhein, at a Dec. 6 hearing, saying that many healthy candidates are held up in a lengthy medical accessions review process due to conditions as minor as a childhood wrist sprain.

The senator cited military data showing that one out of every six recruits needed a medical waiver in fiscal 2022. Getting through a review could add 70 or more days to the applications process for Army recruits, she said.

“Now obviously we want a screening process that catches disqualifying medical conditions, but do each of you agree that it is a problem if our process is creating unnecessary barriers to enrollment?” she asked. “It is an even bigger problem if all of that red tape is causing some healthy applicants to drop out of the recruitment process altogether.”

air force recruiting — U.S. Air Force recruits tour a KC-135 Stratotanker at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida, June 14, 2023. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Lauren Cobin)

The Department of Defense Inspector General reached a similar conclusion in a May 17 report, when the watchdog office wrote that the length of time it takes military entrance processing command and the services to review medical information and other process requirements “affect whether an applicant remains in the accession pipeline. Understanding these barriers to entering military service is integral to inclusion.”

Part of the problem is Military Health System Genesis, a new electronic health record system that provides a single health record for service members. The system connects to most civilian health information exchange networks, giving the services and U.S. Military Entrance Processing Command (USMEPCOM) access to an applicant’s medical history. But that history “is often incomplete or contains insufficient information to make a waiver determination,” DODIG noted, which slows the process down because the services then have to request extra documentation. Genesis is often difficult to use, further slowing down the process.

Time is of the essence of the services, all but two of which, the Space Force and the Marine Corps, failed to meet recruiting goals in fiscal 2023. The DODIG recommended that each of the services establish tracking mechanisms to capture data on applicants medically disqualified by USMEPCOM, make sure each potentially eligible applicant is provided a choice of whether to proceed with a waiver request, and document the reason a waiver was not requested to inform change in each service’s recruiting process.

Each of the services agreed, and at the Dec. 6 hearing, Warren demanded to know when such mechanisms would be in place. Amrhein said a system will be in place in January that will record “why a member specifically disengaged from the recruiting process.”

It may take time to capture long-term trends in the data, since the new system will track data from January onwards and not from past years.

“We have no way of collecting data from the past from this since the applicant would have to tell us,” the AFRS spokesperson said.

The hope is that better information will help AFRS get more applicants into uniform and help ease its long-term recruiting challenges.

“We cannot afford to lose people who have already demonstrated a willingness to serve,” Warren said. “These are the people who say ‘I want to do this.’ Especially if the only barrier is something that would be quickly dismissed by a medical review.”