Ready Forces in Middle East Deter Iran, Austin Says

Sept. 13, 2024 | By Chris Gordon

MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Ala.—The Pentagon remains determined to maintain sufficient forces in the region to deter Iran from attacking Israel, convinced that expanded pressure there is deterring aggression, Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III said on a visit here Sept. 13.

“The force posture does matter,” Austin said. “It has mattered a lot. It’s not just the capability being there. It’s the messaging associated with that. It’s the active engagement of leaders. As we endeavor to manage the crisis, what we’re doing on both sides of the fence is to make sure we don’t allow something to unnecessarily escalate out of control.”

Austin’s comments came a day after the Pentagon announced that the aircraft carrier the USS Theodore Roosevelt and its battle group had left the Middle East. But the departure, after a lengthy deployment, does not mean that Iran’s threat to retaliate against Israel for an attack that killed the ranking political leader of Hamas during a visit to Tehran is over, or that U.S. forces in the region would continue to draw down.

“It does not mean that there is not a threat from Iran and that we should no longer be concerned,” Austin said. “I think you have to take them at their word when they advertise their intent to do something, whether it’s today or in the future. So I think it’s important to remain at the ready—especially for Israel to remain at the ready.”

To deter Iran, whether on its own or through regional proxies like Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Biden administration warned publicly that Iran’s newly elected government and economy could suffer a devastating blow were it to mount a major attack against Israel. The U.S. rushed additional naval and air forces to the region to back up that warning.

A U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor from the 3rd Wing assigned to Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, takes flight at an undisclosed location within the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, Aug. 12, 2024. U.S. Air Force photo

Now, with the departure of the Roosevelt, the U.S. is keeping U.S. Air Force F-15, F-16, and F-22 squadrons. Also in the region: the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln battle group in the region, with its airwing that includes F-35Cs, and a battlegroup that includes guided missile destroyers. A nuclear-powered submarine, the USS Georgia and its some 150 Tomahawk land-attack cruise missiles, is also in the Middle East.

All told, the Pentagon secretary said, the U.S. still has more forces in the region than it had on April 13, when it helped Israel neutralize an Iranian attack that sent more than 300 ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones to Israel, and 99 percent were intercepted.

U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagles and F-16 Fighting Falcons shot down more than 80 Iranian drones and American destroyers intercepted some of Iran’s ballistic missiles during the April episode.

Deterring China is the Pentagon’s primary long-term preoccupation, and its actions in other parts of the world carry a message for China and other potential aggressors. The U.S. wants to strengthen its NATO alliance, and is providing weapons to Ukraine to help Kyiv defend itself against Russian aggression. Yet as the anniversary of Hamas’s attack on Israel approaches Oct. 7, the U.S. finds itself continuing to maintain a strong military presence in the Middle East.

“I still have an aircraft carrier in the region and I still have a lot of other capability in the region,” Austin said, responding to a question from Air & Space Forces Magazine. “I know you guys track what’s there and not there on a daily basis. But, again, when you saw us do what we did on the 13th of April, we didn’t have two aircraft carriers in the region then. We actually still have more capability in the region than we had on the 13th of April.”

4th Death This Year Sparks Worry at Kunsan

Sept. 13, 2024 | By Unshin Lee Harpley

When Tech. Sgt. Jacob Venegas was found dead in a dorm at Kunsan Air Base, South Korea, Aug. 28, it marked the third death there in just 33 days, and the fourth since March, sparking concern about the conditions and support systems in place at the base, home of the 8th Fighter Wing.

The Air Force has not identified the cause of death in any of the cases, said 8th Fighter Wing spokesperson Capt. Alvin Nelson, who explained that the deaths remain under investigation. “We cannot speak to causes.”

None of the fatalities were “related to operations or mission requirements,” Nelson said. Law enforcement officials stated earlier that foul play is not suspected in the deaths of Jones-Smalls, Vang, and Kruse, based on “forensic experts on the scene.”

Suicides remains a leading cause of death among young military members. A detailed analysis of suicide deaths in 2020 released earlier this year found that of the 117 Air Force and Space Force members who died by suicide that year, 90.8 percent were enlisted and 69.2 percent were on Active Duty. The average age was 30.6. Confirmed suicides dropped to 91 in 2023, according to the Defense Suicide Prevention Office.

Individuals posting on the unofficial “Air Force amn/nco/snco” Facebook page who said they had been based at Kunsan voiced concern about the base’s isolated location. Home to the 8th Fighter Wing and some 2,800 military and civilian personnel, the typical assignment there is a one-year unaccompanied tour.

Most Airmen at Kunsan live in dorms and public transportation is scarce. The base is about 120 miles south of Seoul, in a rural area near the Yellow Sea. The nearest tourist destination is Jeonju, 40 miles away. Without a personal vehicle, travel is difficult. One study suggested that isolation can be especially dangerous for younger service members, who are at higher risk of suicide.

Airmen posting anonymously on Reddit called the base “depressing” and cited the lack of mental health support and connection opportunities at Kunsan.

“It has been a difficult summer for the Wolf Pack with multiple losses over the past few weeks, and we are reinforcing existing support entities to care for our Airmen,” said Col. Peter Kasarskis, 8th Fighter Wing commander, in a statement.

Nelson said leadership is working to “increase the number of daily opportunities for connection between Airmen at all levels to strengthen our community,” but offered no details on how they are doing that.

Minot Air Force Base, N.D., suffered a similar spike in deaths last year, with three last October that remain under investigation. Minot officials called in additional chaplains, counselors, and mental health professionals, but also cited the base’s remoteness, its harsh winter weather, and shortages of advanced medical care and childcare as persistent issues of concern.

Airmen at Risk of Temporary Pay Delay When Reenlisting

Sept. 13, 2024 | By Rachel S. Cohen

Thousands of Airmen are ensnared in a bureaucratic backlog that’s forcing staff to handle their reenlistments manually, in some cases delaying paychecks.

About 2,160 Airmen are ensnared by the problem, which officials blame on outdated software. When the personnel managers fail to complete reenlistment or extension paperwork before a previous term in uniform expires, the system can cut off Airmen’s pay.

The Air Force is trying to process cases within 30 days, prioritizing those most in danger of losing their income, said spokesperson Britney Warwick.

Delays can also hold up selective reenlistment bonuses. SRBs are paid to Airmen in 73 specialties, and can be worth up to $360,000 depending on the job specialty and length of reenlistment.

The problem stems from new, longer reenlistment terms, which can now extend to eight years, two years longer than the previous cap of six years. The Air Force announced the change in May, enabling heftier bonuses and more flexibility.

“This, combined with the popularity of the 2024 selective retention bonus programs, resulted in a high number of reenlistment applications,” Warwick said.

While the Air Force Personnel Center changed the rules, it was unable to update its software fast enough. Warwick said staffers have to manually process each case to ensure accurate data entry. They are “completing these transactions as quickly as possible while also working a system update to account for the increased enlistment period,” Warwick said. It is unclear how long it will take to put a fix in place.

An email posted to the unofficial “Air Force amn/nco/snco” Facebook page on Monday recommends Airmen work with their local finance office to receive advance pay, and then to have that money deducted from the back pay they earn once the reenlistment is processed.

The Air Force is pressing to enhance enlisted retention rates, in part to offset sluggish recruiting numbers in recent years. About 89 percent of eligible Airmen reenlisted in fiscal 2023, the Air Force said in December. Final data for fiscal 2024 should be available shortly after the fiscal year ends on September 30.

Sneak Peek: Anduril Lifts Veil on Its Combat Drone Software

Sept. 13, 2024 | By Greg Hadley

SOMEWHERE IN WEST TEXAS—Four drones take off one by one into clear skies, then join in formation, performing a brief airshow for a dozen visitors here to a lonely West Texas airfield followed by a combat air patrol demonstration. A simulated enemy approaches, the visitors are told, then one of the four drones veers off to make the intercept, “firing” a single simulated missile at the imaginary aggressor.

A single technician—using a combination of voice and keyboard commands—controls the entire operation.

Anduril is an unusual defense venture, a startup funded like a Silicon Valley tech firm with venture capital funding, and its aim is to disrupt the defense marketplace, just as SpaceX shook the ground in space launch and Tesla changed the automobile industry. With a valuation of some $14 billion, the company was a surprise finalist in the contest to build the Air Force’s first autonomous Collaborative Combat Aircraft, where it is locked in a competition that has already narrowed to Anduril vs. General Atomics Aeronautical.

Anduril flew defense reporters to its West Texas test facilities to demonstrate its software technology, using Class 3 “Clay Pigeon Jets,” which are smaller and less sophisticated than Anduril’s planned Class 5 “Fury” drones, and simulations to prove its prowess. Anduril paid travel costs for Air & Space Forces Magazine and other journalists to attend the demonstration.

The showcase provided a rare glimpse into how Anduril is doing in the contest to build USAF’s first CCAs. The first public demonstration of its autonomy software showed a single human providing relatively simple directions for multiple “robotic wingmen” to execute combat missions.

“We believe that driving towards delivering this capability is what’s going to be disruptive and is what’s going to be required to achieve victory in combat in the future,” said Kevin “Shaka” Chlan, a retired Navy fighter pilot who is now Anduril’s senior director for air dominance and strike.

Hyperion

Anduril has been working on the underlying software for autonomous aircraft to take on the air dominance mission for more than a year, company officials said. A testing campaign, codenamed Hyperion after the titan from Greek mythology, has included more than 200 live flights and 40,000 simulations, testing dozens of scenarios and mission profiles like the one shown to reporters.

Company officials declined to discuss government contracts during the demonstration, but Air Force officials have said the very first Collaborative Combat Aircraft will be focused on the air-to-air missions, and Chlan praised the Air Force for “outlining a very specific capability need, a capability gap with the CCA program, and going after it quickly.”

“In 2023, hearing what Air Force and other customers were talking about when it comes to manned/unmanned teaming with large Group 5 aircraft to go out and conduct air operations, we realized that we needed to invest some significant resources in maturing that,” Chlan said.

In addition to Anduril and General Atomics, which both have contracts to develop CCAs, the Air Force has also contracted five unidentified firms to work on autonomy software. Anduril declined say whether it was involved in that part of the CCA program.

Anduril officials say they have been working on their Lattice autonomy software for years. The software takes in sensor data, establishes a common operating picture, and presents users with decisions at key moments. The air dominance version, called Lattice for Mission Autonomy, controls decision-making, coordination, and action for multiple aircraft simultaneously.

At the heart of it all is a “quarterback,” which provides intent that the software interprets into discrete tasks.

“No one wants to be flying around in their F-22 or their F-35 or their F/A-18 telling, like, ‘OK, robot A, I need you to go do that.’ You want to be able to give teams intent,” said Chlan.

Using voice commands is a new feature. Anduril officials say voice input is better than manual inputs because of the information overload pilots face from a bevy of screens and the shaky atmosphere in a fighter cockpit.

The voice system aims to build confidence by helping pilots feel as if they’re talking to another human, not a robot. Like trained pilots, the software answers using “brevity codes” followed by the U.S. military and NATO, using text-to-voice and voice-to-text software, and referencing context from the mission plan.

“You can imagine that if there is a human pilot out there interfacing with crewed and uncrewed platforms, that if they can address and speak to the uncrewed platforms in the exact same manner that they speak to the manned platforms, that is the least cognitive burden we’re going to introduce in the interface,” said mission software engineer Andrew Burke.

During the demonstration, the engineer at the controls spoke only a few words to get the entire four-ship drone formation to spring into action:

“Mustang, fence in.”

“Authorization requested for approval,” the software “speaks” with a flat, emotionless tone, asking for permission to intercept the simulated approaching aircraft.

“Authorized, commit all,” the engineer said.

“Authorization requested for approval,” the software replied later, asking permission to engage an aggressor after it entered a predetermined “no-fly” zone.

“Mustang 11, engage!” the engineer commanded.

For voice commands to be effective requires preflight preparation. Using the Lattice interface, mission planners can set a boundary area for the drones to patrol, require them to ask for permission before engaging, and choose from prebuilt behaviors and formations to fly and execute. Once those are set, the brevity codes spoken by the technician start the software executing.

Anduril officials said this is similar to preflight mission briefings for human pilots—except that the software can execute over and over again without getting bored, tired, or emotional.

“These are the kinds of things that we expect out of a wingman,” Chlan said. “This idea that they’re going to unemotionally accomplish these important tasks—the dull, the dirty, the dangerous.”

Next Steps, Challenges

In the pristine conditions of the Sept. 10 demonstration, Anduril’s software worked exactly as planned, quickly defeating the simulated adversary. But it’s impossible to know how pre-programmed the whole effort was. Achieving real-world performance in challenging combat conditions against unpredictable, complex threats is still to come. How will the system deal with broken or jammed communications channels, degraded or disabled sensors, or confusing target sets?

“We’re playing around with figuring out which asset should go after which threat,” said engineering director Spencer Fishman. “And we go through and say, let’s play from one to 10 threats coming in from like 100 different approach paths. This is just one of the very early examples. And so using that to then evaluate which ones fail and which ones work.”

In the real world, challenges are perpetual. “Perfect GPS and perfect comms is not reality,” added Diem Salmon, vice president of air dominance and strike. “As we get more mature, those are the things we’re going to start stress-testing a lot more. And those are the things that you have to figure out.”

Right now, the surrogate drones being used for flight testing lack the sophisticated sensors that would go on a hypothetical CCA drone, which is why Anduril simulates them in tests. Offiials projected confidence that their software will be able to fuse sensor data effectively in the future.

“We’re constantly investing in the core algorithms where you can take detections of different modalities and be able to start testing with them, and then change either how we’re conditioning that data from a new sensor or the core algorithms,” said Fishman.

The question of when the company will move on to testing the software on the large Group 5 drones like Fury temains open-ended. When asked, Chlan answered that the current CPJ drones are “a pretty good surrogate … which has allowed us to be really focused on the software maturation aspect.”

Simulations make that possible and accelerate learning. Anduril has run tens of thousands of them already, and expects to ramp up the pace of testing to discover the limits of the system.

“The thing that we’re already doing now, and we just need to continue doing and expanding is large scale simulation,” said Fishman. “Like, OK, let’s tweak those models. Don’t just trust the model. Maybe let’s change it. What would happen if some standard deviation started to increase or decrease? What are the effects of not just doing one asset coming in, but doing many threats coming in? Are we even thinking of the problem correctly at all? Are our models and the spaces that we’re changing, is that even correct? That gets tricky.”

Chlan said the company believes live flight testing is important too, and its remote test facility is not shared with any partners. That enables the company to conduct frequent tests, adjusting and testing again in hours or days, not weeks.

How Soon?

With more and more data from simulations and testing, intense interest in autonomous military technology, and billions of dollars in funding, Anduril faces pressure to turn Lattice for Mission Autonomy into something in the Pentagon inventory, rather than one in a line of experiments.

That could be discovered “over the course of the next couple years,” Chlan said. The initial aim is a minimally viable product—a version of the software that accomplishes its tasks well enough to be fielded and help warfighters, but with room for future updates and improvements.

“Looking at where the technology is today, and if we really invested resources and focus on a specific use case and marshaled resources, hardware and software today, it’s a couple years out,” said Salmon. “It doesn’t need to be a 10-year development effort.”

Salmon said her own goal is to have the software ready before the end of the decade—a timeline roughly in line with the Air Force’s own stated ambition to buy around 100 CCA drones by 2029.

The Air Force has said it plans to make a production decision on CCAs by fiscal 2026. General Atomics, which has a long history now of developing and flying unmanned aircraft, is working on autonomy software of its own, as are others.

But Anduril leaders are confident they will win a long-term place in this arena.

“We’ve built our software to be open and hardware agnostic, because the goal is to get it on platforms in the future,” Salmon said. “And maybe it’s an Anduril platform, maybe it’s not an Anduril platform.”

The company will show off a life-size model of its CCA offering at AFA’s Air, Space & Cyber Conference, starting Sept. 16, in a booth managed by the Air Force Research Laboratory. A second AFRL booth will show off a model of an the General Atomics offering. But GA is also bringing a real XQ-67, on which its CCA offering is based.

The race is on.

Austin, Jill Biden Tout New and Improved Benefits for Troops at Maxwell AFB

Sept. 13, 2024 | By Chris Gordon

MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Ala.—Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III unveiled a series of new actions intended to improve living standards for U.S. troops and their families during a visit here on Sept. 13.

The initiatives include enabling military families to set aside income-tax-free funds for healthcare, get reimbursed for longer stays in temporary quarters during a permanent change of station move, and enhancing benefits for staffs at child development centers on military bases.

Austin and First Lady Jill Biden, who traveled separately to the Alabama base, highlighted the new universal pre-K at Department of Defense schools in the United States. That initiative will enable thousands of additional military children to attend DOD Education Activity (DODEA) schools over the next five years, the Pentagon said. Austin, his wife Charlene, and Biden visited with students at Maxwell’s elementary and middle school, with America’s senior defense official holding a paper dinosaur as toddlers conducted their lessons and later being serenaded with a song about counting frogs.

.@SecDef holds a dinosaur. pic.twitter.com/wUkwEzXdDM
— Chris Gordon (@ByChrisGordon) September 13, 2024

“We push pretty hard to ensure that we’re actually doing things to provide benefit to our troops and families,” Austin told reporters before boarding his C-32 back to Joint Base Andrews, Md. “I think we’ve added real value to our families and to our troops. And we’re not finished.”

The announcements add to Austin’s Taking Care of Our People initiative, which the retired Army general launched soon after returning to the Pentagon as its top civilian.

“Doing right by our all-volunteer joint force and their families is a core readiness issue,” Austin wrote in a memo to senior military leaders. “The department has made enormous progress, but we have more to do.”

The moves, which come amid a challenging period for military recruiting and retention, will be phased in over the next several months.

Beginning in March 2025, service members will be able to establish Health Care Flexible Spending Accounts, allowing them to set aside from their income up to $3,200 in pretax dollars to spend on healthcare costs such as copayments, eyeglasses, dental care, and other health-related expenses not covered by Tricare, such as over-the-counter medications. Many civilian employers offer flexible spending accounts, which require funds to be spent within a set period of time in a use-it-or-lose-it system. The system will work similarly to the way existing Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts do.

Changing the rules for Temporary Lodging Expense (TLE) to allow coverage up to 21 days—instead of 14—adds a week to help service members and their families’ complete moves between duty stations. The new rules will take effect “as soon as possible,” according to a DOD fact sheet.

Spouse employment also gets new attention, with expanded eligibility for financial assistance for spouses to pursue associate degrees, licenses, and certificates to enhance their ability to find and keep jobs. Beginning Oct. 1, financial assistance of up to $4,000 for spouses of junior enlisted members will be expanded to include all enlisted spouses.

“We are expanding eligibility for the My Career Advancement Account, which provides financial assistance to our military spouses—we’re expanding that now to the entire enlisted force and warrant officer corps,” a senior defense official said.

The Pentagon has also sought to make it easier for spouses to telework in government positions and has encouraged private-sector employers to do the same.

“This is so incredibly important as an economic driver for our families,” a senior defense official said of spouse employment. “Many of those families in the United States are dual income families.”

Access to childcare is often a hindrance to spouse employment, but the Pentagon said it is making strides in improving childcare availability.

“When it comes to childcare, the one thing I want to say is you cannot talk about economic security and career progression without talking about childcare,” a senior defense official said.

All military departments are now encouraged to follow the Department of the Air Force’s example to improve recruitment at military child development centers. The Air Force covers 100 percent of the cost of keeping a childcare worker’s first child in a CDC, and 25 percent of the second child; Austin wants all services to apply that formula.

“It’s still not a perfect world, so we’re going to continue to work on this because I know it’s important,” Austin told a couple of dozen Airmen gathered in a hanger shortly after arriving at the base.

Out-of-pocket costs are also under review. Austin ordered an examination of uniform items and allowances to ensure that the anticipated wear matches reality. And he’s asked for a study of the impact on service members from being stationed in remote and isolated locations, where healthcare, off-base housing, and quality schools can be hard to find.

Finally, a pilot program will test the feasibility of making free WiFi internet access more widely available to troops.

“The department has made enormous progress, but we have more to do,” Austin wrote of the new efforts. “I have met directly with junior service members and families, with our senior enlisted advisors, and with service leadership to explore further steps to enhance quality of life for our people.”

Airpower En Español: Unique Air Force School Trains Latin American Partners

Sept. 13, 2024 | By David Roza

Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland may be a U.S. Air Force base in south-central Texas, but at the corner of Selfridge Boulevard and Carswell Avenue is an international Spanish-speaking campus hosting students and instructors from across the Western Hemisphere.

The Inter-American Air Forces Academy offers more than 30 courses in aircraft maintenance, cyber and intelligence operations, security forces high-risk response, instrument flying, professional military education, and much more. The goal is to build security cooperation among U.S. partners in Central and South America, especially as the United States’ main rival, China, looks to influence the region.

“We’re a tool of security cooperation in the western hemisphere,” Lt. Col. Maxim Olivine, deputy commandant of IAAFA, told Air & Space Forces Magazine. “The intent for IAAFA’s existence is really to bridge the gap between our Spanish-speaking South American partners and the United States.”

IAAFA aims to help students become more proficient at their craft or prepare them for new levels of leadership and responsibility. Some Central or South American partners don’t have that type of training back home, Olivine said, but most students come to Lackland because of the U.S. Air Force’s reputation as the best in the world. The pair of wings IAAFA students receive upon graduation has a cachet similar to that of an Air Force Weapons School patch or a Ranger Tab.

“It’s very prestigious for a lot of the folks who come to us,” he said. “When they go back home, they’re very proud of that.”

Capt. Leonardo Martinez, Colombian Air Force, points to his newly-earned wings from the Inter-American Air Forces Academy following a graduation ceremony Aug 8, 2022, at Joint Base San Antonio – Lackland. (U.S. Air Force photo by Vanessa R. Adame)

Expert Instruction

The students at IAAFA include troops and civilians from a wide range of backgrounds and experience levels. From brand-new national policemen to seasoned jungle commandos, they all can pick something up at IAAFA.

“They might think they can’t learn anything, but they always do,” said Master Sgt. Johann Gonzalez, flight chief for international force protection at IAAFA and a prior instructor at the U.S. Air Force’s Security Forces Weapons and Tactics Instructors Course.

Gonzalez remembered a Colombian sniper who shot perfectly on the range but was a novice when it came to shooting, moving, and communicating during practice field operations.

“He went from shooting 100 percent to maybe about 25 percent, because now we were inducing stress,” the sergeant said. “He’s just like ‘what did you guys do to me, I thought I was good.’”

But by the end of the course, the sniper was back to shooting 100 percent. Technology helps: the IAAFA security forces instructors have a virtual reality system where students practice hostage situations, gate assaults, and any other crisis they might encounter, all without having to buy a single bullet, hire a single role player, or clean up one spent brass.

“I’ve been doing this for 21 years and there’s nothing that compares to being in the field,” Gonzalez said. “However, you start using this technology the right way, you run students through 20, 30 scenarios, and you realize that you get better.”

Virtual reality is just the latest development in IAAFA’s 80 year-history. The academy started in 1943 with just 10 enlisted Peruvian troops and 1 officer taking aviation mechanics courses at a U.S. Army airfield in Panama. Over time, the school relocated and expanded its course catalog to the point where it now graduates about 800 students in a wide range of subjects every year.

Classes at IAAFA last between two and eight weeks, depending on the subject. About two dozen countries participate in the academy, including countries where Spanish is not the official language such as Brazil, Canada, Suriname, Jamaica, and Haiti. Students and instructors from those countries can participate as long as they are fluent in Spanish.

“The scope of the mission just kept growing because it was effective,” Olivine said. “It created that security cooperation, it built those foreign policy relations with other nations.”

A U.S. Airman teaches aircraft maintenance to students from partner nations at the Inter-American Air Forces Academy at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas in 2017. (Screenshot via IAAFA promotional video)

It also helps to have high-quality instructors. On the security forces side, Gonzalez is a Weapons and Tactics Instructor Course instructor and a U.S. Army sniper school graduate. Another instructor, Tech. Sgt. Edwin Nieves, has degrees in education, while a third, Staff Sgt. Edgar Bravo, is a Combat Arms instructor.

Then there are the instructors from partner nations who come to teach at IAAFA: Gonzalez recalled one instructor from the Commando Jungla, Colombia’s anti-narcotic jungle warfare unit.

“He had everything: sniper certified, rappel master, land navigation, troop-leading, everything you would want from a special warfare operator,” Gonzalez said. “He taught us a lot, and we taught him a lot, too. He was like ‘man, you guys taught me some good stuff, I’m sending my guys down there.’”

Instructors work at IAAFA for three or four years, the first six months of which are spent being trained for the job. That’s a significant time commitment in the military, which often promotes leadership experience over teaching experience, but it’s worth it for instructors who feel teaching is their calling.

“These guys, they get done with their four years, everybody asks to extend … because they love what they do,” said Gonzalez.

“We take guys that can’t shoot, and then they shoot,” he added. “We teach combatives: we take guys who’ve never fought in their life, and then by the end they’re throwing people around like it’s MMA.”

Leadership Roles

One of the most important skills taught at IAAFA is empowering troops at all levels to think for themselves so they can respond to situations dynamically.

“I truly believe that what makes us great is not so much our technology and fancy weapons systems: it’s our troops, especially our enlisted troops,” Olivine said.

On the security forces side, Gonzalez likes to swap out leadership roles by putting the low-ranking grunt in charge of a stack of troops breaching a house, for example.

“We put them in leadership roles they might not have been in in their home countries,” he said.

Partner nation students from the 837th Training Squadron at the Inter-American Air Forces Academy (IAAFA) participated in Operation Jaguar, Nov. 30, 2021, at Joint Base San Antonio-Camp Bullis, Texas. (U.S. Air Force photo by Brian G. Rhodes)

Growing that kind of mindset takes time in militaries that don’t have it already, but IAAFA has graduated thousands of students over its 80-year history, and some graduates go on to take top-ranking positions in their home countries. Olivine thinks that kind of steady percolation eventually leads to cultural change.

“Change is hard. It takes time, it takes effort, it takes consistency,” he said. “Over time, you change enough mindsets and you become very effective.”

Students also take a class about understanding human rights, according to the course catalog. IAAFA relies on the U.S. State Department’s Leahy vetting process, where the human rights records of foreign military units or individuals are screened before receiving U.S. funding or training.

“Every country has its dark past, but we rely on that process to prevent that from happening again,” Olivine said. “The risk is always there, but it seems pretty small to me because of the Leahy vetting process.”

Two-Way Street

Learning at IAAFA goes both ways, as IAAFA students share their skills and experience in areas such as jungle warfare, which many U.S. Airmen are unfamiliar with.

“There’s a lot of that back and forth both in the tactical mindset and for professional military education,” Olivine said. “A South American country views the world very differently than the way the U.S. views the world.”

Olivine has been at IAAFA for only about eight months, but he’s already noticed the culture is particularly tight there, thanks in part to group sports events, asadas (a kind of barbecue), field trips around Texas, and more. For example, Gonzalez has both a U.S. flag and a Mexican flag hanging in his office, which he said Mexican students love to see.

“You are who you’re supposed to be, and I’m supposed to be a master sergeant in the United States Air Force,” he said. “But here, IAAFA allows me to be Johann Gonzalez, Master Sergeant, United States Air Force security cooperation.”

Ultimately the purpose of all that bonding and instruction boils down to security cooperation, which pays off when students from different countries who met at IAAFA help each other respond to real-world crises.

“What we’re trying to do, at the end of the day, is to make us one big team,” Olivine said.

Whiteman Picked over Dyess as Second Operational Base for B-21

Sept. 12, 2024 | By John A. Tirpak

Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo.—currently the Air Force’s sole B-2 Spirit bomber base—has been designated the second planned Main Operating Base for the new B-21 Raider, Air Force Global Strike Command confirmed.

The news was first announced by Rep. Mark Alford (R-Mo.) and Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) on social media.

Whiteman was designated the “preferred” next B-21 base in an environmental impact statement (EIS) published by the Air Force in May, but the official decision was not confirmed until this week.

Whiteman will join Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D., as one of the first B-21 operating locations. Ellsworth, designated as the first B-21 base after clearing an environmental impact assessment in 2021, is also intended to be the Formal Training Unit for the new stealth bomber, which entered flight test last fall. Ellsworth, Whiteman, and Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, were announced as the “preferred” beddown locations for the B-21 in 2019. Ellsworth and Dyess currently host the B-1 Lancer bomber.

The announcement means Dyess will almost certainly be designated as the B-21’s third and final Main Operating Base. The Air Force has not given timelines for when the bases will convert from their current aircraft to the B-21.

Whiteman hosts the entire fleet of 19 B-2s. Two others have been lost in crashes, and about 14 are available for action at any given time. The B-1 and B-2 are notionally scheduled to start retiring in 2031 and 2032, as Global Strike Command, which also operates B-52 bombers, has said it will not have the personnel or funding to field all four bomber fleets simultaneously.

The B-52 is receiving a series of upgrades to its engines, radar, and avionics that are expected to extend its service life into the 2050s. The B-52 fleet of 76 airplanes is consolidated at Barksdale Air Force Base, La. and Minot Air Force Base, N.D.

Besides the one aircraft in flight test, the Air Force has acknowledged having five additional B-21s in various levels of production. Northrop Grumman conducts final assembly of the bomber at its Palmdale, Calif. facilities. Recent comments from senior leaders and the Air Force’s fiscal 2025 budget submission suggest the Air Force will buy 100 B-21s at a rate of about seven per year.

Although the Air Force has consistently said the B-21 acquisition objective is “at least 100” of the bombers, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin has suggested the bomber may be overtaken by more advanced technology and that 100 may be the limit.

He told the Senate Armed Services Committee in April that “we’re not going to reach that number [100] until probably the mid-2030s” or beyond, and “before we commit to that as being the platform” that will be the backbone of the future bomber force, “I think there are other technological advancements that we would see to be able to augment that and have a better mix.”

The environmental impact statement the Air Force released in May said that Whiteman would see some minor effects of switching from the B-2 to the B-21.

“There would be an increase of 1,021 individuals at Whiteman AFB from 19,408 to 20,429 after all B-21 mission individuals have arrived and all B-2 mission individuals have departed,” the statement reads. “The number of airfield operations flown per year would increase by 1,980, from 29,771 … to 31,751” by the time all the new aircraft arrived. There would be a need for increased base housing as a result.

“Airfield operations at Whiteman AFB would increase by 6.65 percent from baseline levels,” per the statement. “This minor level of increase would not likely impact airspace use, [Air Traffic Control], or scheduling, therefore no significant impacts are anticipated.”

Whiteman will need “construction of 16 new facilities or facility additions (600,000 square feet), renovation or repair of 26 facilities (1.7 million square feet), and demolition of three facilities (85,000 square feet) … to support the [Main Operating Base 2] mission at Whiteman,” the EIS said.

Thirty-seven percent of on- and nearby off-base residents would be exposed to a higher level of noise—mainly due to an increased number of aircraft—but the highest individual noises would be no greater than what is experienced now, according to the statement.

The EIS said there would be slightly more water runoff due to more concrete, and some wildlife would be displaced by the new construction, particularly of weapon storage facilities. Measures would be taken to mitigate those effects. Overall, the changes at Whiteman were deemed to pose “no significant impacts to wildlife … or critical habitat under the training space.”

As to flight safety, “because the B-21 would be a new aircraft, historical mishap rates are not available; however, current aircraft flight safety policies and procedures are designed to ensure the potential for aircraft mishaps is reduced to the lowest possible level. These safety policies and procedures would continue, and impacts would not be significant.”

The first B-2 arrived at Whiteman in December 1993, on the 100th anniversary of the Wright Brothers’ first powered flight. Only 21 were built; one was lost in a 2008 crash on Guam and another in 2022 at Whiteman.

The Air Force has not disclosed when it plans to declare initial operational capability with the B-21, but the original contract for the aircraft said the program would yield a “usable asset” around the mid-2020s.

B-52 Bombers Fly to and from Poland for Exercise with Six NATO Allies

Sept. 12, 2024 | By Unshin Lee Harpley

Two B-52 bombers from Minot Air Force Base, N.D., flew to and from Europe in recent days, taking part in a training mission along the way with more than two dozen fighters, tankers, and other assets from six other NATO allies over Poland, aimed at sharpening command and control in a contested environment.

The strategic bombers were joined by aircraft from Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, and the U.K. for an exercise known as F2T2 on Sept. 11. The B-52s returned to Minot on Sept. 12 as part of what U.S. Air Forces in Europe described as a “double transatlantic” trip.

“Our ability to work side-by-side with Allies is a key advantage, sending a message of assurance to our friends while also deterring potential aggressive actions by strategic competitors,” Gen. James Hecker, commander of USAFE, said in a statement.

A U.S. Air Force B-52 Stratofortress from the 5th Bomb Wing, Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota, receives fuel from a KC-135 Stratotanker from the 100th Air Refueling Wing, Royal Air Force Mildenhall, England, over the North Sea, Sept. 11, 2024. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Jesenia Landaverde

Four Spanish F-18M Hornets joined the exercise, flying in from Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base in Romania. The base is currently hosting eight Hornets from the Spanish Air Force for NATO’s Air Policing mission, along with more than 150 military personnel as part of its PAZNIC Detachment, which began a four-month rotation last month.

“These kinds of exercises are an incredible opportunity to train and demonstrate Spanish F-18 Hornet capabilities and determination,” Lt. Col. Rafael Ichaso, detachment commander, said in a release. “Almost a six-hour flight with refueling, in coordination with other NATO assets, to deliver our high precision strike capabilities against any possible target is a big and important challenge for the PAZNIC detachment.”

Poland provided ISR assets for the mission, while Germany and the U.K. ensured refueling support along with USAF KC-135 Stratotankers from the 100th Air Refueling Wing, based at Royal Air Force Mildenhall. The Royal Netherlands Air Force’s fifth-generation F-35s, the Danish Air Force’s F-16s, and Germany’s Tornado fighters also participated.

A NATO release noted that the training also included units from air, land, sea, cyber, and space domains, all focused on integrating multidomain effects.

A U.S. Air Force B-52H Stratofortress, assigned to the 23rd Bomb Squadron, passes the air traffic control tower during takeoff for a Bomber Task Force mission at Minot Air Force Base, September 10, 2024. U.S. Air Force photo

“Executing these multidomain exercises ensures NATO assets are ready to respond to any potential threat to the Alliance,” added Hecker, calling the bomber mission “successful.”

This marks the second B-52 appearance in Europe in three months. In July, two B-52s from the 2nd Bomb Wing at Barksdale Air Force Base, La., touched down at Mihail Kogălniceanu for the first time, also marking the bomber’s inaugural flight through Finnish airspace. After crossing Norway and Finland, the bombers were intercepted by two Russian fighters over the Barents Sea. The intercept remained professional—unlike past encounters over the region.

This latest mission in Poland also coincided with a visit by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to meet with Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski on Sept. 12. A day earlier, Blinken and U.K. Foreign Secretary David Lammy were in Ukraine, meeting President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and top officials to discuss continued support for Kyiv’s defense against Russia. Poland has voiced its support for Ukraine’s ongoing calls for the West to approve long-range missile strikes into Russia to counter Moscow’s aerial attacks.

“As the West, we shall continue supplying Ukraine with advanced air defense and antimissiles defense systems,” Sikorski said in a joint press conference. “We shall also lift the ban on using long-range weapons…. and we hope that more intense activities will be taken with regard to seizing frozen Russian assets.”

Blinken, however, declined to commit to doing so.

“What we learned from our Ukrainian partners will inform discussions that we’ll be having with other allies and other partners in the days and weeks ahead, as we work through and think through the coming months,” he said.

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine ignited a full-scale war on Europe’s eastern edge, NATO members have been ramping up efforts to bolster their militaries and conduct exercises. While the U.S. began bomber task force missions in Europe in 2018, there has been a steady rotation in recent months.

Harnessing the Power of AI on an Enterprise Scale

Sept. 12, 2024

Angela Shefield, Director of AI Programs at SAIC, and retired Air Force Col. John “BigDogg” Rhone, SAIC’s C5ISR Programs Lead, explain how artificial intelligence and machine learning are evolving beyond bespoke applications and how SAIC is helping to enable next-generation AI capabilities for critical problem sets like accelerating kill chains and enhancing command and control.