The Air Force’s proposed end-strength and force-structure adjustments in Fiscal 2013—which weigh more heavily on the reserve components—were necessary to meet the nation’s new defense strategy, absorb significant budget cuts, and keep rotational demands at acceptable levels, said Daniel Ginsberg, USAF’s assistant secretary for manpower and reserve affairs. “We had to reconcile topline reductions with the requirement to fulfill our global commitments and maintain acceptable levels of readiness, while still sustaining key quality-of-life and core services for our people,” he told the Senate Armed Services Committee’s personnel panel on April 25. Ginsberg acknowledged that the Air Force had “to make very hard choices.” But since it expects to have “a very high operational tempo over a long term,” it makes sense that more of the proposed reductions come from the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve, he said. “We’re concerned that if we got this balance wrong, that a member of the Guard and Reserve is going to have to deploy at an intensity that will just be unacceptable to them, and our airmen are going to walk with their feet,” he said. (Ginsberg-Jones joint statement)
The Air Force and Boeing agreed to a nearly $2.4 billion contract for a new lot of KC-46 aerial tankers on Nov. 21. The deal, announced by the Pentagon, is for 15 new aircraft in Lot 11 at a cost of $2.389 billion—some $159 million per tail.