The co-chairs of the Senate National Guard Caucus want the Defense Department to buy more C-27J transports than currently planned. In a letter to Air Force Secretary Michael Donley and Army Secretary John McHugh, Sen. Kit Bond (R-Mo.) and Sen. Patrick Leady (D-Vt.) say they are concerned about the air mobility force structure that, as it stands, calls for the purchase of only 38 C-27s for direct support of ground troops in austere areas. “We believe that future budgets should increase the C-27 buy,” write the two senators in their July 7 missive. DOD’s original C-27 plan called for 78 airframes. Senior Pentagon officials have already said a fleet of 38 C-27s is sufficient, when augmented by C-130s employing techniques and tactics optimized for direct support. The Air Force intends to make 40 C-130s available to serve in that role.
A provision in the fiscal 2025 defense policy bill will require the Defense Department to include the military occupational specialty of service members who die by suicide in its annual report on suicide deaths, though it remains to be seen how much data the department will actually disclose.