ANNUAL MILITARY BASIC PAY (Effective Jan. 1, 2025) GRADE 2 3 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 COMMISSIONED OFFICERS O-10 — — — — — — — — — — 225,698 225,698...
military
The annual defense budget is prepared by the Department of Defense, reviewed by the White House Office of Management and Budget, and then submitted to Congress. Yet it is Congress that has the final say. The House and Senate must...
Tell us who you think we should highlight here. Write to letters@afa.org While skiing in the Italian Alps,Senior Airman Sebastian d’Alton, an Air Force Pararescueman with the 57th Rescue Sq., Aviano AB, Italy, put his rescue training to use when...
DOD TOTAL FORCE END STRENGTH Fiscal 2024 end strength is as of Sept. 30, 2024, except where noted by a single *. Congress approved a full-year continuing resolution to fund the government for fiscal 2025 at the same levels as...
It’s time to return to disciplined budget preparation and careful strategic investment.
As futuristic aviation programs gain priority, the F-35—the only in-production, fifth-generation American fighter—is facing new headwinds. Fresh debate over its challenges and its potential in the coming months will shape its future role in the force.
The U.S. Air Force must grow its 5th-gen fleet—and soon. Today, there is one aircraft in production that can answer that call: the F-35. The Air Force, Secretary Pete Hegseth, President Trump, and Congress must boost F-35 acquisition as rapidly as possible, writes Doug Birkey, ...
ACE Gets Real How USAF is evolving Agile Combat Employment informed by insights from Ukraine and Israel. By David Roza As the head of U.S. Air Forces in Europe and Africa and NATO Allied Air Command, Gen. James B. Hecker...
The Air Force is overhauling Undergraduate Pilot Training (UPT), moving to a hybrid private/government instruction program that officials at Air Education and Training Command (AETC) expect will reduce overall course time while achieving, within two years, USAF’s elusive goal of...
Space and Missile Defense Leaders Ponder Golden Dome By Unshin Lee Harpley Within a week of his inauguration, President Donald Trump directed the Pentagon to outline a comprehensive air and missile defense strategy with a focus on advanced space-based interceptors....
Sustained Munitions Production and Lower-Cost Designs By John A. Tirpak Munitions have long been a bill-payer in the Air Force budget—staples of warfare that, in peacetime, can be neglected or shortchanged to pay for more pressing needs—but after more than...
Space Superiority Takes Center Stage By Greg Hadley Looking into the future in 1957, then-Maj. Gen. Bernard A. Schriever predicted that “in the long haul, our safety as a nation may depend upon our achieving ‘space superiority.’” Now,...
