Air Force 386 Squadron Plan: Hallucination Or Negotiating Tactic

Air Force 386 Squadron Plan: Hallucination Or Negotiating Tactic
Air Force 386 Squadron Plan: Hallucination Or Negotiating Tactic

Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson announced “the Air Force we need”, a significant expansion of the Air Force from 312 operational squadrons to 386. One thing is clear. It will be really expensive. The annual additional cost would be about $37 billion at a time when budget projections show no increase, and up to 94,000 additional personnel, active and reserve.

Air Force Pilot Shortage Worsens; 10% Of Billets Empty

Air Force Pilot Shortage Worsens; 10% Of Billets Empty
Air Force Pilot Shortage Worsens; 10% Of Billets Empty

PENTAGON: Despite a year of offering bonuses, trying to bring back former pilots and talking up the glories of being an Air Force pilot, the service’s most precious resource continues to dwindle. At the end of fiscal 2016, the service needed 1,500 pilots. On Oct. 31 of this year, that number had swollen to about…

Congress, Give The Air Force A 70th Birthday Present — A Budget!

Congress, Give The Air Force A 70th Birthday Present — A Budget!
Congress, Give The Air Force A 70th Birthday Present — A Budget!

No American military service has fought longer than the Air Force. They pretty much have been at war since Kosovo. They are beginning to grind down. Breaking D readers are familiar with many of their problems — too few pilots, really old planes and too little time in the air. The head of the Air…

Four Service Chiefs Say They Can’t Defend US Under Sequestration

Four Service Chiefs Say They Can’t Defend US Under Sequestration
Four Service Chiefs Say They Can’t Defend US Under Sequestration

WASHINGTON: Today, we got a very clear look at the biggest problem with sequestration for the military. If the Budget Control Act goes into full effect, the heads of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines told the Senate Armed Services Committee today, they will not be able to protect the United States as they are…

China’s J-20 Vs. F-35? Meh, Says CSAF Goldfein; Pilot Crisis Noted

China’s J-20 Vs. F-35? Meh, Says CSAF Goldfein; Pilot Crisis Noted
China’s J-20 Vs. F-35? Meh, Says CSAF Goldfein; Pilot Crisis Noted

PENTAGON: I thought I could hear Air Force and allied F-35 pilots around the world smiling when the new Air Force Chief of Staff said today that comparing the F-35 to the Chinese J-20 “is almost an irrelevant comparison.” The F-35, said Gen. David Goldfein, is “about a family of systems and it’s about a network — that’s what…