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…

Air Force Puts Meat On A11 Space Bones

Air Force Puts Meat On A11 Space Bones
Air Force Puts Meat On A11 Space Bones

WASHINGTON: It probably won’t do much to fend off vigorous efforts by House lawmakers to create a Space Corps, but the Air Force has picked most of the people to staff its new A11 space office in the Air Staff. The pick for assistant deputy chief of staff, Shawn Barnes, for space operations is pretty deft,…

Space Corps Would Fix Troubled OCX, FAB-T, Argue Top StratForces Lawmakers

Space Corps Would Fix Troubled OCX, FAB-T, Argue Top StratForces Lawmakers
Space Corps Would Fix Troubled OCX, FAB-T, Argue Top StratForces Lawmakers

WASHINGTON: Space Corps. It sounds cool. You get visions of space marines and pilots saving the universe. In their latest blast against the Air Force, though, Reps. Mike Rogers and Jim Cooper are more, well, down to earth. They argue that the failings of big-ticket programs such as OCX and FAB-T offer ammunition that a Space…

DepSecDef Work On The Future Of DoD-IC Space Cooperation

DepSecDef Work On The Future Of DoD-IC Space Cooperation
DepSecDef Work On The Future Of DoD-IC Space Cooperation

PENTAGON: It poses one of the thorniest problems for the United States national security establishment: how to get the nation’s spy agencies, especially the secretive National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), and the military to work together when someone attacks US spy and military satellites. To offer some clarity on the way ahead for this relationship, Deputy Defense Secretary…