AIR FORCE MAGAZINE MAGAZINE AIR FORCE INSIDE: Pilot Shortage p. 22 | Strike on Syria p. 18 JUNE 2018 ALMANAC USAF WWW.AIRFORCEMAG.COM ALMANAC 2018 June 2018 $18 Published by the Air Force Association 2018 USAF ALMANAC IN THIS ISSUE 58 22 The Pilot Shortage Quandary • Air Force Mortuary Affairs Operations By Amy McCullough • Air Force Office of Special USAF needs to produce and retain Investigations more pilots. • Air Force Operational Test and 22 Evaluation Center 34 USAF Almanac 2018 • Air Force Operations Group • Air Force Personnel Center 36 The Air Force in Facts and Figures • Air Force Public Affairs Agency 85 • Structure of the Force • Air Force Review Boards Agency • People • Air Force Safety Center • Budgets • Air National Guard Readiness Center • Equipment • US Air Force Academy • Grades and Insignia • Civil Air Patrol • Awards and Decorations 73 Guide to Air Force 58 Major Commands and Installations Worldwide Air Reserve Components • Active Duty Installations • Air Combat Command • ANG and AFRC Installations • Air Education and Training Command 85 Gallery of USAF Weapons • Air Force Global Strike Command A directory of US Air Force aircraft, • Air Force Materiel Command missiles, and other aerospace assets. • Air Force Reserve Command • Air Force Space Command 120 Leaders Through the Years • Air Force Special Operations • The Nation’s Air Arm and Its Command Early Leaders • Air Mobility Command • Headquarters USAF Leaders • Pacific Air Forces • Major Command and ANG Leaders • US Air Forces in Europe • Historic Major Commands • Air National Guard • Headquarters DOD Leaders • Unified Command, National Guard 71 FOAs, DRUs, and Auxiliary Bureau, and NORAD Leaders • Air Force Agency for Modeling • Historic Unified Command Leaders and Simulation • Air Force Audit Agency 132 Guide to Aces and Heroes • Air Force Cost Analysis Agency • Major Decorations Cover Illustration: The ballpoint pen • Air Force District of Washington • Air Force Aces drawing, “The X-Plane Eagle” by Don • Air Force Flight Standards Agency Stewart, depicts an eagle composed of • Air Force Historical Research Agency experimental aircraft. See dsart.com for • Air Force Inspection Agency more information. Air Force Magazine will • Air Force Legal Operations Agency publish a “spotter’s guide” identifying the • Air Force Manpower Analysis Agency aircraft in this drawing in its July issue. • Air Force Medical Operations Agency • Air Force Medical Support Agency JUNE 2018 ★ WWW.AIRFORCEMAG.COM 1 2018 USAF ALMANAC June 2018, Vol. 100, No. 6 DEPARTMENTS Publisher: Larry O. Spencer Editor in Chief: Adam J. Hebert 4 Managing Editor: Juliette Kelsey Chagnon Editorial Director: John A. Tirpak News Editor: Amy McCullough Assistant Managing Editor: Chequita Wood Senior Designer: Dashton Parham Pentagon Editor: Brian W. Everstine 20 Senior Editor: Steve Hirsch Digital Platforms Editor: Gideon Grudo Production Manager: Eric Chang Lee 4 Editorial: Opsec and Glossophobia 13 Air Force World Photo Editor: Mike Tsukamoto By Adam J. Hebert By Steve Hirsch The Air Force doesn’t want to say too Contributors: Rachel Cox, Robert Dudney, much in public, for good reasons and no 18 Screenshot Jennifer Hlad, Daniel Haulman, Brendan reason. McGarry 2 0 I n f o g r a p h i c : S h i f t i n g L i n e s i n S y r i a 6 Letters By Mike Tsukamoto 7 Index to Advertisers 32 Verbatim Advertising: 11 Aperture 144 Namesakes: F. E. Warren John A. Tirpak Arthur Bartholomew (213) 596-7239 Tom Buttrick (917) 421-9051 10 Forward Deployed James G. Elliott Co., Inc. By Jennifer Hlad [email protected] WINGMAN 1501 Lee Highway Arlington, VA 22209-1198 Subscribe & Save Subscribe to Air Force Magazine and save big o the cover price, plus get a free membership to the Air Force Association. Call 1-800-727-3337 for more information or to subscribe. 140 Emerging Air Force Magazine (ISSN 0730-6784) 2018 June 2018 (Vol. 100, Leaders No. 6) is published monthly, except for two double issues in April/ By Rachel Cox May and October/November, by the Air Force Association, 1501 Lee Highway, Arlington, VA 22209-1198. Phone (703) 247-5800. AFA’s emerging Periodical postage paid at Arlington, Va., and additional mailing leaders program. o ices. Membership Rate: $50 per year; $35 e-Membership; $125 for three-year membership. Subscription Rate: $50 per year; $29 per year additional for postage to foreign addresses 18 (except Canada and Mexico, which are $10 per year additional). Regular issues $8 each. USAF Almanac issue $18 each. Change of address requires four weeks’ notice. Please include mailing label. POSTMASTER: Send changes of address to Air Force Association, 1501 Lee Highway, Arlington, VA 22209-1198. Publisher assumes no responsibility for unsolicited material. Read the Daily Report: Follow us: Trademark registered by Air Force Association. Copyright 2018 airforcemag.com by Air Force Association. facebook.com/ twitter.com/ instagram.com/ airforcemag airforcemag airforcemag 2 JUNE 2018 ★ WWW.AIRFORCEMAG.COM THE PLATFORM MATTERS Special missions call for special aircraft. Gulfstream’s military service record stretches a half-century and is marked by versatility, reliability and performance. Gulfstream aircraft perform as trainers and transports, intelligence gatherers and medevac platforms. Today’s fleet is in service to nearly 40 countries, and Gulfstream provides more large-cabin business jets for special missions than any other aircraft manufacturer. Whatever your mission, Gulfstream delivers. TROY MILLER | +1 703 841 7443 | [email protected] | GULFSTREAM.COM/SPECIALMISSIONS Editorial By Adam J. Hebert, Editor in Chief Opsec and Glossophobia A handful of specific emails and letters arrive after we publish the June Air Force Magazine USAF Almanac every year. The writ- ers express concern the almanac provides too much information. Air Force Magazine does not print classified information. Ev- erything in its pages is publicly releasable, and most almanac information comes from USAF or the Defense Department. The Air Force itself is in the midst of a major re-evaluation of what to say publicly, through an operational security (opsec) and public a airs “reset.” This covers interviews, base visits, public speaking engagements, and even o icial responses to queries. The reset began in March after several incidents where USAF “just skirted the edge” of acceptable disclosure, Chief of Sta Gen. David L. Goldfein told reporters. It “just got to the point where [Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson] and I were uncomfortable with the kind of operational details we were talking about,” he Sen. Lindsey Graham (at podium), Rep. Joe Wilson (l), and explained March 29 to Washington, D.C., defense journalists. USAF Chief of Sta Gen. David Goldfein at McEntire JNGB, S.C. Three articles stood out to USAF leadership, according to service documents posted on an uno icial but widely read Air questions gone unanswered or of interview requests still pend - Force Facebook page: ing long after a story was written. Public support of the Air Force n A December 2017 Fox News report detailed how one of and even recruiting require people to know what the service is the two B-1 bombers in a planned two-ship flight from Guam to doing in defense of the nation. South Korea had to abort the mission because of a maintenance USAF also suffers from a strained relationship with Congress. problem. Support from lawmakers hinges on awareness, especially in n A January article in The Guardian gave an overview of airmen areas such as readiness, modernization, and force structure. tracking terrorists remotely, from Kansas. The article discussed What is going well, what’s a struggle, and what’s needed for civilian casualties, how airmen have to decide when to shoot, the future? and the psychological toll this can take. The Air Force leadership emphasizes the importance of fre - n A February Colorado Springs Gazette article about a new quent, open communication. But below the four-star level, many space operations center in Colorado described how the center airmen would clearly prefer not to engage with the public. For analyzes threats against space assets, with USAF and intelligence community o icials working side-by-side. Each article discussed an important topic, and the subject The Air Force doesn’t want to matter was similar to other news stories that have appeared in Air say too much in public, for good Force Magazine and other publications for more than a decade. reasons and no reason at all. The three articles were seemingly unexceptional. According to Goldfein, today’s relaxed view of security has become a problem. Information that was previously OK to release someone who didn’t want to talk in the first place, opsec may is no longer OK in the context of rising threats from Russia and become a crutch—a justification to not talk at all. China. “Coming out of 17 years of conflict where we really haven’t Unless clear parameters are laid out, new opsec guidance been in the great power competition game … we’ve been a little could prevent even basic information from reaching the public. looser on the things we talk about,” Goldfein said. However, “I For example, “details of number, location, and capabilities of remember as a young o icer getting a fairly significant amount” operational assets,” is listed as an operational security risk. This of operational security training. is certainly true for a unit at a forward base in Syria—but taken In March, USAF shut down most interviews and base visits, literally, it would also prevent USAF from discussing F-16s sta - putting a huge damper on the amount of information flowing to tioned at McEntire JNGB S.C. the public. It is now retraining all public a airs o icials and com - It is sometimes necessary to restrict information for security manders before resuming normal public engagement. reasons, but as AFA Chairman of the Board and former Air Force The Air Force must tread very carefully here.