Air Force World by Aaron M
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Air Force World By Aaron M. U. Church, Associate Editor Welsh Becomes Chief of Staff head of the National Guard Bureau, Gen. Mark A. Welsh III succeeded succeeding Air Force Gen. Craig R. Gen. Norton A. Schwartz on Aug. 10, McKinley, who is retiring. McKinley was screenshot becoming the 20th Chief of Staff of the the first head of the Guard Bureau to be Air Force, after the Senate lifted a hold a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. on his nomination two weeks before. Welsh, most recently head of US Air Nineteenth Air Force Stands Down Forces in Europe, is a command pilot Air Education and Training Com- with more than 3,400 hours in the F-16, mand inactivated 19th Air Force, which USAF photo by SSgt. Sheila deVera A-10, and training aircraft. Before that, oversaw the command’s flight training he served as associate director of the mission for nearly two decades, in a Central Intelligence Agency, for military ceremony at JBSA-Randolph, Tex., affairs. He is a 1976 graduate of the US July 17. Air Force Academy. “Nineteenth Air Force led the stand-up The Senate confirmed Welsh on of the F-35 [strike fighter] schoolhouse Aug. 2 after Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.) and the Air Force’s only undergraduate lifted a hold on his nomination. Cornyn remotely piloted aircraft training pro- placed the hold because he wanted gram for pilots and sensor operators. The reassurances the Air Force would unit also activated student squadrons, address the underlying causes of sex streamlining the administrative control abuse by military training instructors at of the nearly 1,400 student pilots who JBSA-Lackland, Tex. Cornyn met with begin training each year,” said AETC Welsh in late July and reported being chief Gen. Edward A. Rice Jr. at the satisfied Welsh would work to combat inactivation. the problems. The numbered Air Force “did all this Schwartz, who had served as CSAF while maintaining the day-to-day flying since August 2008, will formally retire training missions, which account for 47 effective Oct. 1 after 39 years of Air percent of the Air Force’s total flying Force service. hour program,” added Rice. Nineteenth Air Force is one of three Theater, Reserve Leaders Change NAFs slated for elimination as part of Gen. Philip M. Breedlove took com- the Air Force’s $34 billion overhead- mand of US Air Forces in Europe in cutting initiative. US Air Forces in a July 31 ceremony at Ramstein AB, Europe inactivated its constituent 17th Germany. Breedlove previously served Air Force in Germany earlier this year, as vice chief of staff and succeeded the and Pacific Air Forces is slated to new Chief of Staff, Gen. Mark A. Welsh stand down 13th Air Force in Hawaii III, at USAFE. this month. Gen. Herbert J. Carlisle succeeded Gen. Gary L. North as commander of First International F-35 Delivered Pacific Air Forces on Aug. 3. Carlisle, British Defense Minister Philip Ham- promoted to four-star rank the day mond accepted delivery of the UK’s first before, previously served as deputy F-35 strike fighter in a July 19 ceremony chief of staff for operations, plans, and at manufacturer Lockheed Martin’s requirements. aircraft facility in Fort Worth, Tex. North, who had commanded PACAF Designated BK-1, Britain’s F-35B since 2009, is set to retire after 36 years short takeoff and vertical landing in uniform, effective Oct. 1. (STOVL) aircraft is the first F-35 sup- New leaders stepped up to command plied to an international customer. the reserve component as well. Lt. Gen. BK-1 flew for the first time in April and James F. Jackson took the helm at Air is slated for test and training duties at Force Reserve Command the same Eglin AFB, Fla. week that the Senate confirmed new “The United Kingdom was the first leadership for the Air National Guard partner nation to join the F-35 program in late July. and has been a tremendous partner The Senate confirmed Army Lt. Gen. throughout the development, testing, and Frank J. Grass to become the next the initial production,” said Defense Sec- 22 AIR FORCE Magazine / September 2012 retary Leon E. Panetta in a joint briefing riers. Britain plans to buy 48 F-35Bs, Oklahoma City Air Logistics Complex, with Hammond in the Pentagon July 18. Reuters reports. and Warner Robins Air Logistics Com- The British government dropped plans plex, respectively. to buy the naval F-35C in favor of the F- AFMC Reorganizes Depots The complexes now report directly 35B earlier this year. “Buying the STOVL Large pieces of Air Force Materiel to the newly minted Air Force Sustain- version of the F-35 will allow us quickly to Command’s restructuring plan came ment Center, which stood up July 10 generate strike capability from our next together at Hill AFB, Utah; Tinker AFB, at Tinker to oversee the well-being of generation aircraft carriers,” reasoned Okla., and Robins AFB, Ga.,in July. USAF’s combined weapon systems Hammond, speaking at a Center for a AFMC officials redesignated the air fleets. New American Security event July 18. logistics centers at Hill, Tinker, and “Mission-capable and ready weap- He was referring to Britain’s two Robins, as complexes, rebranding ons systems are … required to fight and planned Queen Elizabeth-class car- them the Ogden Air Logistics Complex, win our nation’s wars, and that is what SSgt. Aaron Bingham, SSgt. Ryan Shaw, SSgt. Robert Hill, and SrA. David Taylor push an 08.04.2012 engine cradle to the lift trailer before replacing a C-17’s engine in Southwest Asia. Such en- gine changes—in a controlled environment such as in a hangar—usually take 48 hours, but the team completed the heavy job and sent the aircraft back into action in just 34 hours. AIR FORCE Magazine / September 2012 23 Air Force World Analysts figure that future BRAC sav- Three BMT Instructors Found Guilty of Sexual Misconduct ings will actually amount to less than the up-front investment cost of implementing Air Force military training instructor TSgt. Christopher Smith was convicted the measures, when calculated in present of sexual misconduct with two trainees in basic training at JBSA-Lackland, value terms, according to GAO. Tex., Aug. 1. Smith was sentenced to 30 days of confinement and a reduc- “In contrast, military construction costs tion in grade to airman first class for unprofessional relationships with his for the four prior BRAC rounds combined subordinates. amounted to less than $7 billion.” Of At least 12 instructors are under investigation by the Air Force for sexual the BRAC commission’s 182 approved misconduct involving MTIs at Lackland. recommendations in 2005, 75—about Former basic military training instructor SSgt. Luis Walker was convicted 41 percent—are now expected to net a of 28 counts of sexual misconduct and sentenced to 20 years of confinement negative 20-year present value, noted at a court-martial the month before. the report summary. Walker was stripped of his grade, compelled to forfeit all pay and allow- ances, and dishonorably discharged, following his conviction July 20. Luke Hosts F-35A Pilot Training The weeklong court-martial found him guilty of charges including rape and Air Force leaders chose Luke AFB, aggravated sexual contact, in incidents involving 10 female basic military Ariz., to host USAF’s F-35A pilot training trainees between October 2010 and June 2011. center, Air Force Secretary Michael B. SSgt. Peter Vega-Maldonado, the first ex-instructor tried, pleaded guilty Donley announced Aug. 1. After pilots to a single charge of improper relations with a trainee. Vega was sentenced complete initial F-35 training at Eglin AFB, to 90 days of confinement and reduced in rank to airman, according to Air Fla., they will go to Luke for Air Force- Force officials. specific combat training in the aircraft. Three squadrons of 72 F-35As are slated to take their places at Luke between AFSC will deliver,” said Lt. Gen. Bruce As of press time, the C-27J fleet re- late 2013 and mid-2014, depending on A. Litchfield, AFSC’s commander. mained grounded. the production schedule. The air logistics complexes will con- “This is a great day for Luke. Our tinue their missions, minus their previ- BRAC Didn’t Save Us Much selection for F-35 training ensures the ous in-house command staff, reducing Projected net savings from the 2005 long-term viability of our mission of train- management overhead, according to Base Realignment and Closure fell about ing the world’s greatest fighter pilots, Tinker officials. 72 percent, dropping from $35.6 billion in which we’ve been doing at Luke for seven The changes are part of AFMC’s overall Fiscal 2005 to $9.9 billion in Fiscal 2011, decades,” said Brig. Gen. Jerry D. Harris, consolidation from 12 centers to five, in an according to Government Accountability 56th Fighter Wing commander. effort to trim about $109 million in annual Office estimates. Luke was chosen for its ample facilities operating costs. GAO blamed higher-than-expected and ramp space, nearby range access, The Air Force Flight Test Center at construction costs for the growth, stating favorable weather, and future growth Edwards AFB, Calif., was also renamed, that “overall, military construction costs … capacity, among other reasons. to become the Air Force Test Center on increased 86 percent, from $13.2 billion Luke won its place over two Air National July 13. estimated by the BRAC commission to Guard sites at Boise, Idaho, and Tucson, $24.5 billion,” in a summary of the report, Ariz., as well as Holloman AFB, N.M.