Faster Pilot The Goldfein Years 37 | Long-range Strike 46 | Spaceplanes, Then and Now 55 Training 16

BLACK AND AIR FORCE BLUE For Black Airmen, disparities persist In USAF life, culture, and promotions | 28

July/August 2020 $8

Published by the Air Force Association

STAFF Publisher July/August 2020. Vol. 103, No. 7 & 8 Bruce A. Wright Editor in Chief Tobias Naegele

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 Tech. Sgt. Jake Barreiro Sgt. Jake Tech. Digital Platforms DEPARTMENTS FEATURES Senior Airman Editor 2 Editorial: Power 8 Q&A: The Future of the Expeditionary Force Cody Mehren Jennifer-Leigh Plays and signals to a B-2 Oprihory Competition Lt. Gen. Mark D. Kelly, incoming head of Air Combat Spirit bomber during a refuel- Senior Editor By Tobias Naegele Command, speaks with John A. Tirpak about the Rachel S. Cohen changes coming to USAF. ing stop at An- 3 Letters dersen Air Force Production Base, Guam. Manager 4 Index to 28 Leveling the Field Eric Chang Lee Advertisers By Rachel S. Cohen Photo Editor 7 Verbatim The Air Force has room for improvement in Mike Tsukamoto 10 Strategy & Policy: addressing racial bias in the promotion process. The Big Fighter 33 Black Airmen Speak Out Contributors Gamble John T. Correll, By Rachel S. Cohen Robert S. Dudney, 12 Airframes Mark Gunzinger, In a force where color shouldn’t matter, inequalities 16 World: Rebuilding Jennifer Hlad, persist. Alyk Russell Kenlan, the forge; Meet the LaDonna Orleans new CMSAF; Space 37 The Goldfein Years Force organization; Russian Intercepts; By John A. Tirpak and more ... Chief 21’s legacy is his vision for the future: A highly 27 Faces of the Force connected joint force.

60 Airman for Life 41 Coping with COVID Across the Force ADVERTISING: Nominees for AFA National Officers; By Brian W. Everstine Kirk Brown Director, Media Mitchell Institute USAF is keeping the tip of the spear honed, despite ON THE COVER Fellows; AFA social pandemic challenges. Solutions media takeover. 703.247.5829 46 Stand In, Standoff [email protected] 64 Namesakes: Shaw By Mark Gunzinger SUBSCRIBE The right balance for the future bomber fleet. & SAVE Subscribe to 52 Let the Games Begin Air Force Magazine By Amy McCullough and save big off

The Air Force sees cooperative esports as both Sgt.Staff Campbell/NYANG Ryan the cover price, recruiting tools and boosts to resiliency. Lt. Col. Paul Lopez, plus get a free then-commander membership 55 The Spaceplane: 60 Years On of USAF’s F-22 to the Air Force Demonstration Association. By John T. Correll Team, salutes a 1-800-727-3337 The ultimate goal was to take off from Earth, fly a crew member. See “Black Airmen mission through space, re-enter the atmosphere, and Speak Out,” p. 33. land on a runway.

Air Force Magazine (ISSN 0730-6784) July/August 2020 (Vol. 103, No. 7 & 8) is published monthly, except for two double issues in January/February and July/August, by the Air Force Association, 1501 Lee Highway, Arlington, VA 22209-1198. Phone (703) 247-5800. Periodical postage paid at Arlington, Va., and additional mailing offices. 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 (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. Trademark registered by Air Force Association. Copyright 2020 by Air Force Association.

JULY/AUGUST 2020 AIRFORCEMAG.COM 1 EDITORIAL By Tobias Naegele

Power Plays and Competition ussia and the United States are flying missions on the edges ludicrous to think that serious people would do serious damage to of each other’s territory at the fastest pace in a generation. our national defense. RRussian Tu-95 Bear bombers have repeatedly approached U.S. With only a couple of exceptions, defense spending has risen airspace near Alaska, causing F-22s to scramble, and U.S. bombers and annually for roughly two decades. Expensive ground-centric wars intelligence aircraft have similarly shown their prowess over northern in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria have taken their toll. It is natural for Europe and the Pacific. Russian instigation also rattles its neighbors. taxpayers and legislators to want to ratchet down that spending now On the other side of the planet, China continues to press territorial to fund other priorities; it is beyond their intuition to understand that claims in skirmishes and standoffs all along its southern flank. China our military is now depleted and ill-suited to take on peer competitors faced off with India and Bhutan, on land, over border claims in June, in potential future conflicts. and in the South China Sea, continues to build up man-made islands The fact that our Air Force is now the smallest and oldest it in a bid to extend its perimeter beyond international norms. To China, has ever been is common knowledge only to those in the know. the entire sea is sovereign territory. Joe Public is oblivious, and even less aware of what the U.S. will China’s increasingly brutal treatment of ethnic Uyghurs, includ- face should it ever need to engage in combat with the People’s ing forced sterilization and imprisonment in concentration camps, Republic of China. was classified as genocide in a recent report from the Jamestown Taking on China will require superior air, space, and cyber forces. Foundation. Its tightening stranglehold on Hong Kong, meanwhile, Conventional land and naval forces need not apply. While the cry demonstrates the “One Country, Two Systems” “where are the carriers” might have defined policy—in place since 1997—is shrinking away. potential combat with China a generation ago, In Taiwan, they can only be wondering: Can Taking on China will require that is no longer the case. Aircraft carriers, the the U.S. be relied on in the face of Chinese ex- superior air, space, and pride of the Navy fleet, remain among the most pansion and aggression? Likewise, a free and cyber forces. Conventional visible symbols of American military power. But unfettered Europe depends largely on America’s in combat with China they will instead be our commitment to its NATO allies in the face of land and naval forces most visible targets—and greatest symbols of Russian instigation. need not apply. U.S. vulnerability. Too big to hide and too slow Regardless of your domestic politics, protect- to escape, they will be held at bay—or sunk at ing our allies and deterring our rivals remains central to American will—by hypersonic guided missiles, destroyed before they get close interests both at home and abroad. U.S. strategy depends on the enough to become effective. ability to deter competitors, with credible force, from trying to have Instead, it will be the United States’ low observable assets that their way with neighbors. China may not fear Taiwan, but it does fear reign supreme in conflicts with other great powers. Stealth fighters a conflict with the United States—at least for now. and bombers that can strike deep in enemy territory without being Republicans and Democrats agree on funding defense—at least detected; spacecraft that can track and queue potential targets and the experts do. The House Armed Services Committee approved its threats from the vantage of the gods; and cyber operators that can version of the 2021 defense policy bill by a 56-0 vote, and the Senate paralyze adversaries’ intelligence and communications networks Armed Services Committee approved its version also by a very a with strategic effect are all critical to deter future wars—and to win wide margin. But it is among the non-experts that cracks appear in them should it come to that. this apparent unity of vision. No wonder, then, that the Navy and Army are trying to develop The trillions of dollars invested to cushion the blows of COVID-19 long-range strike weapons to seek relevancy in such a fight. Unable have ballooned the budget deficit this year to more than $2 trillion to get within 1,000 miles of their targets, they want new capabilities and our overall national debt to more than $20 trillion. Near-zero to enable them to engage. They forget why we have a joint force: It’s interest rates today make that debt burden relatively manageable, not to divvy up missions to ensure that everyone gets a piece of the but our deflated economy will produce less tax revenue to pay those action, but rather to match the right solution to the problem. No one bills. Interest rates, and inflation won’t remain at historic lows forever. would call on a B-2 bomber to eliminate a terrorist streaking across Hence, the knives are out and those who’d carve up and redirect the desert in a pickup truck, because an MQ-9 Reaper will do the the defense budget for other purposes are honing the blades. Rep. job well for a fraction of the cost. Likewise, it makes little sense for Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) offered a resolution in June to cut $350 billion the Army to acquire a capability for which the Air Force is inherently from defense spending “to reduce the priority given to war in our better suited. foreign policy … while using the funds to increase our diplomatic The national security budget is ultimately an insurance policy. We capacity and for domestic programs.” buy down risks in some areas and accept it in others. Were budgets Eleven think tanks and advocacy groups lined up to laud the pro- infinite, we would afford duplicative capabilities. Since they are not, posal, among them Public Citizen, the Center for International Policy, logic must prevail. and Veterans for Peace. Yes, these are the usual suspects demanding To deter and, when necessary, fight and win peer conflicts, America the usual cuts, but make no mistake: At a time in our nation’s history must invest in those capabilities that deliver the greatest effect for when calls to “defund the police” are netting real results—the New the lowest cost. Against China and Russia, that means investing in York City Council agreed to a $1 billion cut to its police force—it’s not our Air and Space Forces. J

2 JULY/AUGUST 2020 AIRFORCEMAG.COM LETTERS

Russia, Russia, Russia! restart this program to counter the sian policy seem new and hostile rather With regard to [“Strategy & Policy: Chinese anti-ship ballistic missile sys- than reconfirmation of our and their Putin’s Five New Nukes,” April, p. 16], tem. It could be carried by a modified existing long-standing policies. I know a few points: First, the RS-28 Sarmat Oshkosh 10x10 PLS (palletized load that a large part of AFA’s purpose is to is not really a new weapon, it is just system) truck chassis, obviating the publicize reasons we need a strong and the follow-on development of Russian need for a trailer/launcher. If we really effective Air Force, but exaggeration of liquid-fueled ICBMs after the SS-18. wanted to, we could probably have enemy hostility does not enhance the A 200-ton, 100-foot, 10-foot-diameter some in service within 24 months. All world’s safety from nuclear weapon storable liquid-propellant ICBM. development was completed 30-plus use. Russia’s demonstrated hostility Second, the nuclear-powered cruise years ago. And new types of hyperson- since its documented (by all of our missile sounds like a real disaster ic glide vehicles could easily replace intelligence agencies) interference waiting to happen, a flying Chernobyl. I the current MARV. in the previous presidential election think the world community should con- MSgt. Chris Dierkes, makes the need to further embellish sider additional sanctions on Russia NYANG it unnecessary. simply for flight-testing such a weapon, Westhampton Beach, N.Y. Steven E. Zalesch let alone deploying numbers of them. New Haven, Conn. It is a real environmental threat to the I was curious to note that your article, globe. Our nation discovered in the “Putin Nuclear Retaliation Statement On Unrest, Race, and USAF ’50s with the NB-36H that airborne Seen As Nothing New by Pentagon,” [Regarding “World: Wright, Race, nuclear power is impossible to shield by John A. Tirpak failed to mention that and USAF’s Demons,” June, p. 31]: [I and safeguard properly. It is just a U.S. nuclear first-strike policy is, and was] on Active duty in the ’60s/’70s stupid idea. always has been, that we reserve the and retired in the ’90s. All of the mili - Third, I believe the announcement of right to strike first (unlike our policy tary went through class after class of these five systems is solely to create on first use of chemical and biological military training concerning race rela- fear in the West and for Putin to look weapons). The article makes the Rus - tions. What we are going through now “tough” to his population. It is “Crazy Ivan” all over again, to make Russia seem dangerous. Fourth, I have seen no mention of it in the current rush to hypersonics, but we had an operational hypersonic boost-glide type of weapon in the (EXTREME) late 1970s, the Pershing II, which had a maneuverable Mach 8 warhead—in those days, called a MARV. Wikipedia has an excellent description of this missile. And remember, this was tested and fully operational 30 years ago! It was equipped with a nuclear warhead, but easily could have a conventional one. In particular, it had radar guid - ance which could be translated to an Advanced thermal management anti-ship function. We should probably for extreme military environments

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JULY/AUGUST  AIRFORCEMAG.COM LETTERS is what we went through a generation the USS Roosevelt, otherwise it would ago. There is no difference. This gen - have been able to identify the asymp - eration hasn’t been taught the lessons tomatic COVID sailors and isolate them of yesterday, and we (the older) have before 20 percent of the crew became to take the blame for not teaching our sick. What’s worse is that the USS Kidd Air Force Association 1501 Lee Highway • Arlington, VA 22209-1198 children the fundamentals of love and had a very similar disaster one month respect for everyone. later, on April 28, with 20 percent of afa.org CMSgt. Dwight L. Graupman, its crew sick with COVID. The Navy’s Telephone: 703.247.5800 USAF (Ret.) problems with social distancing are Toll-free: 800.727.3337 Spotsylvania, Va. clearly more severe than those faced Fax: 703.247.5853 by the Air Force, but it would be a The tragedy of George Floyd should mistake not to learn from their painful never have happened. An arrest should experience. What if the crews that we AFA’s Mission Our mission is to promote dominant U.S. Air not have resulted in a death. depend upon to execute our nuclear and Space Forces as the foundation of a What concerns me is that the Air deterrent became sick? What if the strong national defense; honor and support Force seems to feel a responsibility for pilots that fly our F-22s and F-35s our Airmen, Space professionals, and their this. I was in the military for 24 years got sick? families; and to honor and respect our and learned to work with people of What would it cost to test all 320,000 enduring heritage. various backgrounds and races and in the Air Force in a day? The Abbott to look after each other, regardless. ID Now can test 100 people in a day. To accomplish this, we: It is for that reason, as well as others, Therefore 320,000 / 100 = 3,200 Ab - ■ Educate the public on the critical need that I do encourage people to join the botts. These units cost $4,500 each for for unrivaled aerospace power and a military. a total cost of 3,200 x $4,500 = $14.4 technically superior workforce to ensure I have studied military aviation his - million. This is hardly a showstopper. national security. tory for many years, and, if anything, Each test requires reagents costing ■ Advocate for aerospace power, and the Air Force has led the nation in $40. This cost is $40 x 320,000 = $13 promote aerospace and STEM education providing opportunities for African million [approximately.] and professional development. Americans. An excellent example are The problem is not cost. In the case the Tuskegee Airmen. Thanks to the of the USS Roosevelt, it would have ■ Support readiness for the Total Air and Space Forces, including Active Duty, Army Air Force, these men were given cost less than $500,000 to test the National Guard, Reserve, civilians, families an opportunity to prove themselves entire crew in a day in order to save a and members of the Civil Air Patrol. and made an invaluable contribution $10 billion aircraft carrier. The problem to our victory in World War II. The Air is test machine/reagent availability. Contacts Force was a leading institution in com- There aren’t enough. The Air Force/ CyberPatriot .... [email protected] bating racism. It should be viewed as military can solve this problem by Field Services ...... [email protected] such, not a racist organization. utilizing their defense suppliers just Government Relations ...... [email protected] TSgt. Joe Domhan, as Ford, GM, and GE were utilized to Insurance ...... [email protected] NYANG (Ret.) make ventilators. Membership...... [email protected] West Babylon, N.Y. The CDC/US public health service News [email protected] test philosophy is to “test a few and StellarXplorers ...... [email protected] COVID and the Chief lock down everyone”. The military The article [“World: COVID-19 and can’t afford to do this. The military Magazine the U.S. Air Force; Q&A With CSAF must test everyone and lock down Advertising...... [email protected] Gen. David L. Goldfein,” May, p. 20] the few—the sick. The military can’t Editorial Ošices ...... [email protected] certainly shows that General Goldfein “shelter in place.” The military has to Letters to Editor [email protected] has taken energetic, decisive action. be ready to do its mission. To preserve However, the article also indicates to its “readiness”, it must use separation, Change of Address/Email In an ešort to stay connected with AFA me that the Air Force does not appear quarantines, and COVID testing until a and your local chapter, please update your to have any COVID testing capability vaccine is ready. Spend the appropriate mailing and email addresses. Change of or, at least, it doesn’t have much. amount to defeat the COVID virus. address requires four weeks’ notice. COVID testing was not mentioned William Thayer once. San Diego To update your contact information: If I look at the military in general, it ■ Email: [email protected] doesn’t seem to have much COVID testing capability. The aircraft carrier INDEX TO ADVERTISERS ■ Visit: The Members Only area of our website, afa.org USS Roosevelt pulled into Guam on March 27, 2020, with 20 percent of its American Hearing Benefits ...... 25 ■ Call: Our Membership Department crew infected with COVID. It’s just now Lockheed Martin ...... Cover IV at 1-800-727-3337 pulling out to sea after being disabled Meggitt Defense ...... 3 ■ Mail your magazine label, including your for 55 days. It is pretty clear that the Smart-1 ...... 5 first and last name, to our Membership Navy did not have anywhere near the Rolls-Royce ...... Cover II Department at 1501 Lee Highway, sufficient COVID testing capability on USAA...... Cover III Arlington, VA 22209-1198.

JULY/AUGUST  AIRFORCEMAG.COM China and COVID 19 The result was that the U.S. lost 8 mil- China were more important to them I read with great interest the April lion manufacturing jobs (a reduction than the economic and political safety editorial “Competition and COVID-19 of just over 30 percent) during the of the U.S. Corporations such as Mattel, [p. 2]. I agree that China has, during the first decade of the 21st century (2001- Apple, Nike, and Adidas, and much of last 10 or more years, tried to replace 2010). The vast majority of those jobs U.S. drug companies’ products, are the United States as the world leader. went to China. made in whole or in part in China. Yet It is my view that the United States Mistake 4: During the last three de- these companies exercise little control made many miscalculations in our cades, U.S. companies and industries of production processes and labor national economic policy during the gave away critical manufacturing to quality to produce these significant last 30 years. China, all of which have come to light products and have run into serious Mistake 1: U.S. companies began the in the last three to six months. China quality and safety issues, as well as transfer of manufacturing goods into makes critical defense components shortages. The American public and China in the early 1980s. This transfer and sub-assemblies, has essentially the military and our manufacturing became serious in the early 1990s as developed and installed the technol- base have received a serious wake-up the U.S. Congress passed significant ogy in our communications products call. We need to press our members restrictive and costly manufacturing to know every bit of personal and of Congress and corporate leaders to laws in the U.S. The Chinese govern- national data on every person in the treat China as a major threat to our ment gladly wooed and welcomed U.S. U.S., and has used stolen technology security, national world presence, and manufacturing. and intellectual property on much of economic and political systems. I thank Mistake 2: As a result of this trans- the national and defense equipment Air Force Magazine for being among fer of manufacturing of U.S. goods in they now use against us. the first major military “house organs” China, U.S. consumers got much lower Mistake 5: In the last 30 years our to sound the alarm. I hope many read prices for those products. However, national policymakers have ignored and heed. the quality of Chinese-manufactured the most insidious facet of the U.S. Lt. Col. John Bredfeldt, products reflected the lower prices intellectual, technology, and manu- USAF (Ret.) in very expected ways—significant- facturing move to China—the serious Dawsonville, Ga. ly reduced quality, highly dangerous promotion of outright disloyalty to the products, and a significant reduction United States by major corporations Subordinate Support in U.S. high-paying, blue-collar jobs. and citizen groups. In the last six Gen. David L. Goldfein, USAF Chief Mistake 3: The U.S. led the world in months, NBA players chose China over of Staff, noted that, “You make your making China a member of the World the U.S. in our President’s economic money as a commander,” and “If you Trade Organization in December 2001. policy because their endorsements by are the adult in the room that provides SMART-1 Small Manned Aerial Radar Target

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JULY/AUGUST  AIRFORCEMAG.COM LETTERS direction but empowers your subordi- ago, but I truly hope the Air Force ed names such as “Sky Larks,” “Joy nate leaders to take action, you win” emphasizes the need for everyone to Boys,” “Eagles,” “Starshooters,” “Sky- [“Verbatim: Calm in the Storm,” May, 7]. maintain a positive culture of helping scrapers,” “Larks,” “War Eagles,” “Sky Unlike the commander of the USS units whenever and wherever they Bo,” “Sky Jackies,” and “Joy Stickers.” Theodore Roosevelt, I was fortunate have a need. In my mid and later years Subsequently, a vote was taken by the the Air Force had a culture of providing of Active service and later as an Air aviators at Issoudun, where the name outstanding support to deployed units. Force civilian, I was a firm believer “Airnats” was chosen. It was suggest- As I moved up the ranks, I never forgot and proponent of the importance of ed by Sergeant C. B. Swafford, of the how important that culture was to sup- providing exceptional and totally un- 655th Aero Squadron. The name had port the Air Force mission regardless selfish unit support. no particular significance, being an of who or where the people were. Lt. Col. Russel A. Noguchi, abbreviation of “aeronauts.” As a junior officer, I was a command- USAF (Ret.) As the war continued, “Airnats” er of a geographically separated Air Pearl City, Hawaii became more and more popular. In Force unit for two years, and a joint fact, in October 1918, Captain Jay W. Defense detachment for another two What’s in a Name? Fay, director of the First Air Service years. I really found myself extremely Regarding [“Editorial: Launching Band, composed what he called the fortunate to have superiors and staff the Space Force,” January/February, “Airnat’s March,” which was a big hit in my parent unit 2,000 miles away p. 2]: After the United States entered wherever it was played. Another tune, and my headquarters another 4,000 World War I in April 1917, plans were “When We Whirl In to Berlin thru the miles be away extremely supportive made to construct numerous air bas - Air,” composed by Nat Vincent, James and helpful. In addition to support of es throughout France. One of these Brockman, and James Kendis, was a hit routine tasks, they were always quick bases was located at Issoudun, about song “Dedicated to the A.E.F. Airnats” to provide guidance in crises and ex- 100 miles southeast of Paris. Issoudun as well. (A.E.F. meaning American tremely critical situations. I was even was home to the 3rd Air Instructional Expeditionary Force) provided personnel on TDY to help my Center (3rd AIC) and, at the time, was When World World War I ended, the unit relocate from a foreign base to a the largest air base in the world. The “Airnat” nickname also passed into his- USAF base under critical conditions. base boasted 13 airfields used to train tory. It was obvious the name did not I was also fortunate that the people American pilots in the art and science match the mission of the Air Service, and the bases on which I was assigned of aerial warfare. but the term used today and for the last lived up to every obligation in a tenant As part of military life, the 3rd AIC 100 years certainly does. For the men support relationship. My NCOIC was began publishing a newspaper entitled and women of the Army Air Service, the adult in that relationship, where we “The Plane News.” The Plane News Army Air Corps, Army Air Force, and got outstanding routine base support captured life at Issoudun. Thumbing the United States Air Force, we are from all of the functional units, like through the newspaper you’ll find simply known as “Airmen!” supply, engineering, transportation, se- articles about events associated with Maj. Robert A. Kasprzak, curity, etc. Their support was extremely the war (especially the air war), military USAF (Ret.) important in my unit’s relocation that topics such as customs and courtesies, Dayton, Ohio included over a million classified doc - poems, jokes, cartoons, scores from uments and over two million unclassi - athletic events, social gatherings such What’s in a Uniform? fied documents. as dances at the YMCA, songs, and When Gen. [Merrill] McPeak came Finally, having established a “two- letters. The Plane News is an excellent out with the new Class A uniform many hat” function with the theater USAF resource to gain real-time insight into years ago it was immediately dubbed headquarters, in which I served on its daily life in the Air Service. the “Delta Pilot” uniform because that staff, we got timely support to perform One of the articles that caught my is what it looked like. our mission by flying on organizational eye was written on July 6, 1918. The The rank on the sleeve (like the aircraft to all of the air bases in the article was titled “Name Wanted for Navy uses and like Delta pilots use) theater to provide them with materials Men of Air Service.” Unlike the infantry, did not last long, and neither did the for peacetime operations and wartime who were known as “Doughboys,” and lack of insignia on the shoulder. But planning. We also got theater head - the Artillery, named “Rednecks”, the the lack of a pocket on the right side quarters support in obtaining the high- article noted there was no nickname remained—and the worst feature of all, est priority for a secure facility on the for U.S. Airmen. As a result, The Plane the three-button coat, remained. It may base where many other organizations News sponsored a contest, open to be comfortable (allegedly designed for of all services were also relocating. all ranks, in search of an appropriate general officers in the Pentagon) but it Having said that, I must submit that nickname. The winning entry would does not look “military” and should be it takes more than a commander to receive 100 French Francs (about $20). scrapped. It’s OK to keep the polyester provide calm to lead through a storm. Originally, the contest was scheduled (but not great) for easy maintenance, If it were not for many people who vol - to end on Aug. 4, 1918. However, there but the Air Force should definitely go untarily stepped up to provide advice, was so much interest the contest was back to the four-button coat and right guidance, and support when I was a extended to Aug. 10, then to Aug. 17. side pocket. commander, I might have been like Ultimately, about 300 names were Col. Roy Miller, the commander of the USS Roosevelt. proposed by readers from which a USAF (Ret.) I served in the Air Force many years committee selected 25. Entries includ- Phoenix

JULY/AUGUST  AIRFORCEMAG.COM VERBATIM

Carrier Day of Quandry Lethal Weapon Reckoning “The carrier is “COVID … and not a threat to the downward China because pressure on the China has de- budget … is go- veloped missiles ing to accelerate specifically to kill the day of reck- carriers at great oning that was range and to always facing shoot down joint us. … We can no strike fighters.” longer modern- Master Sgt. Matthew Plew Sgt. Matthew Master ize and maintain Retired British Gen. “Since the inaugural test flight 31 years ago next month, the formida- what we have. ... Sir Richard Barrons, You’re going to former head of the ble B-2 Spirit has been the world’s most technologically advanced U.K.'s Joint Forces bomber. The B-2 Spirit’s stealth technology, long-range capability, and either keep your Command, Financial precision-strike payload produce a powerful conventional and nuclear force structure Times statement: ‘We are here. We are ready to respond. Anytime. Any- whole and ready, [July 3]. where.’ … Maintaining a convincing nuclear deterrent is the National or you’re going Defense Strategy’s highest modernization priority.” to modernize.” Brig. Gen. S. Clin- Mercenary Secretary of the Air Force Barbara Barrett on a visit to Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo., ton Hinote, Deputy home of the B-2 Spirit [June 16]. Director, Air Force Mourning Warfighting Integra- tion Capability, on the Air Force’s strat- Mea Culpa egy to retire current capability to pay for “Always maintain a keen sense of situational awareness. As senior leaders, modernization, at everything you do will be closely watched. And I am not immune, a Mitchell Institute as many of you saw [as a] result of the photograph of me at Lafayette Aerospace Nation Square last week that sparked a national debate about the role of the mili- livestreaming event tary in civil society. I should not have been there. My presence in that mo- [May 27]. ment and in that environment created a perception of the military involved in domestic politics. As a commissioned, uniformed officer, it was a mistake that I’ve learned from. … We who wear the cloth of our nation come from

Mike Tsukamoto/ Mike s t a  the people of our nation, and we must hold dear the principle of an apoliti- cal military that is so deeply rooted in the very essence of our Republic. …. Ally “You don’t see Embrace the Constitution. Keep it close to your heart. It is our North Star. Envy yellow ribbons It’s our map to a better future. Though we are not a perfect union, believe in around trees for the United States. Believe in our country. Believe in our troops and believe “One of [Pres- contractors. All in our purpose.” ident] Trump’s these touching favorite compari- scenes of the Gen. Mark A. Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in a video address to the graduating sons was to point class at National Defense University [June 11]. military service to the tip of one member com- of his Sharpies ing home and and say, ‘This scooping his is Taiwan,’ then point to the kids up at the Accidents Might Happen Resolute desk airport, you nev- and say, ‘This is er see that for China.’ So much contractors.” for American commitments Mark Cancian, de- and obligations fense budget expert, Center for Strategic to another demo- and International cratic ally.” Studies, on how using private military —John R. Bolton, Li Wei/China Ministry of Defense Li Wei/China contractors blunts former National perceptions of the Security Adviser, in human cost of long- “I think the possibility of an accidental shot being fired is rising.” “The Room Where term deployments. it Happened,” his Washington Post Wu Shicun, president, National Institute for South China Sea Studies, in a report on American memoir of his time in [June 30]. military activity in the region [June 26]. the White House.

JULY/AUGUST  AIRFORCEMAG.COM QUESTIONS & ANSWERS The Future of the Expeditionary Force

Lt. Gen. Mark D. Kelly is the Air Force Deputy Chief of Sta Lt. Gen. Mark Kelly for Operations. In the post since August 2018, he was nominated was nominated to in June 2020 to gain a fourth star and take over Air Combat receive a fourth Command. He previously commanded at the squadron, wing, star and lead Air expeditionary wing, and numbered Air Force levels. He recently Combat Command spoke with Air Force Magazine Editorial Director John A. Tirpak after nearly two about the requirements process, changing the Air and Space years as deputy Expeditionary Force model, joint all-domain command and chief of sta for control (JADC2), and operating tempo. is interview has been operations at edited for space and clarity. Headquarters USAF. Q. Technology is moving faster all the time. e old re- quirements process needs to change in order to keep up. What are you doing to accelerate it? A. Part of the requirement driver is … adversary technology leaps that we have to patch and reprogram against, and do so

at the speed of relevance. We can’t build a software patch on Stewart Kindra Class 1st Airman an annual, or even six-month cycle. So we need resilience and secure, rapidly opening architecture. Another requirements peer adversaries, and every one of the services has a readiness driver will be the ability to plug into JADC2 and be a contributor recovery challenge. to end-game decisions and superiority of the Blue network. So, force generation is key to our force presentation. e generation model we’re working through now adheres Q. Do you see requirements driven more top-down or to the directed-readiness rates of our force elements. We’ve bottom-up? got well-codied requirements about what we have to have to A. It will be a natural evolution. For instance, six months ago, respond to a crisis. And, we have a well-dened force structure we all started teleworking. I don’t know if that was top-down in our Air Force. So, given these known parameters and a re- or bottom-up, it just became a natural course we followed. So quirement to not outstrip our force-generation capability, we that’s a small indication of the bigger path we’re on: people have to provide a force that gives Airmen more predictability are going to have to be able to plug-in and contribute from in their lives. We also owe the Joint Sta, Secretary of Defense, anywhere around the globe at dierent security levels. So, I combatant commanders, and allies relevant forces that can think it’s probably going to be a blinding ash of the obvious. only come from the Air Force. We owe our adversaries an overwhelming deterrent. Q. You made a presentation at Corona in June about It’s a work in progress. But some of the Majcoms are al- changing the Air and Space Expeditionary Force (AEF) ready working incrementally toward force-generation and model. What’s going to change, and why? force-presentation models. A. Over the last 18 years, we presented forces to combat violent extremists in the Middle East, crowd-sourcing from Q. Will you have a new system this year, or will it need a pool of Airmen. ey’ve been so capable, exible, and more input from the new Chief of Sta , Gen. Charles Q. adaptable. ey arrive at a forward base, they meet their new Brown Jr.? boss, acclimate to their surroundings, meet their deployed A. We’ll denitely give General Brown an opportunity to teammates, and execute the most intense team application put eyes on it, and we look forward to his guidance to shape on the planet—which is combat. And that’s a great testament it. But he was at the Corona, and he’s been supportive of our to our Airmen. plan of action. We’re looking to get some time with him in e adversary in that ght allowed the acclimation of Air- mid-August to go over some of the nal details, and then men to the situation, but a peer adversary will not. Airmen we expect to have an IOC [initial operational capability] Air have to arrive and execute as a cohesive, high-performing Expeditionary Force construct by Oct. 1. team, from Minute one. We have to present forces that are But … we already have obligations to the Joint Sta for combat-credible upon arrival, and that means training togeth- Global Force Management; things we have to deploy as the er as a team and integrating with other combat teams. And immediate-response force that will be going in October. So, do that together in a high-end exercise like Red Flag before our new AEF has to converge with some decisions already they’re required to actually ght in a high-end conict. We made, and it won’t be the nal product. owe them that. I would expect full operational capability by October 2021. But the force presentation can’t be divorced from what I And then you’ll have combat-credible teams and squadrons would call the force generation. e 2018 National Defense train together, or train separately at their own bases and Strategy recognized the need to have high readiness to counter come together in a high-end combat-certication exercise,

JULY/AUGUST  AIRFORCEMAG.COM something akin to a Red Flag. ... And we’ll aggregate these Q. Joint all-domain command and control implies a capabilities together, and they’ll be o ered to the Joint Sta top-down approach to directing forces rapidly to where and Secretary of Defense, either as one big AEF or we’ll dis- they’re needed, but the Air Force has been trying to drive aggregate them for Global Force Management. decision-making to the lowest levels possible. How do you But—a key point here—is if the Secretary of Defense had do both at the same time? a need for a big AEF to be aggregated on short notice now … A. I actually see those two things converging. JADC2, at its we would be hard-pressed, based on the speed and relevance core, is about decision superiority; it doesn’t really get into of modern combat, to pull that together. It would be very, decision authority. Decisions now have to be made in seconds very hard, if not impossible. We can’t build the way we have that used to be made in days. So I think JADC2 will facilitate and then all of a sudden have a requirement to aggregate in a decisions to a lower level, because they’ll now have real-time combat zone … and have a cohesive ghting team. feedback. As an analogy, I think we’re going to transition from So, that’s some of the calculus of why we have to build and football coaches—who call each play—to hockey coaches, who train to a cohesive ghting AEF. provide the operational strategy and trust the team to execute. ey monitor the execution and make real-time adjustments Q. We’re hearing a lot about logistics under re and rap- to facilitate success based on the speed of what’s going on in idly moving from one austere base to another in wartime. front of them. ey’re both coaches, they’re both in charge, How is this going to be exercised in the next few years? it’s just a di erent dynamic they have to manage. A. e preponderance of our logistics infrastructure rides on our unclassied network, and so you could think of it, rst Q. Everyone seems to agree there are at budgets ahead. and foremost, as networks under cyberattack. Every day is Does that mean work on “e Air Force We Need” goes on game day; our cyber ninjas are having to operate in the most the back burner? Or, if some growth is still coming, where? contested and congested arena. If our guard is down, those A. If budgets double or get cut in half, 386 combat squadrons important supplies are either at risk of being late to need or is still the requirement to execute that’s been given to us by the never showing up at a forward location. National Defense Strategy. And we are growing: the F-35s at So that gets a bit at the question of what you have to pre- Eielson [Air Force Base, Alaska,] and [in] Vermont, for example. position, what organic supplies you take, and your distribu- And yes, our ability to grow or not grow is driven by budget. tion capabilities, hubs and spokes, and ability to distribute JADC2 will keep growing. It’s necessary to decision superiority. in foreign locations. ... I don’t think we’ll see a faster pace of these exercises, but see them incorporated more into the Q. Is intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) existing exercises. the main growth area? A. Not necessarily. ink back to 2002. Our ISR wasn’t an Q. How is the Air Force’s operating tempo today dier- MQ-9, or even an MQ-1; it was an RQ-1. It did tactical ISR but ent than at the height of Operations Inherent Resolve and was not a shooter. It evolved into a shooter, the MQ-9, and Enduring Freedom? Is the Air Force in a reset or rebuilding with Gorgon Stare, became a much more capable ISR asset. period now? Or is there just no time for that? e point is, I don’t necessarily see growth in any one area, A. We’re somewhere in between. Our pace around the globe but as platforms become more capable, they grow beyond a hasn’t really slowed down, but the dynamics have changed. niche capability, adding more utility. at builds decision Take our Air National Guardsmen, for example. We tend to superiority and more rapid execution of whatever decision think of Air Force operations as big movements of B-1 bombers is made. and tankers and ghters—big operations like we’ve been doing in the Middle East for 18 years. Q. How is the Air Force going to look dierent in 2030? Now, think about what our Air Guardsmen are doing to- A. To look forward, look back. Imagine a decade before the day. We had to surge them—many of them civilian medical internet: daily life without real-time information. Driving, for experts—in such a way that we didn’t do damage to their example: How did we navigate with paper maps before driving homefront. We surged them to di erent places all over the U.S. apps that give us a GPS position? Or, how did we x our cars, to deal with coronavirus. at was a huge surge, and they’re paging through a shop manual the size of an encyclopedia still doing that. And then in the civilian unrest, our Guardsmen because we didn’t have YouTube? had to step forward and provide additional security in and Ten years from now, JADC2 will simply be how we do things, around installations, and sometimes in the cities. So, all of day to day, and we’ll wonder, how did we operate without that is above and beyond the Guard ying missions everyday being so connected? How did those old guys make decisions in the Middle East and anywhere else around the world. We that were not machine-enabled, by an all-domain, common ask a lot of them, and in their eyes, it hasn’t slowed down. And operating picture fed by a cloud of authoritative real-time we’re about to get into wildre season and hurricane season data? And the answer will be, we did the best we could with where we’ll have to rely on our Title 32 Guard members to the information we had. at gives you an idea of how things lead the task forces that respond to crises. will be di erent. On the Active-duty side, it hasn’t changed much at all. e global laydown ebbs and ows a little bit. Coronavirus has Q. ere are a lot of people who can’t function without added challenges to moving cargo, moving people, and we had GPS and wouldn’t know what to do with a paper map. Are a restriction of movement due to quarantine and host nation Airmen then going to be able to function if they lose con- requirements for health and wellness because it has added nectivity in a ght? processes. Stopping more frequently to wash your hands, A. e short answer is, yes, because we’re going to have to. being aware of what you touch, wearing a mask, and generally We can’t have any single point of failure. at’s part of JADC2: communicating is more dicult. So I would say our optempo it has to be self-healing. If we lose bits and pieces of it, it has hasn’t really gone down much these last weeks and months. to be able to reroute. J

JULY/AUGUST  AIRFORCEMAG.COM STRATEGY & POLICY By John A. Tirpak The Big Fighter Gamble Mike Tsukamoto/sta; landscape and F-35/USAF and F-35/USAF landscape Tsukamoto/sta; Mike The XQ-58A Valkyrie, shown in this illustration with an F-35A, is a joint venture between the Air Force Research Laboratory and Kratos Defense to develop semi-autonomous drones that can work in concert with unmanned fighters.

he Air Force bet big on the Next-Generation Air Dom - design or by entirely new aircraft. This, Roper said, is the only inance (NGAD) program—and it should soon get the way to stay ahead of China and Russia, who don’t have to wait first indications of how those bets could pay off. through multiple budget debates to launch and build new “I hope to have the acquisition plan [for] NGAD aircraft projects. rolling into the Digital Century Series this summer,” The business-case analysis will determine whether Roper’s Tsaid Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Tech- preferred method will actually cost less than the conventional nology, and Logistics Will Roper in June. The plan depends on process, which took 20 years each to develop and deliver the a business-case analysis for the new airplane and on whether F-22 and F-35. There’s general agreement the Air Force can’t his digital approach to developing, building, fielding, and op - wait that long again, but Roper acknowledged skepticism over erating new aircraft will be more efficient than the traditional throwing out industry’s slow but proven methodology. model. Secretive and already costing $1 billion per year, NGAD is To “rewrite the book” on aircraft acquisition, he said, the NGAD intended to ensure U.S. air superiority in future conflicts. Senior team must compare the cost of the Century Series approach Air Force leaders over the past 18 months had coyly avoided in terms of “effects per year,” rather than metrics such as cost describing NGAD as a plane, indulging speculation that it could per flying hour, which don’t necessarily translate to combat be a new kind of sensor network, an arsenal plane, attritable effectiveness. aircraft, or something else. Roper allowed that it is, in fact, an He expects these new aircraft will be less costly to build be - airplane, and that he’s waiting on an analysis to show that it cause they will be intended to last just 10, rather than 30, years. can work as intended. That, in turn, should reduce sustainment costs, because USAF The Digital Century Series idea is to design and develop won’t have to invest in such a robust supply and maintenance new aircraft on computers, while simultaneously designing the train. This approach would eliminate “vanishing vendor” syn - factories that will build them. Computer-aided design is hardly drome for parts and force a new, faster aircraft design-and-con - new, but the Century Series concept goes further, creating struction rhythm. At the same time, radical changes in cockpit virtual models that are, in effect, “digital twins” of the future design and aircraft operations would be constrained in order machine. That eliminates physical models and prototypes and to reduce the need to tinker with the pilot training enterprise. enables builders to produce production-relevant aircraft sooner. The ultimate goal: Build and field 50 to 100 aircraft that are CHANGING THE CALCULUS technologically superior to competitors, will be operated for Roper wants to demonstrate that the conventional process a comparatively few years, and then replaced by a refined creates a unit cost tracked “year-by-year, via economies of scale,”

 JULY/AUGUST  AIRFORCEMAG.COM while the new approach will deliver “greater to support and execute other primary core return on investment for price-per-lethality, competencies and missions.” per year.” With the exception of the F-35 In June, the Air Force released requests program, the full cost of sustainment has not for information to industry for both a poten - typically been counted in the cost of a new tial successor to the MQ-9 and an “arsenal system, and Roper expects that including plane,” although the latter seemed to be ori - that comparison will reveal that sustaining ented toward systems for dropping advanced obsolescing systems is a very high and munitions out the back end of cargo aircraft, tradeable cost. rather than a new, stealthy penetrating This work is “very close” to being finished, system. It is unclear whether the Low-Cost Roper said. Attritable Aircraft, the “arsenal plane,” or a If the analysis is favorable, it is “really stealthy replacement for the MQ-9 Reaper going to help us” compete with China, Roper hunter-killer drone will be part of the NGAD said. But even if the cost differential is close “family;” they could be, but neither Roper, nor to break-even, the idea will pay off because others, have said so. the Air Force can field new aircraft more Gen. Timothy M. Ray, head of Global Strike quickly for the same cost. Command, said in the spring that he is eying If, however, it turns out to be much more Sgt.Sta Trujillo Chad a “clean-sheet” design for an arsenal plane. expensive, “then we’re going to have to argue With NGAD, Air Force Acquisition That aircraft would also follow the rapid that it’s a better return on investment, year chief Will Roper aims to “rewrite the digital development model. by year.” But “my money’s on: It’s going to book” on aircraft acquisition. In March testimony prepared for the Sen - be cheaper,” he said. ate Armed Services Committee, Holmes and Time is also a factor. Service leaders have Lt. Gen. David S. Nahom, Air Force deputy consistently said they’ll need something new chief of staff for plans and programs, said to deal with Russian and Chinese fifth-gen - NGAD is very much part of a “family of eration jets circa 2030. If NGAD craps out, capabilities enabling air dominance in the conventional development will be too slow to most challenging operational environments.” make a difference. Based on recent history, The fiscal 2021 budget request included $1 new designs couldn’t be fielded until 2040, billion for NGAD and “$6.6 billion across” 10 years too late. the Future Years Defense Program to re - The head of Air Combat Command, Gen. place “once-in-a-generation, mass-produced James M. Holmes, said earlier this year that fighters with smaller batches of iteratively ACC is working on a “fighter-like” capabilities upgraded platforms of multiple types.” roadmap, and that NGAD is central to it. He Using the Digital Century Series technique emphasized, though, that what constitutes a will permit the Air Force to troubleshoot “fighter” is very much an open question now, “design, assembly, maintenance, and cost” and requirements vary from Europe—where before airplanes are ever built, eliminating Russia is only a short distance away—to the the learning curve in both production and

Pacific where an aircraft’s range is a premi - Sgt. R.J. Biermann Tech. operation. The concept will be applied to um consideration. ACC commander Gen. James non-fighter aircraft, munitions, and satellites, Fighters in the Pacific theater will proba - Holmes says the future definition they said. To say more requires “a classified bly look different than traditional fighters, he of “fighter” is an open question. setting.” told Air Force Magazine in a recent interview. Chief of Staff Gen. David L. Goldfein, in He said ACC is defining the “range and payload with avionics a May interview with Air Force Magazine, said the secrecy fusion and connectivity” that will be needed in combat in 2030. surrounding NGAD and other top new programs is regrettable, Roper recently realigned the program executive officers but necessary, to avoid tipping the Air Force’s hand too early. managing advanced aircraft, putting Brig. Gen. (sel.) Dale White He predicted that USAF’s overall scheme for air dominance in charge of NGAD, the “Low-Cost Attritable Aircraft Systems” will become clearer in about two years, as programs mature. project, and “Skyborg,” an effort to use artificial intelligence The technologies in NGAD will “not only outfit a next gener - to make unmanned aircraft more autonomous. White will also ation of capability, but also, I believe, be retrofitted into some oversee legacy aircraft such as the F-15, the new F-15EX, F-16, of our current platforms and weapon systems,” Goldfein said. and A-10—but not the Air Force’s F-35A. This includes technologies to enable joint all-domain command and control, which will connect all the sensors, shooters, and REVEAL AND CONCEAL command nodes among the services. Future investment will be watched closely. The House Armed “There are certain things that you connect to that are in the Services Committee’s version of the 2021 defense bill policy white, and there’s a growing number of things we will connect fenced 15 percent of the Air Force and Navy’s NGAD accounts to in the black, and that’s probably as far as I can go,” he said. until the Pentagon’s Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation “What you are seeing from us is a ‘reveal and conceal’ strategy. (CAPE) office completes an independent, “non-advocate” re - We reveal at a time of our choosing, based on our deterrence view. The committee wants CAPE to assess the risks to “cost, objectives ... . We reveal what we have, and we conceal what schedule, development, integration, production, fielding, and we have to keep our adversaries guessing.” Eventually, however, sustainment,” and to verify that NGAD will meet affordability both for deterrence and to satisfy Congress’ need to understand goals and won’t “jeopardize or otherwise be detrimental to other the whole picture, USAF will have to put all its cards on the high-priority future capabilities being developed and procured table. J

JULY/AUGUST  AIRFORCEMAG.COM AIRFRAMES

Airmen assigned to the 347th Rescue Group drop flares from an HH-60 Pave Hawk in a celebratory fini flight for the group’s commander, Col. Bryan Creel, at Moody Air Force Base, Ga. By long-standing tradition, fini flights are a final send-off when pilots depart a command. Creel’s next assignment: Incirlik Air Base, Turkey, where he will command the 39th Air Base Wing. Senior Airman Hayden Legg Hayden Senior Airman

12 12JULY/AUGUSTDECEMBER 20192020 AIRFORCEMAG.COM JULY/AUGUSTDECEMBER 20192020 AIRFORCEMAG.COMAIRFORCEMAG.COM 13 AIRFRAMES

USAF Col. Bob Behnken (far left) and Navy Capt. Chris Cassidy (far right) prepare for a June 26 spacewalk aboard the International Space Station. Behnken and Flight Engineer retired Marine Col. Doug Hurley (middle left), seated next to cosmonaut Ivan Vagner, were the first astronauts to enter space from American soil since 2011 when they rode SpaceX’s Crew

Dragon spacecraft to the ISS May 30. NASA

14 14JULY/AUGUSTDECEMBER 20202019 AIRFORCEMAG.COMAIRFORCEMAG.COM JULY/AUGUSTDECEMBER 20202019 AIRFORCEMAG.COMAIRFORCEMAG.COM 1515 WORLD Sarayuth Pinthong/USAF Pinthong/USAF Sarayuth Pilots train on a virtual reality flight simulator as part of the Pilot Training Next program at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas. Technology and lessons from that program contribute to eorts to streamline pilot training. ACC Aims to Train Pilots in Half the Time By John A. Tirpak to accelerate their pro ciency. at would translate he Air Force plans to launch a new ghter to fewer F-22s being needed for basic skills training pilot training program that could cut the time and more tails available either for combat exercises it takes to transform a new student pilot into or, in the case of older jets, as opponents for more a ghter ight lead roughly in half. upgraded versions of the Raptor. e new concept of operations exploits e new system potentially could reduce the time Tthe in-jet simulation capability of the new T-7 Red “Part of what it takes for a student to go from starting SUPT to as Hawk, paired with ground-based virtual reality and little as 18 months. Specialized Undergraduate Pilot arti cial intelligence (AI), to accelerate student we’re trying Training now takes about 12 months. After that, progress. to do is see if ghter-bound pilots go to the Fighter Fundamen- Air Combat Command boss Gen. James M. Holmes we could tals course, ying the T-38, and then on to a Formal signed the new CONOPs, called “Rebuilding the create more Training Unit in their particular ghter. e whole Forge,” or “Reforge” for short, on June 2. If tests are capacity journey now takes about 40 months before the pilot successful, it will lead to the most radical transfor- reaches ghter quali cation, including change-of- mation of USAF ghter pilot training since the 1950s, without station moves and refreshers. according to its authors. e switch to dual-track, spending e new CONOPs implements an Initial Tactical Specialized Undergraduate Pilot Training in the more money.” Training (ITT) Course that merges the latter two 1980s was a far less dramatic restructure, they said. —Gen. James phases and slices about a year o the program. “Part of what we’re trying to do is see if we could Holmes, ACC ITT graduates will arrive at their Formal Training create more capacity without spending more money,” Unit “with a higher level of tactical skills,” sharply commander Holmes said during an AFA Mitchell Institute for reducing what the FTU must teach in expensive, Aerospace Studies virtual event. If Reforge works, high-end ghters. e new process also will give pi- fewer F-22s, for example, will be needed for basic lots more stability by reducing the number of change skills training in the jet. “We can take some of that of station moves they have to make during their pilot training-coded iron and turn it into combat-coded training period. ey would move after winning their iron. We already paid for it, we already paid for the wings and do ITT at the same base where they join people that y it.” their rst ghter squadron. Holmes said Reforge combines the ghter funda- Cost savings of the new plan have not yet been mentals course with the Fighter Training Unit (FTU) vetted, but savings are not the goal, said David Timm, process, eliminating at least one change of station a contractor on the ACC sta and a co-author of the move for ghter pilots and using new technology CONOPs.

JULY/AUGUST  AIRFORCEMAG.COM An image from the Boeing T-7 Red Hawk cockpit-reveal promotional video shows the advanced glass instrument panel in the front seat of USAF’s newest trainer. Boeing Boeing “According to the F-22 community, they’re spending 60 to ve-year program to test and prove the CONOPs. at source 70 percent of their sorties” teaching their new pilots basic skills selection is underway, but no decisions have been made about and upgrades, Timm said in an interview. “Teaching those where the rst Reforge test base will be. ose who go through skills sooner, with an advanced trainer, you’re able to save 50 the program rst will be the instructor cadre and rene the percent of the training days; or 60 percent of the F-22 sorties model through subsequent iterations. that we allocate for training in an FTU, and squadrons can use Holmes “wants to prove this, and not wait until the T-7 gets that money to focus on combat training.” produced,” Schneider said. “Renting eight airplanes … is a cost e reduced FTU training timeline allows USAF to double that was not planned for in the POM,” or Program Objective the pilot production in the same time and increase through- Memorandum budget document, but it has support “at the put. at should help USAF work o the ghter pilot shortage, four-star level.” Getting on contract and conducting the RFX Timm said. is the “next step” in Reforge, he said. “We’re not looking to cut hours. We’re looking to repurpose USAF also may have to purchase additional T-7s from them,” said Lt. Col. Luke Schneider, another of the CONOPs’ Boeing. e existing contract provides options for up to 100 authors. “If I cut hours, I don’t increase readiness beyond … more than the 341 called for in the deal. e T-7s needed for what it is right now.” e aim is to use the hours better, teaching Reforge could be dierent than those built for undergraduate pilots how to employ the ghter, instead of “how to take o, pilot training, and might warrant a dierent designation, such land, and do patterns,” as well as operate sensors like radars as TF-7, which could demand a separate engineering and and targeting pods, he said. manufacturing development program. e CONOPs—the rst step in overhauling ghter pilot e authors note that the shift is not simply taking advan- training—acknowledges that the existing program “is not tage of new technology, but addressing an urgent operational working for us today and will not work in the future,” Timm shortfall. “We are not making new ghter pilots fast enough, asserted. e ghter eet is being “burned out” by using it and we are not retaining enough of those we do make in the for training basic skills instead of for near-peer engagement, force,” the Reforge authors wrote. he added. “ ere are three aspects” to the pilot shortage, Schneider e ITT course will include augmented or virtual reality and explained: production, absorption, and retention. Reforge ad- articial intelligence-enhanced instruction, permitting pilots dresses those by increasing the throughput of new pilots, getting more opportunity to learn and advance in a way that best suits them experienced more quickly, reducing their change of sta- their learning styles. Schneider said AI will adapt instruction to tion moves, improving their quality of life and, thus, retention. the individual, reducing sorties and simulator events in skills e new system will give the Air Force more bang for its pilot where a student is already procient, and adding them in areas buck. e new CONOPs gets as much as 10 percent more com- where more work is needed. e high delity of simulation bat-qualied time from each pilot’s rst 10-year commitment, will also allow far more repetitions of needed maneuvers at since each will be a trained combat pilot sooner, Schneider far less expense than in the real airplane, so fewer real-world asserted. Also, there could be 300 hours of basic skills savings events are needed to progress. per front-line ghter per airplane per year. Multiplied across Moreover, technology has made advanced ghters better all ghter eets, the hours redirected to true readiness would able to synthesize multiple sensor inputs into simple tactical be “huge,” Schneider said. displays, making them “easier to y,” according to the CONOPs. “Current tactical training development is not keeping pace” Schneider noted the T-7 itself, which “mimics” those jets, is with new technology, according to the document. Reforge is easier to y. Students raised on electronic devices are also more meant to change this. comfortable and experienced with high technology, further e new CONOPs has been in the works a long time. Holmes reducing training times. In the T-38, by comparison, “we spend penned an op-ed 17 months ago saying Reforge will exploit a lot of time teaching guys not to die,” Schneider said. the opportunities presented by the T-7 and new technology e Air Force is planning a Reforge Proof of Concept (RFX) “to reshape the entire ghter training enterprise and rebuild program to put the CONOPs to the test. In March, the service the forge in which we temper the world’s greatest combat avi- began a move to lease Lockheed/Korea Aerospace Indus- ators.” Timm said Holmes has been briefed on ve iterations tries T-50 advanced trainers or Leonardo M346 trainers for a of the CONOPs since then. J

JULY/AUGUST  AIRFORCEMAG.COM Bass is Air Force’s First Female Enlisted Leader Kimberly Groue/IUSAF

CMSgt. JoAnne Bass, then-2nd Air Force command chief, speaks to Airmen at Goodfellow Air Force Base, Texas (left), and at Keesler Air Force Base, Miss., (above and below), in 2019. Airman 1st Class Robyn Class 1st Hunsinger Airman By Rachel S. Cohen “I’m honored lost on me; I’m just ready to get after it. And I’m “General Brown knocked it out of the park with this se- and humbled extremely grateful for and proud of my family and lection,” CMSAF Wright posted on Twitter. “Proud moment hief Master Sgt. JoAnne S. Bass will be- friends who helped me along the way.” in history, great to be an Airman!” come the 19th Chief Master Sergeant of to ... follow in Brown said Bass brings the right skills, tem- Bass currently serves as command chief master sergeant the Air Force, and the first woman to serve the footsteps perament, and experience to the job, plus “an for Second Air Force at Keesler Air Force Base, Miss. She as the highest-ranking noncommissioned of some of the outlook on leadership that meshes with his own,” is the top non-commissioned adviser for Air Force-run officer of any U.S. military service. best leaders according to a release. training courses that graduate 150,000 military personnel Kimberly Groue/IUSAF CGen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., who will take over our Air Force “She has unique skills that will help us both each year. Second AF encompasses four training wings and as Chief of Staff in August, picked Bass to follow lead the Total Force and live up to the high expec- 18 groups across 76 locations worldwide, and manages With Bass and Air Force Secretary Barbara M. Barrett in outgoing CMSAF Kaleth O. Wright. Bass’ selec- has ever tations of our Airmen,” he said. “She is a proven 13,000 enlisted, officers, civilians, contractors, and 36,000 two of the service’s top three leadership positions, women tion sets up a historic leadership slate for the Air known.” leader who has performed with distinction at basic military trainees annually. will occupy seven of the 49 highest posts across the Air Force: It will become the first military branch run —Chief Master Sgt. every step of her accomplished career. I have no “Throughout her career, she has held a variety of lead- Staff, Secretariat, and major commands. by a Black flag officer and a female enlisted Chief. JoAnne Bass doubt that Chief Bass will provide wise counsel as ership positions serving at the squadron, group, wing, and Brown, Bass, and Barrett—who became Secretary in No- Bass is also the first Asian American to serve as we pursue and implement initiatives to develop major command levels,” according to her 2nd AF biography. vember—are taking the helm as the Department of the Air the highest-ranking noncommissioned member and empower Airmen at all levels.” “She has significant joint service and special operations Force pivots toward potential conflict with Russia and China of a U.S. military service. Bass, who will take over the CMSAF post in experience and has participated in several operations while continuing to suppress extremist groups in the Middle “I’m honored and humbled to be selected as the an Aug. 14 ceremony, beat out more than a doz- and exercises, as well as deployments in direct support East and Africa. The service must also navigate the challenges 19th Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force, and en other candidates based on her experience, of Operations Southern Watch, Enduring Freedom, and posed by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic while balancing follow in the footsteps of some of the best leaders recommendations, and career performance. Iraqi Freedom.” an expensive slate of modernization programs, building a our Air Force has ever known,” Bass said in a June As CMSAF, she will oversee more than 410,000 The decorated leader most recently served as chief of Air more equitable and diverse workforce, and standing up the 19 press release. “The history of the moment isn’t enlisted Airmen. Force enlisted developmental education at the Pentagon. new Space Force. J

18 JULY/AUGUST 2020 AIRFORCEMAG.COM JULY/AUGUST 2020 AIRFORCEMAG.COM 19 Goodbye Wings, Hello Deltas The Space Force finalizes organizational changes. By Rachel S. Cohen Streamlined Structure The new Space Force eliminates two echelons of command to create a flatter organizational The Space Force announced June 30 it will structure than the Air Force. Field commands will be the equivalent of Air Force major com- organize its personnel into three levels: field mands and deltas will replace wings. commands, deltas, and squadrons. Field Commands The decision eliminates groups and Num- Chief of The Space Force will have three bered Air Forces. Space Force officials argue Space such commands—Space Opera- a flatter organization will make it more flex- Operations tions Command (SpOC, led by a ible than its predecessor, Air Force Space CSO three-star general), Space Systems Command. Command (SSC, also led by a “This is the most significant restructuring Deltas three-star), and Space Training and Readiness Command (STARCOM, of space units undertaken by the United Like wings, deltas will Field Commands led by a two-star). States since the establishment of Air Force typically be colonel-led Space Command in 1982,” said Secretary of commands focused on operations, support, the Air Force Barbara M. Barrett in a release. and training. Squadrons Squadrons will focus on missions, such Like the Air as satellite operations or intelligence, and Deltas Force, Space will report up to new deltas, named for the Force squadrons triangular symbol often used in space logos. will be the essen- A colonel will lead each delta, built to tial operational Squadrons building block of handle functions like operations, installation the new force. support, and training. People who previously worked in groups or numbered Air Forces will move to jobs elsewhere, and some of their daily tasks materiel organizations will be fully open for business. The will be repurposed. Space Force has not announced what it plans to call Space The Space Force will have three field commands: Space Force personnel. Training and Readiness Command (STARCOM), Space The Space Force, which falls under the Department of Operations Command (SpOC), and Space Systems Com- the Air Force, is the U.S. military’s response to the growth mand (SSC). of commercial and military technology in space, as well STARCOM supplants Air Education and Training Com- as the proliferation of weapons that could threaten Amer- mand as the organization in charge of the training pipeline, ican space assets. It is expected to grow to around 15,000 starting in 2021. In the meantime, a colonel-run delta at personnel from across the Defense Department, and may Peterson Air Force Base, Colo., will oversee training and eventually become a military department on par with the readiness. Air Force, Army, and Navy. “This unit will serve as the parent organization for a In the Senate Armed Services Committee’s version of the number of education, training, and operational test and fiscal 2021 defense policy bill, lawmakers backed the cre- evaluation units transferring to the Space Force in summer ation of a new training and readiness command to handle 2020,” the service said. doctrine and education. But senators also urged the Space SpOC will be headed by a three-star general and will Force to use as many Air Force resources as possible to cut supply Space Forces’ personnel and combat resources to costs and red tape. commanders across the globe. It will replace today's Space “The committee commends the Space Force on the Operations Command at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., combined organizational model planned for the Air Force and include the Space Force’s staff and operations already Research [Laboratory],” lawmakers added. Some AFRL located at Peterson. employees will continue to pursue projects that benefit SSC will oversee research, development, and acquisition air combat, while others, like sensors and space vehicles and encompass the Space and Missile Systems Center, the researchers, will report to Space Force officials. Commercial Satellite Communications Office, and other “By combining efforts and managing priorities of both space system program offices from across the Defense the Air Force and Space Force, the Department of Defense Department. The three-star command will oversee military achieves synchronized effects with a very limited bureau- rockets, satellites, radars, and other space-related assets cracy. The committee recommends the use of this combined from creation to retirement. model to the maximum extent possible in places such as Space Force field commands will begin life as deltas the Air Warfare Center and the National Air and Space later this summer. It's not clear when its operations and Intelligence Center.” J

 JULY/AUGUST  AIRFORCEMAG.COM NORAD An F-22 Raptor intercepts a Russian Tu-95 bomber in the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone on June 10. Russian military aircraft approached U.S. airspace at least six times in June and 10 times over the first half of the year. A Spike in US, Russian Intercepts Heats a New Cold War

By Amy McCullough As the intercepts increased, the U.S. on June 14 sent three B-52Hs from Barksdale Air Force Base, La., to Eielson Air North American Aerospace Defense Command ghters Force Base, Alaska, for a Bomber Task Force deployment. intercepted Russian bombers, ghters, and maritime patrol The U.S. also sent two B-52s from Minot Air Force Base, aircraft at least 10 times this year o the coast of Alaska, N.D., to Europe to participate in the NATO-led BALTOPs with the majority of those encounters taking place in June, exercise. NORAD and U.S. Northern Command boss Gen. Terrence J. Russian ghters also intercepted a B-52 ying over the O’Shaughnessy said. U.S. aircraft, also in June, encountered Sea of Okhotsk on June 19, and on June 15, Russian Su-27s Russian aircraft several times while operating in international intercepted two B-52s that were ying in international air- airspace in the U.S. European Command theater of operations. space in Eastern Europe. NORAD F-22s, supported by KC-135 tankers and an E-3 e bomber deployment came after U.S. F-22s—with help Airborne Warning and Control System, intercepted four from KC-135 Stratotankers and an E-3 Airborne Warning and Russian Tu-142 reconnaissance planes as they encroached Control System—intercepted two separate Russian bomber on the Alaskan Air Defense Identi cation Zone (ADIZ) on formations o the Alaskan coast on June 10. June 27, marking the second intercept in a week and at least e rst included two Tupolev Tu-95 bombers, two Suk- the sixth o the Alaskan coast in June. hoi Su-35 ghters, and a Beriev A-50 airborne early warning e Russian aircraft loitered in the ADIZ south of Alaskan and control aircraft, which ew “within 20 nautical miles of Aleutian island chain “for nearly eight hours,” however, they Alaskan shores,” according to a NORAD release. e second did not cross into U.S. or Canadian airspace, according to a formation was made up of a pair of Tu-95s and an A-50, and NORAD release. came within 32 nautical miles of the coast, it added. e June 27 intercept following by a day Russian ghters O’Shaughnessy recently told reporters that Russia is intercepting a U.S. Navy P-8 Poseidon, a U.S. Air Force RC- testing the U.S. military to see if the new coronavirus has 135, and a USAF KC-135 tanker over the Black Sea. It was created any weaknesses. But the U.S. remains ready, he the second such intercept in the Black Sea region in about said, “24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.” a month. On May 29, Russian Su-27 and Su-30SM ghters e June 10 intercepts were the command’s rst interac- intercepted USAF B-1s that were ying with Ukrainian Su-27s tion with Russian aircraft since April, a NORAD spokesperson and MiG-29s in the area. said. However, Russian military aircraft activity prompted a NORAD F-22s, supported by a U.S. Transportation Com- string of U.S. intercepts earlier this year, Air Force Magazine mand KC-135, again intercepted a pair of Russian IL-38 air- previously reported. craft as they crossed into the Alaska Air Defense Identi cation In February, O’Shaughnessy told the Senate Armed Services Zone late on June 24. Committee that adversaries, such as Russia and China, want to e maritime patrol and anti-submarine warfare planes avoid direct military conict, but he cautioned “their growing got within 50 miles of Alaska’s Unimak Island—the largest of assertiveness increases the risk of miscalculation and gives the Aleutians—and spent about four hours in the zone, the rise to a threat environment more complex and dynamic than command announced on June 25. we have seen since the end of the Cold War.” J

JULY/AUGUST  AIRFORCEMAG.COM  Senators Resist Trump’s Plan to Retrench from Germany By Brian W. Everstine

President Donald J. Trump on June 30 approved a De- fense Department plan to withdraw 9,500 troops from Germany, as a group of bipartisan senators introduced a measure to block the move. Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark A. Milley presented the plan to Trump on June 29. Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman said the plan not only meets Trump’s directive to remove the troops, “it will also enhance Russian deterrence, strengthen NATO, reassure allies, improve U.S. strategic Vergun David flexibility, and U.S. European Command’s operational Defense Secretary Mark Esper addresses Johns Hopkins flexibility, and take care of our service members and their School of Advanced International Studies’ Philip Merrill Center families.” for Strategic Studies in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 6. Hoffman did not explain how it would accomplish these goals. He said the Pentagon will brief congressional defense Germany very substantially.” Poland does meet that mark, committees soon. U.S. Air Forces in Europe commander and that country would welcome additional U.S. forces. Gen. Jeffrey L. Harrigian told reporters June 29 he has not However, Duda urged the U.S. not to completely pull the been given any orders to make or plan any changes. troops out of Europe. A bipartisan group of senators on June 29 introduced an Stoltenberg, speaking during the June Brussels Forum, amendment to the fiscal 2021 defense policy bill to block said Trump remains committed to the alliance, and noted the move, saying such a step would be a “gift” to Russia. that eight of the 30 member countries currently spend 2 The measure is supported by Sens. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), percent of gross domestic product on defense. He also noted Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Chris that European allies have invested $130 billion more than Coons (D-Del.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), and Jeanne Shaheen originally planned since 2016, according to a DOD release. (D-N.H.). The House Armed Services Committee adopted a Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), the chairman of the House similar provision in its own version of the authorization bill. Armed Services Committee, told reporters June 30 the Before funds can be freed up for a troop reduction, the announcement was “unilateral” from Trump, with the amendment calls on Esper to consult with allies and then Pentagon then coming in to “backfill the plan.” While the submit a report to Congress certifying the reduction: White House has said there would be a reposition to Poland, ■ Is in the national security interest of the U.S. there is not yet a specific plan. ■ Would not undermine the security of the U.S. and its “It is possible that there is a scenario where repositioning allies. troops out of Germany is in our national security interests,” ■ Would not undermine NATO’s defense posture. Smith said. “The President has not made that case to date. ■ Would not pose “unacceptable risk” to executing The DOD has not made that case, and … the President is contingency plans. doing it in a very haphazard manner.” ■ Would not adversely effect operations in the Middle There are about 9,377 Active-duty Air Force troops at East and Africa. Ramstein Air Base, with another 4,000 at Spangdahlem Air ■ It would not negatively effect military families. Base. The Pentagon announcement did not provide specific ■ Would not result in new costs for the redeployment departure timelines or destinations for the 9,500 troops, nor and relocation of troops. specify how many might come from the Air Force or Army, “In addition to undermining our NATO alliance, a but said it “will be providing timely updates to potentially withdrawal would present serious logistical challenges affected personnel, their families, and communities as plan- and prevent our military from performing routine military ning progresses.” J readiness exercises,” Romney said in a statement. After learning of Trump’s desire to withdraw troops, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg emphasized that Two Pilots Killed in June Crashes the U.S. presence on the continent not only protects Europe, By Amy McCullough but also enables the U.S. to project power beyond Europe. “We have seen that bases like the Ramstein base, the Two fighter pilots were killed in separate crashes roughly Landstuhl medical facility, and many other U.S. bases in two weeks apart in June—the latest in a series of USAF Germany, they are essential for what the U.S. has done accidents over the past few months. over decades in the Middle East, Afghanistan, Iraq, and First Lt. David Schmitz, an F-16CM pilot assigned to the in Africa,” Stoltenberg said on June 16 prior to the latest 77th Fighter Squadron at Shaw Air Force Base, S.C., was defense ministerial meeting in Brussels. killed on June 30 when his aircraft crash-landed around Trump, in a White House appearance alongside Polish 11:30 p.m. during a routine training mission at the base. President Andrzej Duda, said Germany does not meet the Videos posted online showed emergency crews attempting NATO goal of spending 2 percent of its gross domestic to put out a large fire on the flight line. product on defense, and in turn “we’re going to be reducing On June 15, 1st Lt. Kenneth Allen, assistant chief of

 JULY/AUGUST  AIRFORCEMAG.COM ing the aircraft to enter an uncontrollable spin and crash into the Pacific Ocean near the base. The pilot ejected and was seriously injured; the aircraft was destroyed at a loss of $42.36 million. J RPA Training Next Overhaul By Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory

Air Education and Training Command’s RPA Training Next (RTN) e ort aims to overhaul how the Air Force builds future RPA pilots and sensor operators, giving Airmen more person- alized journeys through the RPA training pipeline instead of making them adhere to a one-size-ts-all path to their careers. “What we determined we needed to do was take a holistic Senior Airman William Brugge Senior William Airman approach to training, take a look at the entirety of the pipeline Members of Team Charleston on July 4 honor 1st Lt. David from what we’re calling ‘cradle to combat,’ and to nd better Schmitz, an F-16CM pilot who died in a crash at Shaw Air Force ways of learning [and] better technology to increase the real- Base, S.C., June 30. ism of the training in order to produce a higher-caliber pilot and sensor operator for remotely piloted aircraft platforms,” said Maj. Adam Smith, the initiative’s former director, in a recent AETC podcast episode about the endeavor. is new class—deemed the RPA Course, or RPAC—will frame training objectives in the context of mission goals, and is expected to reduce the length of the course by 22 days, he said. “Students are not just ying a teardrop hold as the FAA might ask them to do, but there is a reason why they are holding—it’s to talk to a joint terminal attack controller on the ground, or to avoid a threat, or wait to get clearance,” Smith said in the release. Teaching these future pilots about Joint Terminal Attack Controller's roles and how to interact with them earlier on should enable formal training unit instructors to teach Airmen more advanced skills. Future sensor operators usually take their own introductory class, called the Basic Sensor Operator Course, Smith said in Roland BalikRoland a recent interview with Air Force Magazine. e RTN team The remains of 1st Lt. Kenneth Allen, of Perry, Utah, during a is examining how it can combine that course with the RPA dignified transfer June 18 at Dover Air Force Base, Del. Course, which will eventually be an umbrella introductory course for both types of trainees. weapons and tactics at the 493rd Fighter Squadron at RAF Once pilot and sensor operator trainees graduate from Lakenheath, U.K., was killed when his F-15C crashed into RPAC, the plan is to send them to formal training units. the North Sea during a routine training mission, the 48th MQ-9 Reaper pilots will ship out to Holloman Air Force Fighter Wing announced. Base, N.M., March Air Reserve Base, Calif., or Syracuse, Both incidents were still under investigation as of early N.Y., where Smith said their training will center around July, with the causes of the crashes unknown. The Air Force Combat Air Force-relevant skill sets, such as using mu- did not immediately say whether it is considering a safety nitions and working with JATCs. Sensor operators will be standdown. On May 19, an F-35 from Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., crash-landed at the base. Days earlier, an F-22, also from Eglin, crashed north of the base. Both the F-35 and F-22 pilots successfully ejected. The last time a Shaw aircraft crashed was in July 2015, when an F-16CM from the 55th Fighter Squadron collided with a civilian Cessna 150M, killing two aboard that plane, though the F-16 pilot was able to eject. The June 30 mishap is the first F-16 crash since a Viper assigned to the 49th Wing at Holloman Air Force Base, N.M., crashed on Oct. 29, 2019, southeast of the base. That pilot was able to eject. The June 15 F-15 crash marked the first time since 2014 a

48th Fighter Wing aircraft crashed, and the first time since Sgt.Sta Ramon Adelan June 2018 an F-15 crashed. An investigation found that in An RQ-4 Global Hawk at Beale Air Force Base, Calif., in 2018. 2018 the F-15C pilot from the 44th Fighter Squadron at Beale will host Global Hawk pilot and sensor operator training Kadena Air Base, Japan, made improper maneuvers caus- for high-altitude ISR and transoceanic crossings.

JULY/AUGUST  AIRFORCEMAG.COM  sent to Holloman, AETC spokesperson Daniel E. Hawkins Paul Hendrickson, Air Force Life Cycle Management Center told Air Force Magazine. Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear Defense Pilots destined for the RQ-4 Global Hawk will head to material leader. Beale Air Force Base, Calif., where Smith said their training will revolve around “high-altitude intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance,” as well as “transoceanic crossings.” Future Global Hawk sensor operators also will finish their training at Beale, Hawkins said. The plan should let USAF train new RPA pilots or sensor operators in approximately one year and give pilots and sensor operators about a month of side-by-side training during the undergraduate phase of the pipeline, Smith noted on the podcast. “The sensor operator is an integral component to how we operate and fly RPAs in the Air Force today and well into the future, so we need to ensure that they are getting the training that they need to be that combat-ready aircrew coming out of training,” he said. RPA Training Next also aims to change how USAF uses tech- nology by exposing Airmen to the tools they’ll use in the eld starting in early stages of training, Smith said. is includes Alexi 1 stAirman Class Myrick additions to T-6 simulators currently used for RPA training, Master Sgt. Arenda Jackson, 931st Aircraft Maintenance such as targeting pods, chat functions, and more screens that’ll Squadron crew chief, marshals a KC-46A Pegasus at provide Airmen with a “moving map display” from which to McConnell Air Force Base, Kan. navigate. e initiative also wants to give Airmen early exposure to arti cial intelligence. KC-46 Full-Rate Production e RPA Training Next team and 19th Air Force are on track to start small-group training experiments this summer, Hawkins Pushed Back to 2024 said. However, the timeline and methodology for rolling out the proposed changes to the USAF’s overall pipeline have yet to be By Brian W. Everstine determined, since the results of the test runs and COVID-19 pandemic impacts must be taken into account, Hawkins added. A full-rate production decision for the KC-46 tanker is USAF plans to establish a new RPA wing by 2024 to allow delayed until 2024, while Boeing works through problems another squadron to take a hiatus from combat and focus plaguing the jet's Remote Vision System (RVS), the service on training. However, the Government Accountability Oce announced June 8. released a report in June questioning whether the service will The Air Force and the Pentagon’s Director of Operational have enough RPA pilots and sensor operators to pull that Test and Evaluation decided the KC-46’s initial operational off. J test and evaluation will only conclude after the RVS defi- ciencies are resolved, and the Air Force Operational Test COVID-19 Patient Transportation and Evaluation Center has tested the aircraft in its final production configuration, the service said in a statement. System Ready For Service KC-46 full-rate production was originally slated for June 2017, and has been pushed back multiple times. The latest By Alyk Russell Kenlan delay will not add any “contractual cost or delivery impacts,” the service said. e rst Negatively Pressurized Conex (NPC) ready for The expected announcement comes after Air Mobility service landed at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, on June 24. Command boss Gen. Maryanne Miller said last fall that e NPC is a steel shipping container adapted so air can while the tanker had entered the beginning of initial op- ow into the capsule. It can be loaded onto C-17 Globemaster erational test and evaluation, the aircraft would “not come IIIs and C-5M Super Galaxies, and it can transport up to 23 out of IOT&E until RVS is fixed.” Service leaders have said COVID-19 patients without risk of contaminating the crew, the new tanker is not deployable for another four years according to a USAF release. because of the issues. When the COVID-19 pandemic began, the Air Force in- In April, the Air Force and Boeing agreed on an overhaul creased training on the Transport Isolation System (TIS)—a of the RVS—a collection of cameras, sensors, and screens chamber developed during the 2014 Ebola outbreak. However, the operator uses to remotely control the aircraft’s refueling the TIS can only carry two to four patients at a time. boom. The current system is problematic in multiple ways, A smaller variation, the Negatively Pressurized Conex-Lite, including issues with lighting, low-quality imagery, and can be used on C-130 Hercules aircraft. warped views of aircraft. The new system includes 4K color In early April, Air Mobility Command and Air Force Ma- cameras with proper viewing geometry, larger and higher teriel Command leaders started looking for ways to move definition screens, a laser ranger for refueling aircraft dis- large numbers of COVID-19 patients, should the need arise. tance measurement, and augmented reality. Boeing expects “In less than 30 days, the NPC went from an idea on a to spend $551 million of its own money on the design and napkin to a proven concept, … and only 88 days from that implementation of the new system, with fielding planned idea to the delivery of an operational system,” said Lt. Col. in 2023. J

 JULY/AUGUST  AIRFORCEMAG.COM Lengyel: Military Should Stay Out of Civil-Unrest Missions By Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory

Civil-unrest response efforts should be undertaken by law-enforcement authorities, not U.S. troops, National Guard Bureau Chief Air Force Gen. Joseph L. Lengyel said July 2 during an event hosted by the Brookings Institution think tank. “In my opinion, uniforms, I don’t care what flavor they are—Title 10, Active-duty, National Guard, Reserve—uniforms

being out there in law-enforcement situations is not optimal,” Sgt. Stephens John Lengyel told Brookings Senior Fellow Michael E. O’Hanlon Air Force Gen. Joseph Lengyel, Chief of the National Guard during a livestreamed conversation about the state of the Bureau, thanked Soldiers and Airmen assisting civil authorities Guard. “We should do as little of it as we can, and it should be in June. predominantly a law-enforcement, police operation. And when they need us, we can—and we will—come. But we should do misuse of Guard air assets—including a District of Columbia what we can to avoid that.” Army National Guard helicopter and Air National Guard RC- According to Lengyel, Guard operations in response to civil 26 aircraft—during the Guard’s unrest response are ongoing. disturbances that broke out across the nation after George “Those ongoing investigations are still happening, and Floyd died in police custody in Minnesota on Memorial Day when they’re done, we’ll make sure everybody knows what are “beginning to recede.” But the Guard is prepared to ramp up they said,” Lengyel said. its support of state governors and law enforcement authorities Civil-unrest missions are the most challenging in NGB’s “should events turn sideways and our system need it.” domestic portfolio, he said. About 570 Guard personnel—including about 60 Air Guards- “Frequently, there are members of one family on one side men—were still activated in six states and the nation’s capital of the line and other members dressed in civil riot gear on the July 2, backing up law enforcement in case unrest broke out, other side, and it is a difficult, difficult situation for our men NGB spokesperson Army Master Sgt. W. Michael Houk told and women to be in,” he said. Air Force Magazine via email. Going forward, he said, the Guard will “train better” for these “This is a significant drop from a peak of roughly 41,500 Air kinds of situations and equip its personnel with de-escalation and Army Guard on duty at the beginning of June,” Houk wrote. techniques so they can feel more prepared for these kinds of Lengyel also noted that investigations into the potential operations. J

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JULY/AUGUST 2020 AIRFORCEMAG.COM 25 Gen. Thomas S. Moorman Jr., 1940-2020 By John A. Tirpak etired Gen. omas S. Moorman Jr., a key leader in the formation of Air Force space organizations and a former Air Force vice chief of sta, died June 17 at age 79. RGen. John W. “Jay” Raymond, U.S. Space Force Chief of Space Operations and head of U.S. Space Command, described Moorman as “a friend and long-time mentor” whose legacy will be “forever … etched in the establishment of U.S. Air Force Space Command.” Raymond said Moorman “played a pivotal role in establishing both national and Defense Department space programs, while laying the foundation for today’s U.S. Space Force.” Moorman was born in Washington, D.C., the son of Lt. Gen. omas Moorman Sr., who served as superintendent of the Air Force Academy. Moorman Jr. earned his bachelor’s degree at Dartmouth and entered the Air Force through the

Reserve Ocer Training Corps in 1962. He held Archives National a number of intelligence-related positions as a Then-Air Force Chief of Sta Gen. Norton Schwartz presents retired Gen. junior ocer, serving in Thomas Moorman Jr. (center) with the Gen. James E. Hill Lifetime Space ailand during the Viet- Achievement Award in 2012. With them is Martin Faga, then-chairman of the nam War as a reconnais- board for the Space Foundation. sance mission planner. He earned two mas- of service missions and capabilities. ter’s degrees: one in business admin- Moorman retired from the service in 1997. In retirement, istration from Western New England he served on a number of industrial boards, as well as the College and another in political sci- board of the Space Foundation, and was its vice chairman. He ence from Auburn University. was also a partner with Booz Allen Hamilton, working for that As a major, he embarked on a organization from 1998-2008, developing the company’s Air space specialty. He was director of Force and NASA business. He served on the congressionally

USAF space operations for the North Amer- chartered Space Commission, which in 2001 presented rec- Gen. Thomas S. ican Aerospace Defense Command, ommendations for an overhaul of the Defense, Intelligence Moorman Jr. deputy director for space defense in Community, and National Oceanographic and Atmospheric the Pentagon, and he held a number Administration space enterprise. of positions managing development of space systems for Moorman received numerous awards, including the Gen. surveillance, communication, navigation, and weather, omas D. White Space Trophy; the Robert H. Goddard including as sta director for the National Reconnaissance Memorial Trophy; the American Astronautical Society’s Oce. While at the NRO, he led a series of analyses that Astronautics Award; the Defense Intelligence Agency’s Di- eventually led to the creation of Air Force Space Command. rector’s Award; the Space Foundation’s Space Achievement In 1987, Moorman became director of space systems for Award and Lifetime Achievement Awards; and two awards of the joint-service Strategic Defense Initiative, and returned the NRO’s Gold Medal. e Moorman Space Education and to USAF to continue working on SDI for Air Force Systems Training Center at Peterson is named for him, as is Air Force Command. Space Command’s award for Best Operational Wing. J In March 1990, Moorman was named commander of Air Force Space Command at Peterson Air Force Base, Colo., where he was responsible for organizing or reorganizing ■ The War on Terrorism and equipping all aspects of the Air Force’s space enterprise, Casualties: early warning systems, and military space launch, as well as As of July 6, 2020, 94 Americans had died in Operation the intercontinental ballistic missile force. Freedom’s Sentinel in Afghanistan, and 98 Americans had In 1994, he was chosen to be vice chief of sta. Chief of died in Operation Inherent Resolve in Iraq, Syria, and other Sta Gen. Ronald R. Fogleman said at the time that Moor- locations. man was selected because he was “the right man” for the e total includes 188 troops and four Defense Depart- job, but also to highlight the rapidly growing importance of ment civilians. Of these deaths, 87 were killed in action space capabilities and organizations in the Air Force and with the enemy, while 105 died in noncombat incidents. defense-wide. As vice chief, Moorman was USAF’s represen- ere have been 571 troops wounded in action during tative on the Joint Requirements Oversight Council and the OFS and 230 troops in OIR. Air Force’s point man for the Quadrennial Defense Review

 JULY/AUGUST  AIRFORCEMAG.COM FACES OF THE FORCE Sta Sgt. Dylan Nuckolls Sgt. Dylan Nuckolls Sta Courtesy photo Sgt. Jessica Young Master Tech. Sgt. Kat Justen Sgt. Kat Justen Tech. Sgt. Brooklyn Greenwood Tech

SECAF Barbara M. Bar- Capt. Emily Thompson, Candice Hatcher-Solis, The 561st and 558th Air- Tennessee ANG Senior rett earned “Spirit number an F-35A pilot from the a research scientist in craft Maintenance Squad- Master Sgt. Thomas 732” on a B-2 stealth 388th Fighter Wing at the AFRL’s 711th Human rons paint teams from the Crider (pictured) and bomber training mission Hill Air Force Base, Utah, Performance Wing, won Warner Robins ALC joined Tech. Sgt. David Hill are during a June 11 visit to recently became the Women of Color Maga- forces to memorialize 1st collaborating with the Whiteman Air Force Base, first woman to fly the Air zine’s 2020 STEM Techni- Lt. Kenneth Allen, an Warner Robins ALC and Mo. During the nearly Force’s Joint Strike Fighter cal Innovation in Govern- assistant chief of weapons the augmented reality/ two-hour flight in a radius variant into combat. “This ment award. She leads and tactics who died June virtual reality development of about 200 miles ... Lt. is my first deployment … the lab’s Neurobiology of 15 when his F-15C crashed studio Moth+Flame—with Col. Nicola C. Polidor ”in- so for me it was a pretty Cognitive Performance into the North Sea. They support from ARCWERX— troduced the Secretary to big deal. … Of course team, mentors budding stenciled Allen’s name to let maintainers practice the procedures of a typical being the first female, it’s a engineers and scientists, on the side of an F-15E repairing F-15C, F-15E, training mission,” 509th pretty big honor,” she said. and is passionate about that was bound for RAF C-130H, C-17A, C-5M, and Bomb Wing spokesper- A four-woman mainte- getting more women and Lakenheath, U.K. “This JSTARS aircraft engines son Tech. Sgt. Alexander nance crew worked with minorities into STEM ca- is our way of honoring a using VR. The e ort is Riedel told Air Force Thompson the day of the reers. “Diversity in STEM fallen warrior and sharing expected to save USAF Magazine. Barrett, an in- flight. Before flying the benefits all and engenders our grief ... with our money, improve training strument-rated pilot, took F-35A, Thompson trained innovation and creativity warfighting teammates at quality, and boost the the controls of the stealth on and completed a tour to address questions and Lakenheath,” said 561st overall mission-capable bomber during flight. in the F-16 Fighting Falcon. solve problems,” she said. AMXS Director Jim Kelly. rate, Crider said. USAF Airman 1st Class William William Class 1st Airman Rio Rosado USAF Courtesy photo USAFA Air Force O ice of Special When the Air Force Sta‹ Sgts. Anthony and The Little Rock Air Force The U.S. Air Force Acade- Investigations rookie Reserve put out a call Hunter of Creech Air Force Base, Ark., 61st Airlift my added a new member Special Agent Jonathan for backup as part of its Base’s 432nd Aircraft Main- Squadron was awarded to its Falconry Team. The Parker spotted an over- COVID-19 response to tenance Squadron saved a the General Joseph Smith female gyrfalcon—whose turned chemical tanker hotspots, 349th Medical U.S. Marine whose leg was Trophy as AMC’s top name hadn’t been deter- truck on an Alabama Group doctor Sanjiv Baxi caught by a wheel used to airlift squadron in 2019. The mined by press time—was highway. Parker located volunteered to deploy to help tow a UH-1Y Venom squadron backed up seven hatched in May, USAFA the unconscious, injured New York City. “I had been helicopter, when the air- combatant commanders spokesperson Maureen driver, got bystanders to working on COVID-19 for craft started dragging them in five di erent AORs, flew Welch said. Her initial call for help, and reached a few months before it hit,” across the flight line. After 5,500 tactical airlift sorties, training will be getting out to the tanker company said Baxi, an infectious a rescue attempt by other and moved over 24,000 used to sitting on falconry to get information needed disease physician who U.S. troops failed, they lifted people and 14 million cadets’ gloved hands and to evaluate the safety of teaches epidemiology at the helicopter by its tail so tons of cargo. “This win is becoming accustomed the scene. “I’m proud to the University of Califor- the Marine could be freed, concrete feedback ... [to] all to having a hood put on be a part of an organiza- nia, San Francisco in his and cared for them until the e ort the squadron has and removed. She’ll also tion that values the safety civilian time. “Because of help arrived. “It makes a lot put into the combat airlift be trained in the flying of others ... and makes my background, ... I felt I of the danger for the jobs enterprise,” said squad- skills necessary for football service simply a way of had something to bring to we do more real,” Hunter ron Commander Lt. Col. game halftime perfor- life,” he said. the fight.” said. Andrew Miller. mances at USAFA. Tell us who you think we should highlight here. Write to [email protected].

JULY/AUGUST  AIRFORCEMAG.COM  Leveling the Field Black Airmen advance slower at almost every rank, analysis shows. By Rachel S. Cohen Higher Rates at Higher Grades White Black/ Asian Hispanic The Weighted Airman Promotion System (WAPS) relies on testing for the E-5 through E-7 African ech. Sgt. Miles Starr began her Air Force (Staff Sergeant through Master Sergeant). But at the top enlisted grades, a board process American career with a lofty goal: She wanted to be similar to the officer system is used. The 2019 Senior Master Sergeant and Chief Master the service’s first Black, female fire chief. Sergeant boards both selected Black NCOs for promotion at higher rates than white NCOs. It was a chance to embody change. She tried to climb the ladder, looking for 2019 Enlisted Promotion Rates 34.0% Average Enlisted Promotion Rates: 2009-2019 24.0% 32.1% teams to lead and programs to run that would T 51.8% 25.0% 25.5% 13.0% 21.5% make her a prime candidate for promotion. But 24.0% 20.6% 28.1% 23.2% 19.8% she hit a common Catch-22: Each time she sought 46.8% 46.4% 27.1% 10.5% 10.7% new opportunities to broaden her experience, 39.7% she was told she needed more experience to earn those opportunities. 8.5% Starr endured other problems. In 2007, a white, male supervisor called her “Aunt Jemima” in 10,248 of 2,150 of 643 of 2,485 of 6,943 of 1,291 of 286 of 1.557 of 3,345 of 689 of 163 of 640 of 946 of 270 of 33 of 175 of 352 of 97 of 12 of 51 of 387 451 50 257 front of her peers. Some, she said, perceived her 19,773 5,147 1,373 5,356 20,438 4,768 1,019 4,848 13,364 2,968 678 2.508 8,974 2,072 1,633 1,705 as intimidating, or as an “angry Black woman” who was unqualified for higher posts. When she approached a different, white boss seeking classes she could pursue, hoping not to let a year pass without professional growth, he argued she wasn’t ready. He then chose her white, male colleague to attend a class she had wanted to take. Staff Sergeant Tech Sergeant Master Sergeant Senior Master Sergeant Chief Master Sergeant “I felt like I was constantly bumping up against a wall, while others are able to move freely into positions that at my new job that believe in me and what I bring to the table.” Airmen than Black officers, and the gap widens to around 10 tions within the “Line of the Air Force” category, comprising would get them to the top,” she told Air Force Magazine. Racial disparities have persisted in the Air Force’s promotion percentage points for lieutenant colonels. about 90 percent of Active-duty officers. The Air Force did away Eventually, Starr dropped her dream of being a minority system, even as the Air Force has tried to level the playing field. For example, on average over the past decade, the Air Force with that category late last year; beginning with this year’s face atop the firefighting field and switched careers. She rose Over the past decade, white Airmen were promoted up the chose 74.2 percent of white officers for promotion to lieutenant promotion boards, officers will instead compete within six to noncommissioned officer in charge of retention at Hill Air ranks more often than Airmen who are Black or members of colonel, compared to 64.4 percent of Black or African American new categories combining similar career fields. Force Base, Utah. other minority groups, according to Air Force promotion data Airmen. In 2019 alone, 73.3 percent of white officers and 62.4 Trends are similar in the enlisted force. Slightly over half of “In my new career field, I have opportunities for growth and provided in response to an Air Force Magazine query. percent of Black officers who sought promotion to lieutenant white enlisted Airmen eligible for promotion to staff sergeant I’ve been placed in those positions, but there are still some Among officers, average promotion rates for majors and colonel were selected: 857 white officers and 53 Black officers. in 2019 were selected, compared to about 40 percent of eligi- people who make it hard,” she said. “There are enough people colonels are more than 5 percentage points higher for white These numbers describe “in-the-zone,” or on-time, promo- ble Black Airmen. As eligibility pools shrink at higher ranks, Lagging Indicators The percentage of eligible Black officers promoted lags behind white officers at every rank. One likely reason: Far fewer Black officers -pur sue flying careers. Recent changes to the promotion system's competitive categories could improve those chances by setting aside more jobs for non-flyers. Increasing the number of Black pilots could also have an impact. 2019 Officer Promotion Rates Average Officer Promotion Rates: 2009-2019 48.5% 95.2% 94.7% 94.1% 73.3% 93.5% 74.2% 90.6% 54.5% 90.9% 90.2% 43.6% 51.3% 87.3% 43.3% 68% 65.7% 67% 64.4% 40.4% 64.4% 64% 48.5%

1,760 of 126 of 124 of 174 of 857 of 53 of 48 of 68 of 332 of 20 of 16 of 1169 609 39 1,859 139 131 185 85 75 100 27.3% 33

3 of 11 Dash Parham/staff Dash Major Lt. Colonel Colonel Major Lt. Colonel Colonel

28 JULY/AUGUST 2020 AIRFORCEMAG.COM JULY/AUGUST 2020 AIRFORCEMAG.COM 29 however, promotion rates appear to number since at least 2014 and down even out: 20.6 percent of white Airmen from 18 in 2018. were promoted to chief master sergeant Overall, barely 4 percent of the Air in 2019 compared to 21.5 percent of Force’s general ocers, or those with one Black enlisted. to four stars on their shoulders, identify as Black or African American. None are CAUSE AND EFFECT Black women. Several factors contribute to the ra- One driving factor may be diversity cial gap in promotions: access to pro- within specic career elds. Pilots have fessional development opportunities, long dominated the service’s leadership. lack of mentorship, biases that a ect Every chief of sta was a pilot rst. Pilot an Airman’s record and the people candidates must volunteer; the Air Force promoting them, and less minority does not assign those duties unless can- representation in careers that are the Sgt. Haux Sta Hailey didates rst apply. e vast majority of fastest track to the upper echelons of “I can’t fix centuries of racism in those volunteers are white men. Indeed, Air Force leadership. our country, nor can I fix decades fewer than 2 percent of USAF pilots are Lt. Gen. Brian T. Kelly, Air Force of the discrimination that may Black, limiting diversity higher up the deputy chief of sta for manpower, per- have impacted members of our ranks. Of those 300 or so Black pilots, sonnel, and services, said that without Air Force. … I’m thinking about less than 20 are women. instituting quotas (which are illegal), Lack of exposure is part of the prob- how I can make improvements the service’s goal is to reach approxi- lem. Retired Gen. Larry O. Spencer, a mately the same promotion rates across personally, professionally, and former Air Force Vice Chief of Sta (and all demographic groups. In other words, institutionally.” a former Air Force Association president) if about 70 percent of eligible Airmen —Gen. Charles Brown, incoming had never set foot in an airport before he are selected for promotion, that gure USAF Chief of Sta ew from his native Washington, D.C., to should be roughly the same for every Texas for Basic Military Training in the demographic prole. early 1970s. “Our promotion boards, both on “In my neighborhood … ying an the ocer and enlisted side, we think airplane was not on anybody’s radar, not do a really good job of picking the because they didn’t think it was a good most deserving Airmen based on the thing, or that it would [not] be fun,” he records and based on the information said. “ere was nobody there to tell me that comes to the promotion board,” about it.” Kelly said. “Everything that happens ose hurdles persist in minority com- … prior to the promotion board are the munities nationwide. Today, the Air things that we concentrate our work Force o ers aviation scholarships to un- on, because those are the things that derrepresented communities, reaching inuence the record that shows up at young people through the Junior Reserve the board.” Ocers’ Training Corps, and pitching President Harry S. Truman desegre- Tsukamoto/sta Mike air, space, and cyber operations careers gated the armed forces in 1948, nearly “Our promotion boards, both on the at job expos and community events. e two decades before the U.S. enacted its oicer and enlisted side, we think U.S. Air Force Academy now has recruit- landmark Civil Rights Act in 1964. As of do a really good job of picking the ment goals for each incoming class. In March 2020, Black Air Force personnel most deserving Airmen based on the Class of 2023, 10 percent is African made up 15 percent of Active-duty the records and based on the infor- American, up from about 7 percent for officers and enlisted and about 13 mation that comes to the promotion the Class of 2020. percent of civilian employees. at’s board.” Yet the percentage of Black Airmen slightly more than the Black or African —Lt. Gen. Brian Kelly, deputy Air who choose to become pilots is still American population in the U.S., which Force chief of sta for manpower, small, and Black pilots ght for visibility the U.S. Census Bureau estimates at personnel, and services and acceptance. In his video, Brown, a 13.4 percent. decorated ghter pilot, recounted “wear- Seven percent of Americans who are eligible to become Air ing the same ight suit with the same wings on my chest as my Force ocers are Black, Kelly said, versus 71 percent who are peers, and then being questioned by another military member: white. In comparison, 6 percent of the USAF ocer corps is ‘Are you a pilot?’” Black or African American. Lt. Gen. Richard M. Clark, a bomber pilot and the deputy “You look at it on its face and say, that's pretty close. But chief of sta for strategic deterrence and nuclear integration, that's not necessarily the way we like to look at it,” Kelly said. said he meets people who are often surprised to see a Black “We ought to be at least 7 percent or better across the entire pilot. He tries to turn that into an opportunity for outreach to rank structure. So we might be pretty good at entry level, at the next generation. lieutenants, but by the time we get to higher rank structures, “I take that opportunity to go, 'Yeah, do you want to be a does it look the same? e simple answer is no.” pilot?'” Clark said. “If we have success in doing that, in building For example, Gen. Charles Q. Brown, the only Black four- a more diverse corps of pilots or any other career eld, it will star Air Force general today, is one of about a dozen four-stars breed more success, because then it won't be so uncommon overall. He is also one of 12 Black general ocers, the lowest to see a person of color or a woman or a Latino.”

 JULY/AUGUST  AIRFORCEMAG.COM As long as the Air Force wants pilots professionally, and institutionally.” to occupy the vast majority of its senior High-ranking Black military leaders positions, Spencer said, there must be a are still outliers. Normalizing minority much greater push to recruit and train achievement depends on developing a minorities and women to y. Spencer, consistently deep and diverse talent base. who was a career nance o cer, was It’s a problem that frustrates Lt. Gen. one of only four non-pilots to rise to Anthony J. Cotton, the No. 2 o cer at Air Vice Chief. Building interest in science Force Global Strike Command. and technology among minority stu- Cotton was only the second African dents earlier in grade school could help, American o cer to run the 341st Mis- he said, but the service could also do sile Wing at Malmstrom Air Force Base, more to woo the families of prospective Mont., and the 45th Space Wing at Pat- Airmen to convince them that an Air rick Air Force Base, Fla.; he was the rst

Force career could be a good choice. He Brooks Ryan Class 1st Airman Black o cer to serve as deputy director also said that times are changing, and “If we have success ... in building a of the National Reconnaissance O ce, perhaps a future Chief of Sta could hail to command the 20th Air Force, to com- more diverse corps of pilots or any from a dierent career path. mand Air University, and to be a three- One recent change could also have other career field, it will breed more star deputy commander at AFGSC. No an impact on the number of minority success, because then it won't be African American has held any of those o cers attaining higher ranks in the Air so uncommon to see a person of posts since, he said. Force. Last year, the Secretary agreed to color or a woman or a Latino.” “What I tell ... folks who I mentor is, eliminate “below-the-zone,” or ahead- —Lt. Gen. Richard Clark, a bomber pilot are you taking advantage of everything of-schedule promotions. Historically, and the deputy chief of sta for strate- that you can take advantage [of] to get in up to 2 percent of o cers selected for gic deterrence and nuclear integration a place where you can have a seat at the the next grade have been chosen a year table and be an inuencer, as opposed or two ahead of others in the same to sitting on the sidelines?” Cotton said. commissioning year group. Candidates “As you do that, then more opportunities who are promoted from that pool have will come.” largely been white, Kelly said. For minority Airmen, mentors with e Air Force’s six new promotional similar backgrounds can be especially categories—air operations and spe- valuable to help them navigate military cial warfare, space operations, nuclear life and careers. But that’s not always and missile operations, information possible, since there are relatively few warfare, combat support, and force non-white Airmen serving in senior lead- modernization—can also be a boon ership roles. Airmen of color can also for diversity. seek out white mentors who can advise Under the old system, everyone was and teach them as they rise through the judged by the same standards, such as ranks, and then can pay that knowledge having combat deployments or building Tsukamoto/sta Mike forward by sharing their experiences a varied portfolio of experience. But “In my neighborhood … flying an with other minority Airmen in the future. those standards worked better for some airplane was not on anybody’s Many Airmen said they owe their career elds than others—such as those radar, not because they didn’t think growth and success to mentors, often re- where staying in the same program it was a good thing, or that it would maining in touch and considering them for a long time is valuable—leading to [not] be fun. ... There was nobody family. But nding a mentor in the same lopsided representation among senior there to tell me about it.” career eld can be every bit as important sta. e new categories aim to reward —Retired Gen. Larry Spencer, a for- as sharing demographic traits. the unique career paths for each eld. When Antoinette Allen, who retired as mer Air Force Vice Chief of Sta (and “When you’re overrepresented in a major in 2014, asked her white Army some [Air Force specialties] and un- also the former AFA president) colonel boss to be her mentor, he initially derrepresented in others, it gives you an opportunity to not told her he didn’t “see anything I recognize … that compels me have to develop in the same ways or be compared in the same to pour [eort] into you.” But he took her on anyway and later ways,” Kelly said. oered some of the best career advice she ever got. “He said, … ‘Coming out of [the equal employment oppor- THE BURDEN OF BEING FIRST tunity o ce], you need to have an operational position,’” Allen at it took until 2020 for the Air Force to choose a Black said. “‘If you don’t have operational expertise, your name is o cer as its Chief is a testament to a decades-old, complex set never going to come into the room when we’re doing succession of factors that reect societal challenges and military concerns, planning.’ How would I have known that? I was just chasing as well as specic issues with the way the Air Force recruits and my passion.” promotes its o cers and enlisted leaders. Kelly pointed to the Air Force’s MyVector program, an online “My nomination provides some hope, but also comes with a mentor-mentee matchmaking tool, as one way the service is heavy burden,” Brown said in a June 5 video. “I can’t x centuries trying to address the shortage of minority mentors. But he ac- of racism in our country, nor can I x decades of the discrim- knowledged that such programs aren’t bearing as much fruit ination that may have impacted members of our Air Force. … as the Air Force would like. I’m thinking about how I can make improvements personally, “We certainly emphasize at all levels that it’s a responsibility

JULY/AUGUST  AIRFORCEMAG.COM of leaders to be mentors and coaches to struggling in an aerospace ground equip- the people around them,” Kelly said. “It ment mechanic course, he recalled. Once may not always be comfortable mento- before the board, the questions weren’t ring somebody who doesn't come from just about his job performance. The board your background or doesn’t look like asked why an African American had red you, but it’s really important. And so hair, he said, and told him he’d be going I’m not yet convinced that we’re getting “back to the ’hood to bag groceries.’” everything out of our mentoring and Selected for discharge, Feggans fought coaching that we need to.” the decision and convinced his command- Black Airmen who spoke to Air Force er to help him find a new assignment in Magazine said they have to fight the the medical field. Success followed: Now stereotypes and expectations they en- Feggans is a master sergeant, and superin- counter in their majority-white work- tendent of the 71st Healthcare Operations places. Squadron at Vance Air Force Base, Okla. Tech. Sgt. Myeshia Tucker, an intel- “I had no issues, no disciplinary issues, ligence analyst with the 324th Intel- anything like that,” Feggans said. “I felt ligence Squadron at Joint Base Pearl Hunter Taylor Senior Airman like I had to work three times as hard just Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, consciously “What I tell ... folks who I mentor to stay in.” tried smiling more so her colleagues is, are you taking advantage of ev- In an impassioned social media post that wouldn’t assume she was perpetually erything that you can take advan- sparked conversations across the military angry. tage [of] to get in a place where about being Black in today’s America, Chief “A lot of people were like … ‘You’re you can have a seat at the table Master Sergeant of the Air Force Kaleth much funnier than I thought,’ or like, O. Wright highlighted racial disparities in and be an influencer, as opposed ‘So much nicer than I thought,’ and a the military justice system and the lack of lot of times, it would be people that I’ve to sitting on the sidelines?” Cotton diversity among the service’s officer ranks. actually never really met before then,” said. “As you do that, then more He added that a diverse group of 25 friends Tucker said. The interactions left her opportunities will come.” is mulling ways to address racial disparities wondering: “Why did you think I wasn’t —Lt. Gen. Anthony Cotton, AFGSC and discrimination. funny? … We’ve never spoken before.” deputy commander In June, the Air Force Inspector General Unconscious bias is part of every- opened an investigation into racism in one’s daily lives, and the Air Force is military justice and the promotion sys- developing training through profes- tem, digging into racial disparities and the sional military education to address cultural and policy factors behind them. that, Kelly said. The IG will then issue recommendations “It’s not getting to all the right plac- for “impactful and lasting change,” the es, so there will be lots of people who service said. are potentially writing evaluations as Shortly after the Air Force announced supervisors in places who haven’t had its own review, Defense Secretary Mark that training,” Kelly said. “We’re trying T. Esper announced a new Defense Board to figure out the best way to scale that, on Diversity and Inclusion in the Military make it effective, and go forward.” to consider ways to increase diversity and Bias is often insidious, planting opportunities across all ranks, create an in- seeds of doubt about prowess and dependent “Defense Advisory Committee worth. Clark has wondered why he’s on Diversity and Inclusion in the Armed missed out on certain opportunities, or Services” to guide the Pentagon, and gather why others who seemed well-qualified immediately actionable ideas from civilian were passed over. Was it because of Pinthong/USAF Sarayuth and uniformed military leadership. their race? Because they were women? "While we can’t change the world, As national outrage about the killings Were other unknown factors at play? we can change the communities of black Americans has snowballed, par- “The problem with this unconscious we live in and more importantly, ticularly after George Floyd died at the bias is you don’t know,” Clark said. “It those where our Airmen strive hands of Minneapolis police in May, leaves a question in your mind, espe- to be seen, heard, and treated as hard conversations about systemic rac- cially when there’s not a lot of people human beings." ism have rippled through the Air Force that look like them that get those op- —Chief Master Sergeant of the Air and the rest of the armed forces. Those portunities.” discussions are not just for minorities, Force Kaleth Wright Until Brown’s ascent to CSAF, Clark but for people of all backgrounds. It will was the only Black general officer in Air take effort on everyone’s part to achieve a Staff senior leadership. “Building a solid cadre of a diverse group lasting impact and for the military to be more representative of people across the board, it really helps us … to encourage of the people it serves. others, but it also helps us to relate to others and provide the “At every level … there needs to be periodic training to, if noth- opportunities that we all need to have,” he said. ing else, understand what women and people of color, what their Bias plays a role in potential discharges as well. Early in his challenges are,” Spencer said. “I don't know of anyone that wants a Air Force career, then-Airman Basic Mike Feggans was sent be- handout or wants something that they have not earned. … All folks fore an advisory board at Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas, after want is an equal chance.” J

32 JULY/AUGUST 2020 AIRFORCEMAG.COM Black Airmen Speak Out In a force where color shouldn’t matter, inequality persists. Staff Sgt. Campbell/NYANG Ryan

Lt. Col. Paul Lopez, then-F-22 Raptor demonstration team commander, salutes a Raptor crew chief at Langley Air Force Base, Va. Pilots, intelligence, and Space Professionals are among the career fields that skew white.

By Rachel S. Cohen mer officers, enlisted members, and civilians—shared their experience with Air Force Magazine in June, t. Gen. Anthony J. Cotton is tired of being tired. describing how race has influenced their lives and Cotton, the first Black three-star depu- careers, and how the Air Force still needs to evolve. ty commander of Air Force Global Strike “I’ve been Being Black in the Air Force, they said, can mean Command, has seen police lights flash in called every straddling the line between being respected and his rearview mirror, has needed to convince name in the suspected. They described constantly moderating peopleL he was a wing commander, and has been told book you themselves to meet the expectations of others, and not to park in his own spot among spaces reserved embracing the nation’s needs—despite feeling uncer- for base leadership. can think of.” tain the nation they protect embraces them in return. He has explained to others, over and over, what —Master Sgt. While some praised understanding and diverse it’s like to be Black in America. He wants people to Cederic Hill, a leaders throughout their careers, others said they listen. He wants them to get uncomfortable. He wants space operator struggled to find a place among unwelcoming col- them to act. at Vandenberg leagues and commanders. They could feel included “Here I am as a lieutenant general in the United Air Force Base, at work but face racial slurs and suspicion from their States Air Force, but ... I have a common bond,” he Calif. communities and neighbors. Some said they never says. “When I see what happened to Ahmaud Arbery, felt passed over for promotion or otherwise slighted Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Rayshard Brooks—and by the Air Force bureaucracy, but most pointed to the list goes on and on—it’s visceral to me,” he said, racist comments, insensitive jokes, and other forms running through the recent history of Black Ameri- of discrimination as far back as their earliest days in cans killed. “That could be my son. That could be my Basic Military Training. daughter. That could be me.” The Airmen interviewed joined the service because As civil unrest swept the nation following the death they wanted a meaningful job or they grew up in a of George Floyd in May, a Black man who died after military family. Some sought educational benefits or a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for travel opportunities. For Master Sgt. Cederic Hill, a nearly nine minutes during an attempted arrest, Black space operator at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., Airmen are wrestling with their own reality in an Air it was a chance for change he couldn’t get at home. Force that still suffers from its own racial blind spots “I’ve been called every name in the book you can and systemic discrimination. think of,” he said of growing up in a mostly white area A dozen Black Airmen—including current and for- outside Atlanta. “I’ve had bottles thrown at me as I

JULY/AUGUST 2020 AIRFORCEMAG.COM 33 Airman 1st Class Charles Welty Charles 1stAirman Class Lt. Gen. Anthony Cotton, then-Air University commander and president, salutes the Air Force’s newest commissioned oicers as part of Oicer Training School Class 19-07 during their graduation ceremony Sept. 27, 2019, in Montgomery, Ala. walked down the street. My next-door neighbor, his uncle … was a Grand Dragon in the [Ku Klux] Klan. … I didn’t feel like I was part of the nation.” When Hill joined the Air Force, he gained opportunities and a sense of acceptance he hadn’t experienced in Georgia. But he still faced frustrations and fears, often as the only Black man in his workplace. One supervisor dubbed him “Token” and called him “the whitest Black person that he knows,” words that cut at his sense of belonging in his workplace and in the Black community. Tech. Sgt. Miles Starr, noncommissioned o cer in charge of retention at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, said she has been mocked, ignored, and held back by security guards that didn’t believe she belonged to her own unit.

Master Sgt. Michael Feggans, superintendent of the 71st Sgt.Sta Krystie Martinez Healthcare Operations Squadron at Vance Air Force Base, Then-Tech. Sgt. Michael B. Feggans, left, teaches a student Okla., said superiors may demeaningly address Black Airmen how to use a camera at the Uventus School in Bishkek, as “boy.” Sta Sgt. Phillip Felton, who works in explosive Kyrgyzstan, Nov. 6, 2013. ordnance disposal at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., said he was once told: “I think you’re a [N-word], but it’s not a male.” And in still another incident, a colleague joked that the bad thing.” quality of an important brieng she was preparing wouldn’t Sometimes the speaker doesn’t understand how hurtful matter because she was a pretty Black woman. such comments can be. Other times, problems are deeply “Even when I did well, it was so discounted,” she said. “I was rooted. told that I got it because I was a Black woman and they needed Black Airmen described being discouraged from applying to diversify. … at’s a trend I noticed early on.” for jobs where they wouldn’t be welcomed, or repeatedly Some Black Airmen say they face more discrimination when skipped over for professional opportunities and awards. ey stationed in the United States than when serving overseas. spoke of leaving bases that proved to be toxic environments, One even said that Black service members deployed overseas and of feeling like their chain of command wouldn’t take sometimes worry more about family back home than they do discrimination reports seriously. about their own lives in combat zones. Tech. Sgt. Myeshia Tucker, an intelligence analyst at Joint e race-relations chasm between military and civilian life Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, began basic training can seem just as wide. Hill said there’s more accountability with short, natural hair that rolled into tight curls against her and teamwork in the military than in a civilian community, scalp. Although she was in line with service dress regulations, which helps ensure people are treated fairly. a white, male instructor told her it was “unprofessional,” she Feggans said carrying a military ID card can provide a level said, and sent her to the salon to get it straightened. en, of protection that a driver’s license does not. when her natural curls returned in the Texas humidity, Tucker “My military ID has helped get me out of many incidents was reprimanded. that never should have happened,” he said, such as “getting Another time, a supervisor told her she received a coveted pulled over with me and my friends, being told that you’re in opportunity only because “they can’t turn down a Black fe- the wrong neighborhood, being accused of having guns and

JULY/AUGUST  AIRFORCEMAG.COM In light of recent nationwide events, Master Sgt. Cederic Hill decided to share his story as a black man in America and the military. He explains how, at times, it is hard for others to talk through issues that have to do with racial bias, misconceptions or prejudices because military members are often told to not talk about race, religion and politics within the workplace. Photo Illustration 1st . Kaylee Lt Photo Schanda Illustration drugs in your vehicle, asking, ‘How can you a ord such a nice Cotton said. If a white ight commander invites newly arrived luxury car?’ … It’s almost like my background and everything Airmen to come out for a weekend of elk hunting, a “young changes as soon as they see my military ID.” Airman who just came from the inner city or from an urban In both the military and civilian worlds, Black Airmen mod- environment, who’s never picked up a rie in their life, might erate themselves to t others’ expectations. ey are told, in say, ‘Yeah, I think I might pass,’” Cotton said. “at person words and in actions, to be as loud or as quiet as the people could then get assessed by that ight chief: ‘He’s not a team around them, to smile so as not to seem threatening, to speak player. … I did my part, I asked them to join us.’” Meanwhile, a certain way. Lt. Col. Ja Rai Williams, assistant executive of- that Airman might only feel more isolated. cer to the Air Force’s Judge Advocate General, said her true feelings are covered by a mask that she only feels comfortable VALUE OF DIVERSITY dropping around trusted family and friends. Diverse workplaces can inspire and uplift people of all colors Added Feggans: “It’s a duality of serving in the military and and o er a support structure when Airmen are struggling and serving as African Americans. You’re used to looking at your- need someone to talk to. at could be a matter of confront- self from the outside as, ‘How is my hair gonna be perceived? ing a neighbor over a child using a racial slur or upset over How’s my accent going to be perceived?’ e mannerisms—am constant news coverage of shootings and protests. Especially I going to come o as the angry Black woman or the angry now, Black Airmen said they feel nervous, numb, exhausted, Black man? So it’s a constant battle with yourself of trying to and sometimes silenced by their uniform. nd a way to appease and to lead.” “Because emotions are heightened, I’ve had to police my- From the start, many Black Airmen feel the need to excel self,” Hill said. “I still have a job to do. I still have to project a to prove they belong, knowing others are scrutinizing their professional image, but I also have to deal with the emotions progress. that come from people within our community yelling and “You’re in a shbowl,” said A.G. Hatcher, the Air Force’s saying that, ‘We’re being shot, we’re being killed.’” acting deputy chief information ocer who retired from Active At one point during a shift at the Combined Space Opera- duty as a colonel. “You’ve always got to be on your … A-game. tions Center shortly after Floyd’s death, Hill struggled to regain You’ve always got to show up. You’ve just got to produce, his composure when thinking about his family and current because you have to over deliver.” events. A friend online helped him calm down; he worried Growing up in the Deep South, in Selma, Ala., Hatcher said about being perceived as a stereotypical “angry Black man” he learned early on that “one, life wasn’t fair, and two, if you’re in the workplace. He said his supervisor supported him by Black, you’ve got to be better.” It also instilled in him a sense talking through those feelings during every shift. that everyone should get an equal shot at success. Antoinette Allen, a former Active-duty Airman who later As a company-grade Air Force ocer years ago, Hatcher served in the National Guard until 2014, said it’s been heart- noticed he wasn’t being o ered the same opportunities as breaking to watch people’s reactions to the thousands of some of his peers. So he started nominating himself instead, Guardsmen who were deployed to support local law enforce- hoping to pave his own way up the ranks. Once in leadership ment at protests around the country. She recalled a video of positions, he mentored others and diversied a sta of all white Black protesters taunting a Black Guardsman, telling him to men to include more women and people of color. drop his weapon and join the protests. e Guard is there to Having a diverse array of mentors matters. Mentors of any protect, not suppress, she said: “ese are not two opposite race can show Black Airmen a path to leadership they may not sides.” have known existed, while building a cadre of Black leaders Black Airmen are heartened by the conversations about their who can help others in the future. Taking on Black mentees, long-standing challenges taking place across the service. But and putting more Black Airmen in leadership positions, helps the experience of being Black in America, particularly for those build a more inclusive wing culture. who are the only Black person in their units, is still isolating. Sometimes an invitation declined can be misinterpreted, “When I talk to them about the anxiety I have with my

JULY/AUGUST  AIRFORCEMAG.COM husband leaving the house every day and possibly not making Lt. Col. Ja Rai it home, they’re not going to be able to relate,” Tucker said. Williams, then- “They’ll listen to me and I know they will, but there’s so 70th ISR Wing much value to being able to relate to someone. So it’s very, Sta Judge extremely lonely for me right now.” Advocate, Sometimes friends and family ask: “Why are you serving begins First- a country that doesn’t care about you?” It’s a question Tuck- Line Supervisor er can’t answer. “I don’t know what I’m going to do at the training, April end of my contract. … If I do not stay, it won’t be because 12, 2018, at Fort I didn’t do well,” the Hawaii-based Airman said. “Right Meade, Md. now, I don’t feel valued. ... If my contract was up next year, I know I would not renew.” At Edwards Air Force Base, Felton said he’s proud to have a job in uniform where he can help people, but that it’s hard to justify the actions of the country he serves. “I’m asked, ‘How can you work for a military who has conducted injustices in the past?’” he said. “That makes it difficult to accept those situations or to speak on them, but

does that make it harder for me to do my job? No.” Sgt.Sta Hyatt Anthony Lt. Gen. Richard M. Clark, the Air Force’s deputy chief of staff for strategic deterrence and nuclear integration, knows I don’t think that would have happened.” those voices are out there. Others suggest support groups or open forums can help Clark is dealing with America’s recent turmoil both as a air feelings and problems in work and home life. Some units high-ranking military officer and as a father. His 18-year-old are creating task forces and distributing educational mate- son took off on his bike one night for a Black Lives Matter rials. While the Marine Corps is banning the Confederate protest in Washington, D.C., proud of his history and hun- ag and related imagery, the Air Force, so far, has not said gry for change. Tens of thousands of Airmen may feel the if it will follow suit. same way, Clark said. Retired Gen. Larry O. Spencer, the former Air Force Vice “There’s probably an anger that we don’t even know Chief of Sta and Air Force Association president, recalled about, that some of these Airmen who don’t have someone the Air Force’s race relations courses in the 1970s. “ ey to talk about it with, or someone to help guide them through were very intense, very emotional,” he said. “Nobody liked this,” Clark said. “But I am encouraged by what my kids saw: it, and they ... did away with it.” at this is everyone’s solution, and that there are a lot of But there’s broad agreement on the need for periodic people who are angered by this, not just Black people, but training at all levels to increase understanding of the lived a lot of people who want to do something about it.” experiences of women and people of color. He and other Air Force leaders said they are heartened by e new Space Force has a chance to build diversity and the service’s decision to thoroughly study racial disparities inclusion into its culture from the beginning. e space in promotions and the military justice system, along with career eld skews white, much like pilots and intelligence. other factors that may block Black Airmen from feeling heard Hill wants to see the Space Force do a better job of cele- and rising through the ranks. brating Black history. He said he’s never seen a base cele- brate Juneteenth, the annual commemoration of the end of JUSTICE DESERVED slavery, observed on June 19. He’s also tried—and failed—to e military justice issue hits home for Brandon Glover, highlight the achievements of prominent African Americans a former Airman who left the service in 2009 amid a law- like music icon James Brown or political activist Malcolm X. enforcement mixup. Glover said he was accused of a crime “When you are told you can’t discuss or showcase inu- o-base he didn’t commit, then discharged from his post ential and celebrity gures that played a signicant part [in] in Japan within days, despite ocials realizing he wasn’t at our struggle, it is very discouraging,” Hill said. “If we genu- fault. Now a civilian intelligence employee with the Army, inely believe in diversity, we should take time to address it Glover argues the Air Force needs more impartial oversight at dierent times of the year, not just the ‘traditional’ one of its military justice processes. or two times it is mandated.” “I think the process of putting people out should have a Black Americans see the tide of public opinion turning, certain time requirement as far as research, investigating, and some are cautiously optimistic that concrete action getting all the details,” he added. will follow. ey stress that healing the divisions is a call for Others agree the rst step toward understanding what everyone—all Airmen, not just the Black community—to Black Airmen face is allowing dicult conversations to take advocate for representation and fair treatment. place. at was part of the aim of Chief Master Sergeant of Cotton hopes the U.S. can reach a point where he doesn’t the Air Force Kaleth O. Wright’s public statements on race, have to talk to his adult children about how to stay safe as well as his live discussions on the topic with Chief of Sta every week. Gen. David L. Goldfein. “I am cautiously optimistic that we’ll get after this ... Felton said one supervisor “wasn’t aware of how bad the not necessarily only from a Department of the Air Force situation was, just because he wasn’t exposed to it.” e perspective,” he said. “It’s time for our nation to really dive discussion helped open his eyes, he said. “He was having into this and get after it—once and for all. And hopefully, a moment of reection in his life,” Felton continued. “I see you know, I don’t have to have those conversations with that as a step in the right direction, because three years ago, my kids.” J

JULY/AUGUST  AIRFORCEMAG.COM Scott Ash/USAF Scott Ash/USAF Gen. David Goldfein’s wife, Dawn, and daughter, Diane Glass, pinned on his fourth star in 2015 as he became the service’s 38th Vice Chief of Staƒ. A year later he became Chief, beginning a four-year tenure that saw his multi-domain command and control concept gain currency among the Joint Chiefs and U.S. Space Force lift oƒ as an independent military branch. The Goldfein Years Chief 21’s Legacy is His Vision for the Future: A Highly Connected Joint Force. By John A. Tirpak Chiefs that JADC2 will persist. It has to, Goldfein said: hroughout his tenure as the Air Force’s 21st Joint wargames have shown that, without it, victory Chief of Sta , Gen. David L. Goldfein sought against a peer military is uncertain. Both JCS Chair- to tie every ghting domain together—land, man Army Gen. Mark A. Milley and Vice Chairman air, space, sea, and cyber—convinced that USAF Gen. John E. Hyten endorse the concept. Hyten the force most able to do so would have the "I listened, will have particular inuence as the head of the Joint edge—maximumT situational awareness. He’s con- I traveled, I Oversight Requirements Council, which referees joint vinced that goal is well on its way to being achieved. watched, I capabilities for the services. Goldfein’s tenure also saw the Air Force dene its read, I talked In his four-year tour as Chief, Goldfein’s focus need for 386 operational squadrons, the creation of went beyond that single theme, and he did as well a new Space Force, and the real-time adjustment to a to industry in the interview. He spoke of his drive to bolster the global pandemic, but his vision for tightly integrated leaders. ... role of squadron commanders; elding the F-35 and command and control will be his principal legacy. This is exact- developing advanced ghters; the Air Force’s “pass- Over his four years in oce, the nomenclature mor- ly where we through” budget burden; the pilot shortage; and phed, but the concept crystallized, gaining credence USAF’s relationship with Congress. across the joint force. What began as multi-domain need to go.” JADC2 aims to be nothing less than a universal, command and control nally seemed to take root —Gen. David high-speed network connecting all U.S. military in the Pentagon late last year, renamed as the ser- Goldfein, out- sensors, platforms, commanders, and operators to vice-agnostic joint all-domain command and control going Air Force rapidly characterize the battlespace, share and pri- (JADC2). Chief of Sta oritize targets, and get inside adversaries’ decision e challenge is to ensure that JADC2 survives his cycle. In short, it is intended to give U.S. forces the departure. “I think the secret of success is not to align rst-mover advantage. it with me,” Goldfein said in an interview with Air “We’ve taken it to the point now where we’re no Force Magazine. “If this is going to succeed, it has to longer discussing ‘whether.’ We’re now in a debate have roots in the [Defense] Department.” about ‘how,’” Goldfein said. Goldfein said he’s been assured by the other Joint A driving force in that adoption is USAF’s e ort

JULY/AUGUST  AIRFORCEMAG.COM Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein (left) met with Air Force Special Operation Command personnel at Hurlburt Field, Fla., in 2016. Senior Airman Je Parkinson Je Parkinson Senior Airman to replace the E-8 Joint STARS platform—used since 1990 lead the national eort” for the Department of Health and to track moving targets on the ground—with the Advanced Human Services. Its success has “actually given us legitimacy” Battle Management System (ABMS), a network of systems in pursuing JADC2. to collect and fuse battle information from a multitude of e next ABMS experiment is slated for early September, sensors. “ABMS and JADC2 are interlinked,” Goldfein said. mainly in support of Space Force. “Something’s got to tie all these systems together so we can communicate … and truly operate across the joint team.” ON TO THE SPACE FORCE While USAF spearheaded the concept, Goldfein said, it’s Goldfein admits he wasn’t an early fan of creating a sep- “critically important … that we don’t lose sight, ever, of the arate Space Force. ‘J’ in joint all-domain command and control.” Single-service “I had my own personal journey,” he said. At the outset of solutions are “guaranteed to fail,” he said. Other services’ the discussion about creating the new sixth service, “I was investments in C2 systems “will be protected,” he added, but concerned about separating space” from joint combat plans they will have to adapt “to some common standards.” and practices, worried that it would “derail years’ worth of No horse-trading was necessary to get joint buy-in, he not- work to integrate space” in all aspects of joint force. His litmus ed, because JADC2 grew directly out of USAF’s responsibility test was that he’d be open to it if it propelled “joint war ghting to provide the ground moving target function. excellence,” and be opposed if it didn’t. “For us to be able to provide that to them, not only on Day His turnaround came about a year into the debate. Speaking One of a campaign, but Day minus 30 … we had to move from a with Schriever Space Fellows at the Air War College, Goldfein platform to a network solution,” Goldfein explained. “So many asked for a show of hands: Who thinks a separate Space Force of the game-changing technologies that we all talk about— is a good idea? “And all but two hands shot up,” he recalled. hypersonics, directed energy, long-range res, precision res, “So I Iistened to them. And that was a changing point for me.” space capabilities, arti cial intelligence—you actually don’t It took another six months “to become a true believer,” get to do any of those things” without that network. he said. “I listened, I traveled, I watched, I read, I talked to Hyten, as vice chairman, will provide that guiding dis- industry leaders.” Now, he is certain. “is is exactly where cipline through the Joint Requirements Oversight Council, we need to go. We’re going to be better at joint war ghting Goldfein said. excellence with two separate services than we would have “We’re going to get the ‘J’ in JADC2 right,” Goldfein insisted. if we’d kept it as a single service.” He’s sure it can be done ABMS is proceeding through experimental iterations. e without “breaking … the integration of war ghting.” most recent of these, run last December in support of U.S. Northern Command, has since evolved into what Goldfein FIXING THE BUDGET called the “alpha” version of JADC2. Using the COVID-19 e creation of the Space Force is an opportunity to x a pandemic as a test bed, NORTHCOM Commander Gen. burden USAF has struggled with for decades: the so-called Terrence J. O’Shaughnessy has been able to collect and “pass-through” budget idiosyncrasy. e “pass-through” ac- fuse COVID-19 pandemic response data from hospitals, the count is money—$39 billion in 2020—that seems to be in the Centers for Disease Control, the defense industry, and other Air Force budget, but isn’t controlled by the service and goes stakeholders. He was able to track individual Airmen and directly to secret programs, mostly space intelligence. It makes deploy Navy hospital ships and medical units, Army eld USAF’s true buying power look a lot bigger than it really is. hospitals, Federal Emergency Management Agency teams, e Air Force has asked Congress “for permission to have and National Guard units using the experimental system. the discussion” with the Intelligence Community and other “We just swarmed the entire ABMS/JADC2 team to support stakeholders to do away with the pass-through, Goldfein said. NORTHCOM,” Goldfein said. “at’s in operation today. ... A guiding principle, he noted, will be to “not cause damage.” is is real, this is not lightning bolts on PowerPoint charts. If the conversation is somehow seen as a way to boost USAF’s … It’s up and saving lives right now, in New York, in New own budget, it’s “doomed to fail,” he said, but he’s sure elimi- Orleans, everywhere that NORTHCOM is operating, as they nating the pass-through will “make us more combat-capable.”

JULY/AUGUST  AIRFORCEMAG.COM Similarly, for health care delivery, “tele- medicine and telepharmacy” operations, coupled with curbside pharmacy service, are proving more eective, and using fewer people, at remote locations like Minot Air Force Base[N.D.], Goldfein said. “I don’t know if we’ll go back.” Teleworking is also waking up the Air Force to new ways of thinking about basic work functions. “ is is going to make us better, quite frankly,” he said.

FOCUS ON THE SQUADRON Another of Goldfein’s coming-in goals was to “reinvigorate” the squadron, which he called the most essential “warghting formation … where you generate readiness

Senior Airman KayleeSenior Airman Dubois [and] combat capability … and where we Goldfein takes a photo with Airmen at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, during succeed or fail as an Air Force.” a tour of the U.S. Central Command’s area of responsibility with Chief His aim was to give squadron com- Master Sgt. of the Air Force Kaleth Wright in 2018. manders greater exibility to do their jobs, provide them with more resources to take COVID’S PERMANENT IMPACT care of issues unique to their location or situation, and “drive e COVID-19 pandemic has aected every aspect of the down” decision-making authority to their level. Air Force. Reacting to it has spurred—or accelerated—many “I’m pretty satised with where we landed,” he said, but “I changes in how the service does business. would not say … we’re done. … It’s a journey, not a destination.” “I don’t think training and education will ever be the same,” Feedback shows squadron commanders today feel they he said. “I think we have learned new ways of doing business have more latitude to act without waiting for permission and that in many ways are actually better than the old ways.” e that USAF is investing in them. new virtual education model—improvised over the last few “In the past … we may have been guilty at times … of hand- months—“actually reaches a larger audience and is quite ing a commander the ag and just seeing if she can swim, as eective,” he said. opposed to investing in her every day … to make sure she has Student pilots, for instance, are now issued “essentially, a the tools to succeed and lead,” he said. Squadron commanders portable simulator that you can take home.” It allows many know now that they’ll be allowed to “succeed wildly, and also practice sessions at the student’s own pace. stumble, fall, and get up and learn, and move on again. I think “It’s all about repetition,” Goldfein said. Providing students that’s been successful,” Goldfein acknowledged. with a laptop, virtual reality goggles, and an ersatz stick and Investing more money at the squadron level is paying o. throttle allows them “to go home and y the entire prole,” “We have successfully unleashed the innovative spirit,” he said. in a good facsimile of the real T-6 trainer. “You do 50 loops in By providing squadrons with “not an insignicant amount” your room. And then you go in the real airplane, and, guess of money to solve local problems, commanders don’t have to what? Your rst real loop is pretty good.” at means fewer wait for higher-up approval. e message: “I trust you, so … real-world sorties, saving time and money. take some risk and move out.” More simulation time may trigger alarm among some who For example, some bases have developed software apps to fear USAF will slash actual ying hours, he said, but “what answer specic local needs. At Outt Air Force Base, Neb., we’re really doing … is improving our product.” a squadron “put up an emergency operations center in a Similarly, “there will be a point at which I don’t think we’re truck bed,” Goldfein said. “ ey got their design completed going to need the same instructor force.” He’s asked Lt. Gen. and were ring up the generators two weeks before the ood Marshall B. Webb, Air Education and Training Command hit Outt,” and the vehicle became “the major C2 node” in boss, to look at consolidating the number of simulator in- Outt’s disaster recovery. structors and their locations. He sees little need for them to be in close physical proximity to students. Over a digital link, F
HEADWAY the instructor can be anywhere and still “dial a disaster” for Goldfein is the sixth Chief to preside over USAF’s F-35 one or more students. e debrief can happen over a video program. e service asked for just 48 of the jets per year, connection, with graphics. but Congress added a dozen more airplanes in each of the “What an opportunity for us to build some simulator cells, last few budget cycles. At the current rate, USAF’s program perhaps in places where the airlines have hubs,” Goldfein said, of record—1,763 airplanes—won’t be fulfilled until the so that Air National Guard pilots who y for the airlines “can 2040s. Given that the Air Force is already embarked on the come in and do simulator duty” as instructors while waiting Next-Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) project, will the for their next commercial ight. service throttle back on the F-35? “It’s not just ying. … In the maintenance career eld, you “ e program of record hasn’t changed,” Goldfein said. can put the VR goggles on … and it basically points you to ev- “Signaling any reduction on the program of record right now” erything you’ve got to do to complete a maintenance action.” would be a mistake, he argued, especially when countries With repetition, and learning at a student’s own pace, “you're “on NATO’s Eastern ank” and partners in the Pacic are just going to be a better quality product.” signing up to buy the F-35. “We need every country that’s

JULY/AUGUST  AIRFORCEMAG.COM even considering purchasing the F-35 to get into fth gen,” he insisted. “We need more teammates in the game. … e last thing I want to do as an international air chief is signal any weakening.” Goldfein is not concerned about the F-35’s relevance in the near term. “For the next 10 years, our force will be extremely viable.” he said. e NGAD program is focused on providing a range of new tech- nologies that will “not only out t a next generation of capability, but also …[could] be retro tted into some of our current platforms and weapon systems.” At more than $16 billion a year, the Air Force’s “black budget” for secret programs is “orders of magnitude” bigger than that of any other service, he allowed, but Con- gress is supportive when the programs Tsukamoto/sta Mike are explained. Members of Congress and Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force Kaleth Wright, left, presents Air Force cleared staers briefed on NGAD “have Chief of Sta Gen. David Goldfein with the Order of the Sword at the Air Force an ‘aha’ moment,” he noted, and quickly Association’s Air Warfare Symposium in Orlando, Fla., on Feb. 27. The Order of grasp why it’s “so critically important for the Sword is the highest award USAF personnel can bestow. Goldfein was only our future.” the fourth Air Force Chief to receive the award. Keeping such programs shrouded is essential to keep potential adversaries guessing. It’s a “reveal the average age of the force, creating an unmanageable age and conceal” strategy, he explained. “We reveal at a time of imbalance. USAF constantly needs “new blood,” he said. our choosing, based on our deterrence objectives.” e pandemic is also exacerbating training challenges. ese secret programs are “based on a signi cant amount To comply with social distancing, pilot production has been of wargaming,” Goldfein said. Without them, peer adversaries cut in half, an unsustainable reduction. Plans called for pilot often prevailed and “quite frankly, it did not end well for us,” production to start increasing again by the end of June, with he said. e injection of JADC2, along with other emerging a goal of reaching 75 to 80 percent of the pre-pandemic rate. secret capabilities, changed the game. “We actually turned at, combined with increased retention, “can actually the tide and began winning far more often,” Goldfein said. sustain [a] healthy force … until we get a vaccine,” he said. is convinces him the Air Force is now on the right track. But a permanent x to the pilot shortage will have to come through longer-term approaches. JOINT OPPORTUNITIES With much fanfare, the Air Force released “e Force We Getting more USAF ocers into Joint command positions Need” white paper on Goldfein’s watch: requirements for 386 was another early goal, and he claims success. combat squadrons—or about 25 percent more than USAF has As director of the Joint Sta in 2013-2015, Goldfein had to now—to carry out the National Defense Strategy. e near review every candidate from which the Chairman of the Joint certainty of at budgets ahead, though, means such growth Chiefs would choose Joint leaders. will likely not occur in the near future, although the Senate e Air Force candidates tended to be “too new and too has taken moves to compel USAF to start structuring for it. blue,” he said. “Too new” meant that USAF ocers, who tend Goldfein said the plan is “not aspirational,” and clearly to be promoted earlier than their other-service brethren, were answers Congress’ request to set a needed level of capabili- younger and had not had as many dierent experiences. “Too ty, rather than an aordable one. But JADC2 may oset the blue” meant “we tended to stay in our tribe much longer than numbers of people and machines needed, by creating the our joint teammates. So we were very deep, but we were not eect of more capacity through connectivity. Eciencies as broad as we needed to be.” and the retirement of some legacy systems will free up billets On Goldfein’s watch, USAF has worked to build ocers for growth in space, command and control, and logistics, with greater breadth and depth, and he argues it’s working. Goldfein said. “We’re lling a signi cant number of positions, and the Joint e Air Force’s relationship with Congress had been leaders we have out there are doing superb work,” he said, problematic since well before Goldfein became Chief, but pointing to ocers such as O’Shaughnessy and Gen. Tod D. he sees progress. Wolters, Supreme Allied Commander, Europe, as examples “All I can tell you is that all of my experiences on the Hill of USAF leaders shining in key joint assignments. More USAF have … been very positive,” he said. e dialogues “have ocers are deputies and senior sta in Joint organizations, gone much better.” as well, he said. “I don’t go into any negotiation or presentation expecting At the middle ranks, the long-term pilot shortage contin- that we’re going to get 100 percent of what we’re asking for. ues to put a drag on USAF manning. While the pandemic But if our story is true, it’s accurate, it’s backed up by analytical has prompted more pilots to re-up because airline hiring rigor, and you’re respectful of Congress’ oversight by having has dried up, this alone can’t solve the problem. “I’ve got to a dialog instead of trying to issue them a fully baked solution. keep the demographics right,” he said. “While I’m eager to ... I think you’re going to be successful,” he said. Hearing and allow talented yers to stay in with us,” it also tends to raise incorporating congressional advice is “the way you win.” J

 JULY/AUGUST  AIRFORCEMAG.COM Capt. Monika Brohaugh waits after completing a buddy check, putting on Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear and Explosive (CBRN) equipment during training for an upcoming exercise which will include agile combat employment concepts at RAF Mildenhall, U.K. Wings across the Air Force are required to conduct an "ability to survive and operate" exercise for CBRN threats.

Coping With COVID Across the Force USAF is keeping the tip of the spear sharp, despite pandemic challenges. Senior Airman Benjamin Cooper Benjamin Senior Airman

By Brian W. Everstine in this new environment,” Air Force Chief of Sta “Just below Gen. David L. Goldfein wrote in an April 28 letter to s the new coronavirus pandemic upended the surface commanders. “It’s time to dust o those Ability to daily life across the globe, and its restric- in our history Survive and Operate manuals. Many of us grew up in tions changed how the Air Force trains and culture the age of Apple Orchards, MOPP levels, operations and ies, service leaders began to see an is a great with PPE, aircraft decontamination procedures, etc. opportunity. starting point While we have not required it in recent years given Ae nature of COVID-19, especially how conta- from which to our focus in the Middle East, the ability to survive gious it is and how it spreads, posed some similari- adjust oper- and operate [ATSO] in a CBRN environment is in ties to how a military would face biological threats. ations in this our DNA.” A restriction of movement order meant bases were Goldfein sent out an order: Major commands and new environ- forced to operate in a more isolated way. A gas mask wings should take advantage of the “new abnormal” could serve as a type of face covering, a required ment.” —Air and plan new exercises to adjust procedures for piece of personal protective equipment (PPE) in Force Chief of operating in that chemical, biological, radiological, the coronavirus era. Sta Gen. David nuclear, and explosive threat environment. Because “Just below the surface in our history and culture is Goldfein experts don’t project a vaccine to be widely available a great starting point from which to adjust operations until as late as December 2021, the Air Force needs

JULY/AUGUST  AIRFORCEMAG.COM Airmen at Moody Air Force Base, Ga., check their mission-oriented protective posture (MOPP) gear during chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosive defense training on Feb. 4. During CBRN training, they learn the dierent alarm colors and which MOPP gear corresponds with each alarm. Airman Megan Estrada Megan Airman

following in the momentum of previous exercises, while oth- ers are creating new, large-scale training events or changing the overarching goals of planned events.

BRINGING CBRN TO THE FOREFRONT CBRN defense has long been a part of the Air Force, with groups of dedicated Airmen researching and training for the threats. However, this has been back of mind for the bulk of the service, relegated to once a year exercises and computer-based training. As COVID-19 spread, however, it became a major focus quickly. “e CBRN community has always been there, always working, and there’s a ton of expertise in the world. But … CBRN and the WMD threat weren’t front and center,” said Maj. Ryan Ruediger, the chief of air operations in the Air Force’s countering weapons of mass destruction division. “And then, as we’re working in the periphery and continuing to build capabilities, design better equipment, better detectors, do all of these things, all of a sudden COVID gave us an opportunity

Airman 1st Class Jesse Jenny Class 1st Airman to bring these capabilities front and center.” Air Force Chief of Sta Gen. David Goldfein bumps elbows In the past few years as part of an overall push toward with Airmen of the 91st Missile Security Operations Squadron full-spectrum readiness, the Air Force has taken a closer at Minot Air Force Base, N.D. look at CBRN defense, rewritten guidance, and thought more deeply on what needs to be exercised, said Col. Leanne Moore, to “ nd ways to survive and operate with a virus likely to the chief of countering weapons of mass destruction in the return a few times between now and then. I certainly hope oce of the deputy chief of sta for strategic deterrence and I’m wrong and a vaccine comes earlier … but hope is not a nuclear integration. course of action. We must prepare for the long haul.” “Our role is to optimize air power, and one of the unique e pandemic has hit dierent regions and communities things that we try to do at the Air Sta is to understand the dierently, and each base has a unique mission, so Goldfein’s science and behavior of the threat and characterize the haz- directive provides wide leeway to individual commanders. ard,” she said. “No two bases will be exactly the same,” he wrote. “Dif- At the outset of the outbreak, CBRN experts received calls ferent missions. Dierent demographics. Dierent commu- constantly, asking about the right protective equipment to nities. Dierent leadership. It is why we have continually wear, about how to properly sanitize aircraft, and other protec- worked to push decision authority to you and your subor- tive measures to take. For the Airmen responsible for training dinate commanders. … We must have trust throughout the for the threats, there was a lot of “connective tissue” between organization. [Air Force] Secretary [Barbara] Barrett and I the outbreak and what CBRN threats the service needs to be absolutely trust you to get the job done. … As we have said ready for, Ruediger said. since the beginning, don’t wait for us. Take the decision au- “We have incredible masks, equipment, and capability that thority you have been given and move out as you in turn push will protect our Airmen in a dangerous chemical or biological decision authority to your subordinate command teams.” environment. But it’s overkill for COVID,” Moore said. “We Commands and wings quickly followed through. Some are had a lot of people who wanted [to] pull out their chem gear

 JULY/AUGUST  AIRFORCEMAG.COM Senior Airman Michael Ottaviano (left) and Sta Sgt. Brandon Staines make masks in the aircrew flight equipment shop at the New Jersey Air National Guard Base in Atlantic City in April. The shop sewed and distributed face masks for mission-essential Airmen, their families, and the wider community in response to COVID-19. Sta Sgt. Cristina Allen/NJANG Sgt.Sta Cristina and get suited up from head to toe and operate that way. we can ensure our forces are prepared for the next conict When we realized that the threat really could be (mitigated) where a CBRN threat is employed.” with washing your hands, wearing gloves, and just wearing a cotton face mask, we could protect our Airmen so they could TH FIGHTER WING continue to operate.” New Jersey was among the hardest-hit states in the early e COVID-19 reality gives the Air Force the chance to better stages of the COVID-19 outbreak in the United States, and that educate itself about CBRN threats, and real-world training to created a unique challenge for the Air National Guard’s 177th more eectively face similar threats in future CBRN scenarios, Fighter Wing at Atlantic City International Airport. said Lt. Col. Paul Hendrickson, the Agile Combat Support Di- e wing’s F-16s sit alert for the North American Aero- rectorate's AF Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear space Defense Command’s Operation Noble Eagle mission, Defense Systems Branch materiel leader. ready to launch to protect the nation’s airspace in a region “So, how do we leverage this new focus on the B in CBRN including New York City. e wing acted early to adjust its and turn it into a comprehensive readiness look so that we can operations—having pilots quarantine before coming in for make sure that we’re ready for when it really is that chemical alert duty, for example—while also sending Guardsmen out or biological interchange with a peer adversary trying to deter into New Jersey’s communities to help where needed as or demoralize us,” he said. cases multiplied. e Air Force needs to “deliberately train the right way,” Coronavirus created a “biologically contested environment by leveraging its experts at the base-level, he said. Training is right here in our backyard,” said Wing Commander Col. Brad- needed so Airmen understand that if they face a CBRN threat, ford Everman, in an interview. “We can’t just shut down for they can still operate. a week or for a month. ... We don’t have that option. We have “ ere seems to be a pervasive belief that when a chem to continue getting the job done.” attack or a biological attack happens, the whole base is slimed e 177th was forced to cancel a major exercise—an agile and you just can’t operate, which couldn’t be further from the combat employment event in which the wing was to “forward truth. With proper warning, sensing, and communication, deploy” to a base in Michigan and quickly stand up opera- there is a whole spectrum of operations that can continue." tions—but with that o the books, the wing is reshaping its Several months into the outbreak, COVID-19 has shown October exercise to practice operating in a biological threat where the Air Force was not ready and the service is working environment at home. Wings across the Air Force are required to ensure it is ready in the future to meet a threat, no matter to conduct an ability to survive and operate exercise for CBRN what it is, said Chief Master Sergeant Joseph Trenholm, the threats, and this will be it. Air Force emergency management career eld manager. “We’re going to look at it—rather than looking at it as e outbreak “opened up the aperture now on how do we do being in Central Command, or being in Pacic Command, business” with the threats that exist, he said. or somewhere around the globe—now we’re gonna look at “So, if the CBRN Defense community is given the oppor- it as what if we had to operate right here in a true biological tunity to share and shape with what we have available, then warfare environment on the 177th Fighter Wing proper, the momentum's not lost,” Hendrickson said. “ at’s really defend it in three dimensions, and then go out and do our where you get your bang for the buck. It’s all fun and games mission from our local base,” Everman said. “And you really to say we’re going [to] practice it, but if we’re going do it, we can’t write the script any better than in a biologically con- have got do it in the right way. And I think if we can—if we tested environment, which is the world that we live in, day can get over that hump and make it a part of our DNA again in and day out right now.”

JULY/AUGUST  AIRFORCEMAG.COM Senior Airman Jonathan Valdes Montijo Valdes Jonathan Senior Airman

F-22 Raptors, E-3 Sentrys, C-17 Globemaster IIIs, C-130J Hercules, and C-12F Hurons form up for a "Moose Walk" at JB Elmendorf- Richardson, Alaska, in a show-of-force display intended to demonstrate readiness in the region, despite COVID-19 complications.

ALASKA DEFENSE a sortie—supply, fuel, operations, and maintenance —had Like the 177th, the 3rd Wing at Joint Base Elmen- to work through the complications imposed by requiring dorf-Richardson, Alaska, stands alert to protect the home- PPE and social distancing in setting up the Moose Walk. land. Indeed, the wing’s F-22s launched several times “We want to illustrate to anybody that’s out there, that in response to Russian aircraft encroaching on Alaska’s may be considering that our combat capability or capacity airspace this past spring and summer. The wing has ad- to generate [air power might be] … degraded due to COVID: justed daily operations and worked with social distancing That’s absolutely not the case,” Stratton said. to safely keep pilots on alert, and in May, joined with the Air National Guard’s 176th Wing at JBER to launch 26 OUT IN THE PACIFIC F-22s, two C-12s, two C-130s, two E-3 Sentrys, and three Pacific Air Forces is planning to focus on CBRN and po- C-17s in a giant “Moose Walk” to demonstrate readiness. tential outbreaks in multinational training exercises. Future Pilots and maintainers worked through distancing and PPE training events in 2021 and 2022 with the Philippines and requirements, along with the need to sterilize cockpits, to Thailand will focus on the CBRN threat, applying lessons conduct the event. from the COVID-19 experience, including aeromedical “The message is that we’re ready—we’ve always been evacuation. ready,” said 3rd Wing Commander Col. Robert Davis in an Air Force Magazine interview. “And the challenges asso- MOBILITY ciated with COVID-19 have not prevented us from being Air Mobility Command is applying its CBRN training ready to defend the nation in our NORAD alert mission, experience to its COVID-19 response. or to be able to project air power, to deliver air power to “AMC wings have been conducting local, large-scale ex- combatant commanders.” ercises that emphasize ATSO skills, including proficiency The “Moose Walk”—an Alaskan tweak to the more famil- in MOPP levels and use of personal protective equipment,” iar “Elephant Walk"—was the first major exercise for JBER AMC spokeswoman Capt. Nicole Ferrara said in a state- in the COVID-19 environment. The wing does CBRN-related ment. “Now, AMC is applying these skills to the current training events on a “routine basis,” Davis said, and while operating environment, to help mitigate the threat posed recent training was canceled as the pandemic began, the by coronavirus.” wing is rescheduling to train “some of the CBRN skills” soon. For example, the day after Goldfein’s letter, McConnell The 176th Wing has kept track of COVID-19 impacts to Air Force Base, Kan., assigned a KC-46 aircrew to test the its operations, relative to operating in the CBRN threat en- aircraft’s intercom voice communications while wearing vironment, said Wing Commander Col. Anthony Stratton . chem-bio flight gear. Engineers from Edwards Air Force “COVID is, to a lesser degree, very similar to how we Base, Calif., remotely monitored the test, collecting data operate in a chemical and biological environment,” he with which to create TTPs [tactics, techniques, and proce- explained. “In that environment we typically double the dures] for operating the aircraft in a CBRN environment. amount of time that it takes us to do a task, just as our The command hosts its premier exercise, Mobility base-level planning factor.” Every step needed to generate Guardian, every two years, and trained extensively for a

JULY/AUGUST  AIRFORCEMAG.COM A KC-135 refuels an F-15 during Exercise Point Blank 20-02, normally a quarterly exercise between the RAF and USAF aircraft stationed in the U.K. It was the first Point Blank exercise held during the COVID-19 pandemic. Master Sgt. Matthew Plew Sgt. Matthew Master CBRN environment in 2019, including decontamination pandemic and conducted a major exercise in the North Sea procedures. e command is planning more of that for its with 38 aircraft from Lakenheath, Aviano, and Spangdahlem next event scheduled for summer 2021. Air Base, Germany, along with a NATO E-3 AWACS and the Air Force CBRN experts tout Little Rock Air Force Base, Ark., 603rd Air Operations Center at Ramstein Air Base, Germany. as the standard-bearer for CBRN training. e base conducts Planning was done remotely, with aircrews operating as if monthly ATSO “rodeos” including representatives from many facing biological threats. Maintainers worked in shifts and career elds and its C-130s, along with regular radiological aircraft were decontaminated. recovery training, and exercises to deploy and operate in “ is is really the rst large force exercise (LFE), that I know a threatened environment. e base even has “ under of, since COVID started,” Capt. Alex Travers, the 52nd Fighter ursdays” when an alarm goes o during a regular day, and Wing’s electronic combat pilot who ew in the exercise,said Airmen who are a part of the exercise need to quickly put on in an interview. “All things considered, with the displaced their protective gear and continue working. planning and dierent units coming together for the rst time “You roll on base on a ursday, it’s not weird to see in several months, it went o very well and we got some great somebody walking around in their gear,” Hendrickson said. training out there. ere’s nothing like being at 1.2 Mach and “Everybody just says ‘Oh yeah, well, that poor soul’s part of 30,000 feet, and looking over and just seeing all the [USAF] the exercise this quarter.”’ contrails and thinking: ‘ is is America ... . is is awesome.’ e pandemic prompted research into how CBRN threats So, I had a great time today.” aect mobility aircraft and a study on the airow in mobility “ e goal of this was to integrate across multiple platforms, aircraft to understand how a virus could spread from the cargo multiple ghters in this case, to … get into some contested, hold to the cockpit, and what can be done to stop it. A new degraded operations where we can essentially go to another Negatively Pressured Conex system approved for production airspace where we’ve never met the people, in person, that this spring will be able to transport more highly contagious we’re ghting with, and actually integrate with them and patients than the existing Transport Isolation System devel- apply our joint tactics and doctrine with those guys, without oped after the 2014 Ebola outbreak. having to be physically present for the mission planning,” “From adapting aircrew protection measures to imple- said Capt. Michael Shaw, an F-16 pilot with Aviano’s 510th menting aircraft decontamination procedures as needed, Fighter Squadron, in an interview. AMC has and will continue to seek ways of reducing risk to e May LFE was the rst in a series of similar events to personnel and passengers ying on our aircraft,” Ferrara said. be held throughout the year across USAFE, with each wing Bases across U.S. Air Forces in Europe-Air Forces Africa taking turns planning. were among the rst to face the COVID-19 threat. For exam- USAFE Commander Gen. Jerey L. Harrigian told Air ple, Aviano Air Base, Italy, locked down in early March as the Force Magazine that the pandemic provides a chance to get pandemic hit northern Italy hard. e base had to change its back to “our fundamentals” and train in a way “that forces ying schedule so pilots and maintainers could alternate on- our Airmen to work through problem sets.” days to avoid crowding and personal contact. e base’s F-16 “As we look at these large force exercises and some of squadrons, used to ying alongside Italian aircraft and other the other internal exercises that we’re going to do inside local allies, instead focused on local training in its own ranges. of USAFE I think, ultimately, what we want to look at is: Recognize that the virus is not going away, it’s gonna come FIGHTING COVID IN THE U.K. back,” Harrigian said in an interview. “We’re gonna have e story was similar at RAF Lakenheath, U.K., where the to work our way through that. And so as we look at these 492nd Fighter Squadron broke into teams that operated on exercises, how do we continue to employ the techniques alternating weeks. at decreased ying time by about 50 that we’ve learned over the last couple months, to be able percent, said Capt. Alexandra Deerr, ight commander and to generate sorties, generate combat power, while operating instructor pilot with the 492nd FS. in this environment? at’s ultimately the key to our success By late May, USAFE had canceled 14 exercises, but decided while also looking at some of the other challenges associated it needed to go forward with large-scale training amid the with a chem or bio environment.” J

JULY/AUGUST  AIRFORCEMAG.COM STAND IN, STANDOFF The Right Balance for the Future Bomber Fleet.

A stealth B-21 and B-2, top, penetrate an adversary’s air photos USAF Tsukamoto/sta; Mike defenses as a B-1B and B-52 launch long-range strike weapons from stando
distances and a pair of hypersonic missiles launched from over the horizon close on their targets.

JULY/AUGUST  AIRFORCEMAG.COM By Mark Gunzinger that after a significant number of USAF wargames, the force that wins in Defense Department planning merica’s global interests are threatened like scenarios “has a combination of that which works never before. China and Russia now pose from inside and that which works from outside … a security challenges that the United States has balance” of penetrating and standoff strike forces. not confronted since the Cold War—some Goldfein continued: “As I’ve shared with other leaders potentially existential in nature. At the same who have talked about just shifting to an all-outside Atime, mid-tier powers like North Korea and Iran now force … show me your analysis, this can’t be a gut have ballistic missiles and aspire to develop the ability feeling for us in terms of investment.” to deliver nuclear warheads over long ranges. Added to The Air Force is the only service that operates long- this, non-state actors such as al Qaeda, the remnants range, penetrating bombers. America’s allies do not of the Islamic State group, and Hezbollah continue to have such aircraft. While DOD can depend on a range plot attacks against the United States and its allies. The of standoff strike options from other services and allies, concurrency of these threats has stretched American this USAF capability is unique, making it imperative military resources to their breaking point. With vital that DOD adequately size and modernize the Air interests on the line, U.S. leaders must ensure the U.S. Force’s penetrating bomber force, considering today’s military is equipped to deal with the weighty demands force of only 20 stealth B-2s is woefully inadequate. of national defense strategy. At the same time, it is also important to maintain Global long-range strike—the ability to attack tar- the Air Force’s standoff bomber force, which is now gets anywhere, at any time—must be among our LONG-RANGE STRIKE: sized about right, but whose B-1s and B-52s must be highest priorities. When paired with an effective Resetting the Balance of Stand-in and Stand-off Forces modernized. campaign strategy aimed at vital targets on which an enemy’s military depends, long-range strike is THE LONG-RANGE STRIKE ARSENAL one of the most effective tools available to America’s America has long relied on the Air Force’s bombers military commanders. to rapidly project power globally, but the bomber INST LL ITU HE T C E IT

M By Col Mark Gunzinger, USAF (Ret.) s History offers clear proof. After Allied forces ie force is aging. USAF’s 76 B-52Hs, 62 B-1Bs, and 20 d fo tu r A e S stormed the beaches of Normandy in June 1944, it took erospac B-2s—158 planes in all—constitute the oldest and just 11 months to reach Berlin and put an end to the smallest bomber force since the branch’s founding Col. Mark war. In contrast to World War I, when that very same in 1947. Multiple studies have concluded the United Gunzinger USAF territory bogged down opposing armies in bloody (Ret.) is the direc- States cannot generate enough long-range strike sor- trench warfare from 1914 to 1918, Allied long-range tor for future aero- ties for a single major conflict with a peer adversary, strike bombers reduced Germany’s ability to sustain space concepts recommending a force roughly 50 percent larger, with combat operations on the ground, in the air, and at and capabilities at least 220 bombers. B-21s, now in development, must sea. In the Pacific, long-range strikes executed by 20th assessments at constitute the bulk of this modernization effort. B-21s Air Force B-29s and two atomic airstrikes achieved the Mitchell Insti- represent the next generation of stealth—a fifth-gen- unconditional victory without a costly invasion of tute for Aerospace eration-plus bomber in which sensors, processing Japan’s home islands. Studies. For the power, stealth, and connectivity deliver a powerful Since then, precision guided munitions (PGMs), full report, visit mix of mutually reinforcing capabilities. improvements in aircraft range, and stealth technol- https://mitchel- While current plans call for at least 100 B-21s, there ogies radically enhanced what combat aircraft could laerospacepower. is also lingering interest in a new nonstealth, standoff achieve in the battlespace. Today, one stealth B-2 org. platform that some believe could cost less than the sortie can strike 80 individual targets with pinpoint B-21s. Some have suggested the Air Force could either accuracy—without needing accompanying support modify existing cargo aircraft to launch cruise mis- aircraft to assure it survives. siles or develop a new, clean-sheet standoff “arsenal Long-range strike follows one of two approaches: plane.” Neither of these options would be cheaper Stand-in strikes employ stealth aircraft to penetrate than procuring additional B-21s, nor is it likely that a enemy defenses and release munitions in proximity new standoff bomber could be fielded faster than the to targets, while standoff strike attacks target from a B-21 program can achieve full-rate production. More distance by launching long-range missiles, either from importantly, seeking to rebuild the bomber force with aircraft, ships, submarines, or land. arsenal planes could reduce long-range strike options Each has strengths and weaknesses, with recent available to theater commanders in the future, as well debates pressing to go “all-in” on investments for one as wasting resources by overinvesting in standoff strike or the other. Today, the Army and Navy are starting to capacity, which other services also intend to procure. bolster their strike capacity by procuring new long- Simply stated, money directed to standoff aircraft will range standoff missiles. These investments are often limit the Air Force’s ability to overcome its more sig- viewed as a panacea for anti-access, area denial (A2/ nificant deficit in long-range, stand-in strike capacity. AD) defensive strategies used by our adversaries. Yet, At the end of the Cold War, the Air Force’s bomber it is simplistic to think that lobbing a missile at range force totaled about 400 aircraft. In the ensuing years, will negate A2/AD challenges, and doing so puts at risk budget cuts and confidence that a much smaller other options available to U.S. commanders. bomber force would suffice for conflicts with rogue A key insight from post-Cold War government and states such as Iran and North Korea led to reductions, non-government analyses is that both standoff and including DOD’s 1997 decision to cap the B-2 program stand-in strike capabilities are necessary. Air Force at 21 aircraft instead of the 132 B-2s sought by the Air Chief of Staff Gen. David L. Goldfein recently noted Force. Bomber cuts continued into the 2000s when

JULY/AUGUST 2020 AIRFORCEMAG.COM 47 the Air Force retired an additional 33 percent of its B-1Bs and PRIORITIZING PENETRATING CAPABILITY 20 percent of its B-52Hs. ese retirements continued even as DOD is now faced with a set of challenges that are radically demand for bombers surged, with DOD’s bomber eet tasked dierent than the regional threats it confronted over the last with nonstop deployments. is hard use literally broke the 30 years. Defeating Chinese or Russian forces that are oper- B-1 eet in 2019. ating under the umbrella of integrated air defense systems Now facing budget challenges akin to the 1990s and early (IADS) and other anti-access, area-denial threats will require 2000s, the Air Force wants to retire another 17 B-1Bs to help U.S. forces to go on the oensive “from the very beginning of free-up funding to sustain its remaining bombers, according hostilities.” USAF stealth bombers must be able to penetrate to acquisition chief Will Roper and Deputy Chief of Sta for these contested areas on Day One of a conict; taking multiple Plans and Programs, Lt. Gen. David S. Nahom in testimony to weeks to build up a ground force before launching a counter- Congress in February. is would leave 45 B-1Bs in the force, of oensive in a war with China or Russia would cede them the which an estimated 26 will be primary mission aircraft assigned time and freedom they need to prevail. e failure to invest in to combat squadrons. We have been down this path before. the right capacity and mix of capabilities could be devastating. Chronic underfunding of sustainment and modernization after Both long-range stando and penetrating strikes can be the Cold War led to divesting older bombers to free resources eective against targets in contested areas—but not equally to sustain the remaining aircraft. en, even as these additive so. Like penetrating systems, stando bombers can deploy resources disappeared over time, the remaining bombers were within hours to launch long-range weapons. ese platforms own harder to meet operational requirements. e toxic can also reduce U.S. force attrition early in a ght when enemy combination led to more bomber sustainment challenges, defenses are at full eectiveness. which drove the next round of force cuts. e arguments made In comparison, stealth aircraft can penetrate contested areas today to rationalize B-1 cuts are the exact same as those made and approach targets closely enough to deploy short-range, in the early 2000s justifying the retirement of two dozen B-1s. stando and direct attack weapons. ese munitions are small- e Air Force’s budget-driven choices today will create a er than long-range stando weapons that have ranges greater period of increased risk in its ability to conduct long-range than 400 nautical miles (nm). To y long ranges, weapons strikes. e B-21 program is the rst opportunity to correct typically need power plants, wings that deploy after launch, its overall lack of bomber capacity and stando/penetrating one or more guidance systems, and other design features that strike imbalance. Yet it will take time to oset 30 years of increase their size. As size increases, the number of weapons bomber divestments and delayed modernization. Assuming an aircraft can carry decreases. A B-2 can carry 80 short- B-21 production ramps to a modest ve to 10 aircraft per year range Small Diameter Bombs (SDBs) or 16 much larger Joint by the late 2020s, fewer than 40 B-21s could be on the ramp Air-to-Surface Stando Missile-Extended Range (JASSM-ER) by 2030. At this rate, it would take another decade before the weapons. With fewer weapons per sortie, theater commanders Air Force gains back the number of bombers it is surrendering need either more time or aircraft to achieve desired eects, time today. It will be well into the 2040s before it reaches its stated that an enemy can use to press its advantage or even prevail. requirement for at least 220 total bombers. If the B-21 is delayed A future force mix weighted toward penetrating bombers by budgetary or technical challenges, USAF’s bomber bathtub would increase weapons available per sortie, helping theater could be even deeper and last longer. commanders achieve a decisive advantage. Mike Tsukamoto/sta; Greg Davis/USAF; map Google map Greg Davis/USAF; Earth Tsukamoto/sta; Mike

Three U.S. Air Force B-21 bombers fly over Fiery Cross Reef, a Chinese People’s Liberation Army base in the South China Sea in this illustration.

JULY/AUGUST  AIRFORCEMAG.COM Lockheed Martin B-52s are envisioned carrying four AGM-183A Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW) hypersonic missiles, as shown in this photo illustration.

e potential for weapons to be intercepted or rendered targets. ineective by enemy defenses is also a factor. China, Russia, Stando weapons are also too small to kill targets that are and other potential adversaries have developed countermea- structurally hardened or deeply buried, while penetrating sures, such as layered air defenses that can intercept incoming bombers can deliver very large, direct attack weapons specially weapons; increasingly mobile ground-based systems that are designed to kill such targets. For instance, a B-2 can deliver harder to locate and track; and bunker-style installations buried 5,000-pound direct attack “bunker buster” weapons and even deep underground to make them harder to locate and destroy. the 30,000-pound GBU-57A/B Massive Ordnance Penetrator on In the past, the probability that a weapon would be inter- hardened targets. It is simply impractical to design air-launched cepted after launch was small. During the 2003 Operation weapons with comparable weights to y very long distances. Iraqi Freedom air campaign, coalition air forces used an e problem grows with distance. A bomber that must stand average of 1.5 precision guided munitions (PGMs) per target. o 800 nm from the Chinese coastline would need weapons But today, advanced Chinese and Russian defenses can track with more than 1,600 nm range to attack targets located 800 nm legacy cruise missiles and other weapons, making it possible inland — well outside the reach of a JASSM-ER with a range of to intercept and defeat them. In this contested environment, over 500 nm. Stando distances would be a major constraint three, four, or more PGMs may be needed to ensure at least one in a war with China or Russia, considering the scale of their survives to hit a designated target, meaning the total number landmasses and ability to deploy ballistic missile launchers, of weapons—and aircraft—needed to attack tens of thousands anti-satellite weapons, and other high-value assets deep in of targets in a peer conict would be far greater than DOD can their interiors. aord to procure. en there is the matter of weapon cost. Aordability is a While enemy countermeasures increase the number of critical consideration, given potential requirements to attack weapons needed to strike targets from all ranges, they have a tens of thousands of aimpoints in a conict with China or greater impact on long-range, stando weapons. Launched Russia. As a point of reference, Allied air forces attacked about from 500 to 800 nautical mile (nm) stando distances de- 40,000 aimpoints during Operation Desert Storm against a pending on the threat environment, these weapons must y third-rate Iraqi military. Target lists in a war with China or hundreds of miles through enemy defenses before they hit a Russia would be much greater. A future force that must use target, increasing the probability they will be detected and in- tens of thousands of very long-range, stando weapons—each tercepted. By contrast, direct attack weapons with ight times costing $1 million or more—is not aordable. of just a few minutes reduce an enemy’s ability to respond. While some suggest the cost of long-range weapons could From long-range, stando distances, it is also more dicult be oset by buying less-costly stando aircraft, this is not to nd, x, track, target, engage, and assess mobile/relocatable borne out by analysis. A 2010 RAND Project Air Force study targets such as missile transporter-erector-launchers (TELs). by omas Hamilton, "Comparing the Cost of Penetrating A subsonic (Mach 0.8) long-range, cruise missile launched Bombs to Expendable Missiles over irty Years: An Initial 500 nm from a target would need nearly an hour to reach Look," concluded that a penetrating bomber delivering direct it, aording an enemy the time needed to detect and stand attack weapons for at least 20 days, over a 30-year period, o attacks and simply change locations. Penetrating aircraft would actually cost less than expending an equivalent num- with on-board sensors and other capabilities are better suited ber of more expensive stando cruise missiles. To put this to complete the entire kill chain against such time-sensitive in context, 20 days of airstrikes is less than half the length of

JULY/AUGUST  AIRFORCEMAG.COM Senior Airman Thomas Barley Thomas Senior Airman Maintainers assigned to Whiteman Air Force Base's 509th and 131st Bomb Wings in Missouri watch a sunset near a B-2 Spirit Stealth Bomber, Oct. 24, 2019. Stealth provides the penetrating capability to launch direct attacks in the face of anti-air defenses. the 43-day Desert Storm air campaign and is far less than the The Bomber Fleet combined duration of all U.S. air campaigns over the past 30 USAF cannot generate enough long-range strike sorties for a years. is  nding was instrumental in DOD’s decision to single major conflict with a peer adversary. B-21 stealth bomb- begin the B-21 program. e cost crossover point would be ers, now in development, will constitute the bulk of modern- even more in favor of penetrating bombers if the price of a ization for the foreseeable future. new stando aircraft is included in the comparison. Assuming 20 B-2 that buying and sustaining a new stando bomber would run Penetrating into the hundreds of millions of dollars, the crossover point could be as short as 10 days of combat. In this light, investing in penetrating bombers instead of additional stando strike capacity is a bargain.

RECOMMENDATIONS Assessments to determine USAF’s future, long-range strike requirements must consider the e ectiveness, as well as the cost, of using stando and penetrating weapons against very large peer adversary target sets in contested areas. As noted by Marine Corps Commandant Gen. David Berger: “ ere Studies Aerospace for Institute Mitchell is an argument to be made by some who feel that two great 2. The Air Force should prioritize penetrating strike powers can stand o with long-range precision weapons and platforms. Success in warfare comes down to inflicting hold each other at bay. … I am not in that camp.” rapid, overwhelming attacks against key targets. Sus- In the end, it comes down to how the Air Force should taining such operations demands an affordable means invest its  nite budget to  eld the most e ective and e cient to conduct strikes. Today’s B-1Bs and B-52Hs cannot set of capabilities to support the National Defense Strategy. penetrate Chinese or Russian IADS with an acceptable To this end, the Mitchell Institute o ers the following rec- degree of risk, nor can any nonstealth aircraft. Without ommendations: the ability to penetrate, bombers must launch standoff 1. e Air Force should signi cantly increase its long-range weapons from hundreds of miles away, delaying impact strike capacity. A total inventory of at least 316 bombers is and reducing effectiveness against relocatable targets. needed to support the U.S. National Defense Strategy, the These weapons are smaller, lack the warheads capable vast majority of which should be penetrating aircraft. DOD’s of destroying hardened or deeply buried targets, and 1997 decision to stop buying stealth B-2s created a bomber are also more expensive than direct attack munitions. force that is now too small, too old, and overweighted toward To avoid redundancy, since the other U.S. military ser- stando aircraft. is force was adequate against lesser re- vices also are investing in new standoff capabilities, the gional militaries in the past, but in contested con ict with Air Force must ensure it can provide commanders with peer adversaries, it will not be su cient. e Air Force must options to penetrate deep into contested areas and strike buy at least 240 B-21 stealth bombers. a large number of targets per sortie.

 JULY/AUGUST  AIRFORCEMAG.COM 3. Hypersonic weapons are needed but will not be a pan- even more funding and time. Consider the effort needed acea. Advanced integrated air defenses will be effective to develop the Navy’s P-8 maritime patrol-strike aircraft against legacy subsonic cruise missiles as well as nonstealth from a commercial design and continued struggles sur- aircraft, making hypersonic (Mach 5 or greater) weapons rounding the Air Force’s KC-46A tanker: The resulting cost attractive. Due to their high speeds, maneuverability, and of a weapons-carrying, wide-body aircraft could equal or other characteristics, they will be better able to survive exceed the B-21’s cost, while providing a less operation- high-risk threat environments. These more survivable ally flexible, single-mission capability. It is likely that a weapons could reduce the total number of standoff weap- clean-sheet design, standoff bomber would be even more ons needed to attack defended targets. However, hyper- expensive than a program that modifies a mature airlifter sonic weapons launched from standoff distances will still to launch weapons. be less effective against mobile targets than direct attack PGMs that can reach targets in minutes. Hypersonic weap- CONCLUSION ons will also be expensive. Like other standoff munitions, America’s penetrating long-range strike force today consists investments in hypersonic weapons should be informed of 20 stealth B-2s—the rest of the bomber force and all of the by tradeoffs between survivability, size, weapons per other services are limited to launching long-range strikes sortie, and effectiveness against challenging targets—in from outside contested areas during a conflict with a peer addition to cost. adversary. This reality invites China and Russia to field even 4. Allocating modified airlift aircraft to conduct strike mis- longer-range air defenses that would drive USAF’s nonstealth sions does not make operational sense. There are already bombers and other aircraft further out in the battlespace. This indications of a growing shortfall in the Air Force’s capacity in turn would require the Air Force to invest in new standoff to provide heavy airlift to rapidly deploy and sustain forces. weapons with even greater ranges and higher price points. Allocating some number of modified airlifters to conduct Continued reliance on too much standoff strike capacity strike missions instead could have a major impact on would create opportunities for peer competitors to invest in the U.S. military’s ability to prevent China or Russia from capabilities that would impose costs on the United States. achieving a quick victory. A force of at least 316 bombers is needed to support the 5. Developing a new standoff bomber is not a quicker or U.S. National Defense Strategy. This force should consist of cheaper option. The notion that a new, standoff arsenal 76 B-52s and at least 240 fifth-generation B-21s. The choices aircraft with large payload capacity could be developed made in coming years will fundamentally shape how our quickly and at less cost than buying the B-21 is a myth. military will operate against great power aggressors. Long- Restarting a production line for a military airlifter like range, penetrating strike bombers expand policy options, the C-17 would require years and billions of upfront in- strengthening the hand of American leaders. Without this vestment. Modifying a C-17 or existing commercial cargo force, the United States will be at a severe disadvantage aircraft to carry standoff weapons would also require against peer competitors. J Range of Options The closer attacking aircraft get to their targets, the greater the threat from integrated air defense systems. Only stealth aircraft can pene- trate those defenses to deliver unpowered direct-attack weapons. Stando weapons extend the reach of conventional platforms. Uncontested Contested Highly Contested Airspace Airspace Airspace Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies Aerospace for Institute Mitchell

JULY/AUGUST  AIRFORCEMAG.COM Let the Games Begin The Air Force sees cooperative esports as both recruiting tools and boosts to resiliency.

By Amy McCullough “What we've Services in February 2019, but “it kind of zzled out kind of real- from there,” Parsons said. Undeterred, Parsons and ell before the world locked down to ized through two other team members tried again in August 2019, stop the spread of COVID-19 and racial all these reaching out directly to Maj. Gen. Jeannie Leavitt, tensions boiled over across the United processes is then-commander of Recruiting Services. “I emailed States, seven Airmen—a mix of o cers her directly and I was like, ‘Well, shot in the dark. We'll there's a lot of and enlisted ranging from sta sergeants kind of see what happens,’” he said. “ irty minutes toW captains—created a 24/7 gaming organization in- bureaucracy later, I get an email reply back. I was even surprised tended to connect Airmen regardless of rank, location, when you’re that I got a response, but she's like, ‘I love this idea. or Air Force Specialty Code. trying to get Let's move forward.’” Now the founders of Air Force Gaming (AFG) say things going,  e Air Force connected the team, then only three their resiliency-focused organization is more import- especially members, to another Airmen who had pitched a sim- ant than ever. things that are ilar idea, and he joined the AFG team. In November “We’re trying to focus on getting people to continue innovative, 2019, the AFG concept got leaked to the Air Force amn/ to social distance without social isolation,” said Capt. new, never nco/snco Facebook group, and the AFG community Oliver Parsons, Air Force Gaming leader and chief. been done.” saw explosive growth, increasing from only about 50 Parsons said Airmen between 18 and 39, collectively —Capt. Oliver gamers to about 2,000 in just three days. A month known as Generations Y and Z, often play video games later, the team made their o cial pitch to Leavitt via Parsons, Air alone in their rooms where “dark thoughts” can creep teleconference, but she thought AFG was a better t for into their minds. “We’re trying to jump in there and be Force Gaming the Air Force Services Center, and the organization’s that support and community that everyone in those leader and focus shifted from primarily recruiting to resiliency. generations needs and wants.” chief “What we've kind of realized through all these  e grass roots team rst pitched the idea of an Air processes is there's a lot of bureaucracy when you’re Force Gaming organization to Air Force Recruiting trying to get things going, especially things that are

 JULY/AUGUST  AIRFORCEMAG.COM In late March the team held its rst livestream—a 36-hour gaming event dubbed “Operation Resilient Quarantine.” And in April, the grassroots Air Force Gaming team partnered with Air Force Recruiting Services for a community game night. Airmen played Call of Duty Warzone against Air Force-sponsored Indy 500 race car driver Connor Daly, said 1st Lt. Matt Matuszak, AFG assistant chief and gaming innovation leader.  e roughly six-hour stream brought in around 10,000 unique viewers. Every Airman who wanted got a chance to play against Daly. “We saw it as a way to connect with Airmen, and just give them an opportunity to play with each other and with Con- nor,” Matuszak said. “It was a very fun event … and we were able to develop so many relationships to further continue our relationship with Air Force Services going forward.” As the organization grew, so did it’s leadership team. All seven of AFG’s leaders today are mission-essential Airmen.  ey come from seven di erent bases across four time zones. Each works 40 to 60 hours a week trying to grow the gaming organization, none of that on Air Force time.  ey also balance family life. Sta Sgt. Craig Bercsa, a 2A377B Green Flag MX Liaison at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., for example, has ve children, including two infant twins. “He’s the leader of our eSports program,” Parsons said. Matuszak is a missileer at Minot Air Force Base, N.D., who has been pulling two-week nuclear alerts since the start of the pandemic. When on alert, his work for AFG goes on hold. A screen “It’s de nitely tough on the family life,” said Parsons, who capture from teaches soon-to-be missileers at technical school at Vanden- the Air Force berg Air Force Base, Calif. He is transferring to the force support Esports Apex career eld this summer so he can further pursue the team’s Legends Flash dream of incorporating AFG into the Air Force. Tournament “Our end goal is to be able to get that manning and to be streamed live able to do this full time,” he said. “We can’t even fathom what May 2 on Twitch. the future holds and what the possibilities would be if this is TV. our regular Monday through Friday day-to-day job.” Esports, short for electronic sports, is a form of competitive gaming, where gamers can square o individually or as part of a team on livestreaming platforms such as Twitch that Air Force EsportsAir Force page Facebook enable them to watch, play, or chat with millions of other innovative, new, never been done,” Parsons said. “You know players across the globe. Professional eSport tournaments are a lot of leaders are skeptical at rst, but then as soon as ... we becoming more and more popular and usually pay out cash kind of explain what we're doing and what we're all about prizes, some in the millions of dollars for elite athletes. Esports they're like, ‘Oh, I can get behind that.’” origins can be traced back to the Space Invaders Championship Asked by an Airman at AFA’s 2019 Air, Space & Cyber Con- in 1972, which had 10,000 participants. Fast forward to 2020, ference if he was aware of Air Force Gaming, Chief of Sta Gen. and eSports is now a $1 billion industry. David Goldfein said he was. He said connecting with Airmen and creating an environment where they feel like they belong NOT JUST FOR KIDS, ANYMORE is challenging. Goldfein said he often stops at dining facilities Sixty- ve percent of American adults say they play video when he travels, then nds Airmen sitting by themselves, usu- games, and nearly 80 percent say games provide mental ally with their back to him, “so they can’t run away” when he stimulation and/or stress relief, according to the games and approaches. As he sits and talks, he keeps an eye on the stack eSports analytics and market research site Newzoo.  ere are of plates and Styrofoam takeout containers near the entrance, 450 million global eSports viewers, including 222.9 million watching to see which ones people choose. His “unscienti c enthusiasts and 272.2 million occasional viewers, meaning surveys” suggest, he says, that Airmen increasingly choose to gaming is not only a way to connect, it’s also a great recruiting go back to their rooms alone. tool for the Air Force, said Parsons. “I worry sometimes we unintentionally incentivize a little Air Force Gaming wants to utilize low-cost gaming and loneliness in our Air Force,” Goldfein said. Gaming has the eSports activities and programs to o er virtual resiliency and potential to help change that. indirect recruiting opportunities, which its leaders say will Since its founding, Air Force Gaming has held more than help build and strengthen the Total Force. 10 resiliency engagements, collectively reaching 1.2 million  e Air Force Services Center (AFSVC) at Joint Base San people, including 20,000 unique livestream viewers. Airmen Antonio-Lackland, Texas, is beta testing a USAF eSports team, have spent at least 300,000 minutes talking to each other while where like other Air Force sports teams, Airmen will attend a playing or watching games. tryout camp before making the team. Parsons is the rst coach

JULY/AUGUST  AIRFORCEMAG.COM The founding team and leaders of Air Force Gaming. Gaming is not entirely new to the Air Force—the Academy stood up a League of Legends (LoL) esports team in February 2018, as part of the Mountain West Conference, and the LoL World Cham- pionships in 2018 drew more viewers than that year's Super Bowl, ac- cording to an Academy

team spokesperson. Capt. Parsons Oliver and is responsible for putting the team together. Air Force Gaming is serving as the team’s training platform, said Col. Marc Adair, director of operations for Air Force Services. “In early 2019, AFSVC initiated a review on how to implement eSports across the Air Force—in particular, how best to support our Airmen when it comes to delivering resiliency,” Adair said. “Since we already had an existing working concept for an eSports program, Captain Parsons provided an opportunity to test the virtual concept, capture lessons learned, and allow AFSVC to deploy an eSports program in a deliberate manner that will best meet the Airmen’s needs.” e service center aims to create a community services eSports program, and it plans to launch an Capt. Parsons Oliver Air Force All-Stars Series this summer, which Adair Gaming can provide a social connection, mental stimulation, relaxation, and said would be an “Air Force E-gaming branded stress relief. For some deployed military members, gaming can be a lifeline. experience focused on readiness and resilience, featuring tournaments that link Airmen gamers against celeb- of the ACC public aairs command information division, in rity athletes.” e All Star Series will include six professionally a release. “We’re always looking for a dierent way to tell the produced livestreamed episodes that will include commentary Air Force story, and these two rock-star pilots have a lot they by “notable e-game sportscasters and content for NBA, MLB, can share. Ten years ago, we never would have thought to have NFL, and UFC segments,” Adair said. “It is all very prelimi- our top ghter pilot play a video game while broadcasting it nary," he said. live to the whole world, but as our technologies evolve, so do Some Air Force leaders are imagining how gaming can help we. We must communicate in a way that is meaningful and them connect and interact with the Airmen they lead. Last June, connects with people.” Air Combat Command boss Gen. James M. “Mike” Holmes, an A few months later, Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force F-15 pilot, fought his son, 1st Lt. Wade Holmes, an F-16 pilot, in Kaleth O. Wright gave gaming a shot during a resiliency-fo- a combat ight action game that was livestreamed on Twitch. cused event dubbed “Friday Night Wright.” During the stream, ousands tuned in to watch the Holmes’ dogght and Wright talked about fostering an environment of inclusiveness even crash their aircraft. But viewers had real questions, too. and resilience. During the stream, the Holmes’ discussed the pilot shortage, “Be authentic, and be vulnerable,” Wright said at the time. communications from the E-3 AWACS, the importance of air He encouraged leaders to stay connected to their Airmen, battle managers, and also answered questions about the air- even if it means pushing themselves outside of their comfort craft they y. ey talked about the dierences between real zone, later joking that he thought he “was going to be good high-speed performance ying and arcade simulations, and because I asked him to play Tecmo Bowl 95,” but [I] ended up oered advice to potential new recruits on joining the Air Force. getting “my butt kicked,” said Wright. e younger Holmes was the clear winner in the virtual “ is wasn’t a stretch for me. I don’t play video games, but I battle, but the wider Air Force won the day. do enjoy spending time with Airmen and spending time with “ is type of alternative interview format is a really great way people,” Wright said. “A little time spent with our folks can go to engage with our audience,” said Michelle Clougher, chief a long way.” J

JULY/AUGUST  AIRFORCEMAG.COM The Spaceplane: 60 Years On The ultimate goal was to take o from Earth, fly a mission through space, re- enter the atmosphere, and land on a runway.

An artist concept of the X-30, the National Aerospace Plane (NASP), taking o. The painting ran on the cover of the June 1986 edition of Air Force Magazine. John Porter John

By John T. Correll "It is techni- "It is technically feasible for manned space ight cally feasible to become routine in a very few years,” said Gen. hen the X-15 rocket plane pilots got to for manned omas D. White, Air Force Chief of Sta in 1958. “In the edge of space some 60 years ago, spaceflight to the not-too-distant future, ecient ballistic missiles they carried two assumptions along become rou- and true piloted spacecraft will enter our forces as with them: (1) that they would keep go- operational weapons." tine in a very ing, and (2) that their destiny lay above. Testifying to Congress in 1959, White said, "We We idea of going into space had special appeal for few years.” foresee that we are not only going to have manned the Air Force, which saw the “aerospace” domain as —Gen. Thomas bombers and missiles, but that eventually we will an extension of air operations closer to Earth. Airmen White, Air Force have manned space vehicles as combat weapons expected to y in space and ght there. Chief of Sta in in the future." It was understood, of course, that aerodynamics 1958 Early on, “the commonly held perception was would not apply in deep space but hard vacuum was that the airplane would itself evolve into a winged 1,000 miles out. at left plenty of margin to operate spaceship,” said Richard Hallion, former historian in low earth orbit, 60 to 300 miles above the ground. of the Air Force.

JULY/AUGUST  AIRFORCEMAG.COM e  ghting vehicle of preference would be the “spaceplane” with the boxy fuselage of the X-20 and the blunt con guration or “aerospaceplane,” and USAF pursued the concept for the of various “lifting bodies,” wingless spacecraft that could next half-century. Some variants had pilots; some did not. eir glide back from orbit and land on a runway. Aerodynamic wake is littered with failures and cancellations. lift, needed for  ight in the atmosphere, was provided by the As it turned out, the military has numerous vital interests shape of the vehicle body itself. in space: communications, navigation, surveillance, early One such was the manned X-24. It was carried aloft under warning, weather. So far, however, it has not been established the wing of a modi ed B-52, dropped o , and climbed from that there is a combat mission in space, or a military mission there on its own. It made 28 powered  ights between 1969 that requires a human crew. and 1970, reaching Mach 1.6 and an altitude of 71,400 feet. Except for the space shuttle, no spaceplane yet has broken e Air Force had high hopes for the X-20 Dyna-Soar, away from the X (experimental) designation. which was to be launched atop a Titan missile but returned from orbit to an unpowered landing by a gliding style called TO THE MOON INSTEAD “dynamic soaring.” e X-20 carried a single pilot in a for- e National Aeronautics and Space Act in 1958 directed that ward cabin and was intended to perform multiple missions, U.S. activities in space be "devoted to peaceful purposes" and including research, reconnaissance, and weapons delivery. created NASA, which—rather than the armed forces—would It was envisioned as  ying across the Soviet Union at an lead the leap into space. altitude of 50 miles, providing intelligence imagery faster Air Force’s “Man in Space Soonest” program was can- and with better resolution than was possible from satellites. celed, replaced by NASA’s Project Mercury. Also cut was the In 1962, Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara stripped “Aerospaceplane”—all one word, no X designation—a loosely the X-20 program of weapons capability. Dyna-Soar never structured study conducted by the Air Force between 1957 and  ew. It was canceled outright in 1964 before the  rst space- 1964 with 17 companies submitting proposals. Nothing came craft could be built. of it, and it ended when the funding was eliminated in 1964. About the same time, the Air Force introduced the e Air Force managed to hang onto a few of its manned high- ying SR-71 Blackbird, with a design every bit at sleek space programs, such as the X-20 Dyna-Soar spaceplane as the X-15. However, it was a reconnaissance airplane, not and the Manned Orbiting Laboratory, but these were over- a spaceplane. Its maximum speed was Mach 3.2 and its best shadowed by and canceled in deference to NASA's Mercury, altitude was 16.4 miles. Gemini, and Apollo projects. In 1969, the Air Force and NASA agreed to develop a reus- e X-15 continued  ying until 1968. It still holds the world’s able vehicle that would meet both civilian and military space record for highest speed ever reached by a manned, powered requirements. is was the space shuttle. It was of enormous aircraft—4,520 mph, or about Mach 6.72. Its highest altitude value, but it was basically a truck. It did not inspire visions of was 67.0 miles. Astronaut wings were awarded for X-15  ights streaking across space on missions of glory. Nor was speed exceeding 50 miles. the primary consideration. After the moon landings, the manned space program lost Between its  rst  ight in 1981 and the last in 2011, the focus. For NASA, the expedition into space was an end in shuttle  ew 135 missions in space, transporting people and itself and there was no real objectives other than science cargo into orbit, launching and recovering satellites, and and exploration. enabling access to the International Space Station. Emphasis eventually settled on the space shuttle, ex- tremely useful but hardly the space combat vehicle that ORIENT EXPRESS White had predicted. e crown jewel of spaceplane concepts is the “aerospace- plane,” which takes o from a runway on Earth, reaches LIFTING BODIES orbit in a single stage,  ies through the transatmosphere at e streamlined, elegant design of the X-15 was replaced hypersonic speed—Mach 5 or faster—reenters the atmo-

Spaceplane Timeline Of the dozens of spaceplane programs, only a few ever reached the stage of actual flight. The space shuttle was the only one to break away from the experimental “X” designation.

The X-15: The X-20: Challenger Space First flight Dyna-Soar never flew. Space Shuttle: Shuttle disaster: was 1959. It was canceled out- 1981 (first flight)-2011. Jan. 28, 1986 Retired 1968. right in 1964 before the first spacecraft could be built. Des- ignated X-20 in 1962. Canceled 1964.

1960 1970 1980 1990

JULY/AUGUST  AIRFORCEMAG.COM NASA

Crew members secure the X-15 rocket-powered aircraft in Nevada after a research flight in September 1961. The B-52 mothership used for launching this unique aircraft does a low fly-by overhead. The X-15s made 199 flights over nearly 10 years, set uno€ icial world speed and altitude records, and contributed to the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, and space shuttle programs.

sphere, performs a mission, reenters space, and returns to 1986 State of the Union address, he predicted “a new Orient land at a runway on Earth. Express that could, by the end of the next decade, take o e most ambitious such program was the X-30 National from Dulles Airport and accelerate up to 25 times the speed Aerospace Plane, proposed by the Air Force in 1986. An Air of sound, attaining low-Earth orbit or  ying to Tokyo within Force Magazine cover from that year depicts the X-30 boiling two hours.” up from a runway and headed straight for space. "As planned, e expectation was that the X-20 might perform roles that the aerospaceplane will be capable of  ight in two modes— varied from carrying satellites into orbit to reconnaissance, single-stage into low-Earth orbit and hypersonic (Mach 12 global interdiction, and interception of attacking forces in to Mach 25) cruising in the transatmosphere at altitudes space and in the air. between 100,000 feet and 350,000 feet," the magazine said. "It o ers strategic force survivability," said Gen. Lawrence President Ronald Reagan was a strong supporter. In his A. Skantze, commander of Air Force Systems Command. “A

Columbia Space Shuttle disaster: Feb. 1, 2003 X-43 reached Mach 6.6 on the first flight, and Mach 9.6—a speed record that still stands—on the second.

X-51A reached The U.S. Space Force is born. Mach 5.1 before There has been speculation Budget cuts forced Beset by delays crashing into that the X-37B (1998-present) the termination of the and technical the ocean. and the overall domain of X-30 NASP problems, the spaceplanes will be trans- program in 1994. X-33 was The HTV-3X ferred to the new service. canceled in 2001. was to be a fighter-sized aircraft with no pilot aboard.

1990 2000 2010 2020 NASA Phillips/DOD; Gordon

JULY/AUGUST  AIRFORCEMAG.COM The Boeing X-37B Orbital Space Vehicle landed at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Fla., on Oct. 27, 2019, after a record-breaking 780 days in orbit. NASA fleet could sit alert like B-52s. We're talking about the speed tion as movement at Mach 5 or higher—began in the 1950s. of response of an ICBM and the flexibility and reliability of a Speed was of inherent military interest and value, not only bomber, packaged together into a plane that can scramble, in aircraft and spacecraft but also in missiles and weapons. get into orbit, and change orbit so [that] the Soviets can't get “A hypersonic missile enables the seizure of opportunity a reading accurate enough to shoot at it." against distant and perhaps fleeing targets,” said historian By the 1990s, though, the X-30 was behind schedule and Hallion. “In one minute, at Mach 6.5, a hypersonic missile 500 percent over budget. No compelling military require- flies approximately 73 miles, roughly eight times further ment for it had been established, and budget cuts forced than a conventional subsonic cruise missile. Thus in 10 the termination of the program in 1994. minutes it can engage and destroy a target in excess of 700 miles from its launch point.” “MILITARY MAN” IN SPACE Hypersonics evolved toward new possibilities with the The phrase “military man in space” was rendered obsolete emergence of the scramjet, or supersonic-combustion ramjet, in the United States in 1983 when Sally Ride flew on a Shuttle in the early 2000s. crew. The Russians had sent women in space even earlier. Unlike a standard ramjet—in which the air intake reduces the Nevertheless, the term continued in use for some time. flow before mixing it with fuel to ignite—a scramjet gulps in air A “Military Man in Space” program was introduced in at full supersonic strength. The difficulty of combustion, Hallion 1985 at the behest of Air Force Undersecretary (soon to be says, has been compared to “lighting a match in a hurricane.” Secretary) Edward Aldridge. He acknowledged that efforts Whereas ramjets operate from Mach 3 to Mach 5, scramjets thus far had failed to identify a mission for military man in enable flight at Mach 12 to Mach 15. A boost from an initial space, but he was determined to try again. power source is necessary to accelerate the vehicle to supersonic Studies and analyses over the next few years did not find speed, where the scramjet kicks in. such a requirement, and the program faded away in 1991. In 2004, NASA’s X-43A technology demonstrator made avia- Uncrewed platforms did the job better and more reliably. tion history with two successful flights of a scramjet aircraft at “Just look at the nature of things we do in space—com- hypersonic speeds. The X-43A was launched off the coast of Cal- munications, surveillance, warning systems, navigation. ifornia by a B-52 and boosted further by a Pegasus rocket before We don't use man for most of those things down on Earth, the scramjet took over. It reached Mach 6.6 on the first flight, so why would we put man in space to do them?" asked and Mach 9.6—a speed record that still stands—on the second. Gen Donald Kutyna, commander of U.S. Space Command The scramjet X-51A Waverider, a collaborative effort of the in 1990. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the Air Force Kutyna noted that a great many satellites are at 22,300 in 2010, was likewise launched by a B-52 above the Pacific and miles distant, in geosynchronous orbits, and that it would traveled more than 230 nautical miles in just over six minutes, cost far more to build the orbital transfer vehicles needed reaching Mach 5.1 before crashing into the ocean. to “take Mr. Goodwrench out to those orbits' than it would True believers have not given up entirely on the notion of to 'build reliability into the vehicles [satellites] in the be- an aerospaceplane. In 2003, DARPA and the Air Force began ginning. Every study we have ever done tells us to put the taking proposals for the HTV-3X Blackswift “hypersonic reliability into the vehicles, because we probably wouldn't cruise vehicle.” It was to be a fighter-sized aircraft—no pilot be able to fix them once we got out there anyway." aboard—that would take off from a runway and fly at speeds In the 1990s, NASA and the Air Force sponsored research up to Mach 15. It did not receive the necessary funding and on a reusable launch vehicle, the X-33 VentureStar. It was was canceled in 2008. to take off vertically and land horizontally, but no firm decision was made about whether there would be a pilot. BOOST-GLIDE WEAPONS Beset by delays and technical problems, the X-33 was The Department of Defense has given hypersonics a high canceled in 2001. priority among critical modernization technologies. Extensive prototype testing of hypersonic missiles is underway in crash HYPERSONICS AND SCRAMJETS programs by all of the services to catch and surpass Russia and Research into hypersonics—defined by scientific conven- China, who have a head start. The Russians claim that their

58 JULY/AUGUST 2020 AIRFORCEMAG.COM The second X-43A hypersonic research vehicle, mounted to a (white) Pegasus booster attached to the right wing of a B-52B launch aircraft. 45th Wing Space Avangard hypersonic missile can zoom at Mach 27. the ground, and lands horizontally on a runway. The U.S. prototypes are mostly boost-glide systems rather USAF has two X-37B research vehicles, which between them than scramjets. A rocket boosts the weapon to hypersonic have flown five missions in space since 2010. The spacecraft velocity at high altitude, after which it uses the speed of its is shrouded in secrecy. The most astounding known feature gliding descent to hit and destroy targets. The advantage is is the duration of its flights. not only in time alone but also the range that such a vehicle At first launch in 2010, the Air Force forecast an on-orbit can achieve. time of 270 days. Four of the five missions so far have done bet- More reliance on scramjets is coming. “I entered this job ter than that. In October 2019, the X-37B landed at the Kennedy thinking scramjet would probably be a step behind boost- Space Center shuttle facility in Florida after a record-breaking glide, and I’m delighted to say that I was wrong. Scramjet is 780 days on orbit. The flight has been nominated for the Col- more mature and ready to go than I originally thought,” USAF lier Trophy, which recognizes great aerospace achievements. acquisition chief Will Roper said in April. The X-37B has been called “Space Shuttle Jr.” Indeed, it does Repeatedly over the past several years, the Air Force has resemble the shuttle, although much smaller, and with one expressed its commitment to hypersonics, particularly in rocket bell instead of the shuttle’s three. Two X-37Bs would weapons. In February 2020, USAF announced that it would fit inside the shuttle’s huge payload bay. Their own cargo bays proceed with development of the Air-launched Rapid Response are about the size of a pickup truck bed. Weapon (ARRW). It will be carried by a bomber or fighter to USAF says little about the X-37B’s purpose except that it altitude, where the glide body will detach and be accelerated is “testing out technologies for future spacecraft.” Officials to hypersonic speed by a booster. have denied that it is a weapon designed to attack or capture Spaceplane development continues, although at a lesser enemy satellites. priority, and the lineup of contenders has narrowed. In January, Last year, former Secretary of the Air Force Heather Wilson DARPA scrapped its XS-1 Phantom Express, an experimental said the X-37B “can do an orbit that looks like an egg, and when spaceplane program in progress since 2013 as an effort to it’s close to the Earth, it’s close enough to the atmosphere develop a reusable launcher to put medium-sized payloads to turn where it is, ... which means our adversaries don’t into low-Earth orbit. know—and that happens on the far side of the Earth from our The XS-1 was to be an aircraft-like plane, taking off vertically adversaries—where it’s going to come up next.” with an expendable upper stage mounted on top of the fuselage Jonathan McDowell of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for and carrying the payload. After releasing the upper stage, the Astrophysics added that, “The dip into the atmosphere causes suborbital vehicle was to glide back to a runway landing. It a change in the timing of when it comes up next overhead. So was intended to fly a suborbital trajectory of about Mach 10. [trackers’] predictions are off and [they] have to search for it all over again.” THE X-37 IN ORBIT Since the creation of the U.S. Space Force, there has been Current attention to spaceplanes is focused on the Air speculation that the X-37B and the overall domain of space- Force’s X-37B “Orbital Test Vehicle.” It began in 1998 as a NASA planes will be transferred to the new service, but there has technology demonstration, transferred to DARPA in 2004, and been no official indication of that thus far. J was taken over in 2006 by the Air Force, which developed its own variant, the unpiloted X-37B. John T. Correll was editor in chief of Air Force Magazine for The X-37B is launched vertically into low-Earth orbit by an 18 years and is a frequent contributor. His most recent article, Atlas V rocket, returns to the atmosphere on command from “Japan's Last Ditch Force," appeared in the June issue.

JULY/AUGUST 2020 AIRFORCEMAG.COM 59 AIRMAN FOR LIFE Updates on AFA’s activities, outreach, awards, and advocacy. AFA Nominees 2020-2021 Candidates for National O‰ ice and the Board of Directors.  e Air Force Association Nominating Committee met by video con- designing, engineering, installing, test- ference on May 2 and selected candidates to send forward for Nation- ing, maintaining, and upgrading USAF al O cer positions and National Director positions on the Board of communications/computer systems Directors.  e Committee consists of three past Chairmen of the Board, all over the world. He worked at base, Numbered Air Force, major command, one person selected by each of the two Vice Chairman of the Board, two and joint levels and held command representing each geographic area, and one person each representing positions at the squadron and group the Total Air Force, Air Force veterans, and aerospace industry constit- level. After retiring from the Air Force in uencies.  e slate of the candidates will be presented to the delegates in 1997, he worked with industry partners September. developing and advocating for customer requirements and missions. He retired CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD Leader Mentor, with the AFA Focus on from industry in 2019 and now focuses Gerald R. Murray, King Mountain, Defense Forum, and with the Top of exclusively on supporting and advocat- N.C., nominated for a second-year term Utah Military A airs Committee. Mur- ing for AFA and  eld initiatives. as Chairman of the Board, joined AFA in ray currently serves on the USAA Board 1994, becoming a Life Member in 2002. of Directors, the Air Force Association Ross B. Lampert, Hereford, Ariz., Murray served 30 years in the Air Force, National Board of Directors, the Air nominated for a  rst, one-year term as culminating as the highest-ranking Force Museum Foundation Board of Vice Chairman of the Board, Field Op- noncommissioned Trustees, the Air Force Enlisted Village erations, is a Life Member who joined o cer in USAF, the Development Council, and the Air Force AFA in 1975. He has 14th Chief Master Memorial Foundation. held numerous AFA Sergeant of the Air positions, including Force. Prior, he VICE CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD, President Gerrity/ performed various FIELD OPERATIONS Central Oklahoma duties in aircraft Peter E. Jones, Potomac Falls, Va., nom- Chapter; President maintenance and inated for a  rst, one-year term as Vice Cochise Chapter, logistics with F-4, Chairman of the Board, Field Operations, Arizona; President F-16, and A-10 aircraft, and as a com- is a Life Member who joined AFA in 2000. Arizona AFA; and mand chief master sergeant at wing, As the current Cen- President Southwest Region. National numbered air force, and major com- tral East Region Pres- AFA o ces held by Lampert include: mand levels. Murray’s previous AFA ident, Jones has also National Secretary (2017-18); member involvement has been as a National served as President of the Field Council (2012-present); he Director, on the Membership Com- of the D.W. Steele created the Field Council Training Sub- mittee, Chapter 331 President, Force Memorial Chapter committee in 2012, serving as Chairman Capabilities Advisory Group member, (2009-2011); Presi- until 2018, and continuing as a member AFA National Director at Large, and as dent of the Virginia to the present; and Chairman of the the Georgia and Utah State Delegate. He State AFA (2011- Field Leadership Development Team earned a bachelor’s degree in business 2013); and as an AFA Director at Large (2018-present). His has received the administration from Saint Leo Universi- (2013-2015). He is currently a member Oklahoma AFA Medal of Merit (2002); ty in Florida and an associate of applied of the Field Council, Strategic Planning four Oklahoma Exceptional Service science in aircraft systems mainte- Committee, IT Subcommittee, and Field Awards; Oklahoma AFA Person of the nance technology from the Community Leaders Development Subcommittee; Year (2003); and also an AFA Presiden- College of the Air Force. Murray has he also serves as chair of the Region tial Citation, two AFA Exceptional Ser- received the Air Force Distinguished President’s Subcommittee. He earned vice Awards, and two AFA Chairman’s Service Medal, a Bronze Star Medal, a bachelor’s degree from Grove City Citations. Lampert earned a bachelor’s Defense Meritorious Service Medal, College, Pa., in electrical engineer- degree from the University of Colorado four AF Meritorious Service Medals, ing and a master’s degree in systems in physics, a master’s degree from the and three AF Commendation Medals. management from the University of University of Southern California in Additionally, he was the 1991 recipient Southern California, in Los Angeles and Geilenkirchen, Germany, in systems of the Air Force Gen. Lew Allen Trophy. Honolulu. As a career USAF communi- management, and a master’s degree He has volunteered as an AFA Emerging cations o cer, Jones was responsible for from the University of Central Oklaho-

 JULY/AUGUST  AIRFORCEMAG.COM ma in English, with honors. He retired ghter pilot with 100 combat missions over velopment, finance, and leadership. from the Air Force in 2000 after serving North Vietnam in F-105 underchiefs. He Hartle is retired from a 35-year career in command and control and air battle also ew F-4 Phantoms in Southeast Asia with an aerospace contractor. and Europe and F-16 Falcons in Europe. management roles, receiving Defense Hannam served as an assistant professor Meritorious Service Medals, Air Medals, NATIONAL TREASURER in Engineering Mechanics and as a Fly- Aerial Achievement Medals, and an Air Charles L. Martin Jr., Fort Mill, S.C., ing/Soaring Instructor at the U.S. Air Force Force Commendation Medal. Lampert nominated for a one-year term as Academy, in Europe as Wing Director of currently serves as a CyberPatriot Advo- Operations, IG Director of Inspection, and National Treasurer. An AFA Life Member cate for the Cochise Chapter in Arizona. Aviano Group Commander, and on the since 1977, Martin TAC and Air Stas in Fighter Requirements, has served as AFA James W. Simons, Minot, N.D., retiring as a colonel. Hannam serves on the National Treasurer, nominated for a one-year term as Vice Executive Committee of the D.W. Steele on the Finance Chairman of the Board, Field Operations Chapter, and previously as Steele Chapter Committee, and the has been an AFA member and Community President, Virginia State Secretary, Central Fresh Look Initiative Partner since 1995. Simons has held AFA East Region President, Director AFA Board Committee. Martin positions including of Directors, Long-Range Planning Com- has received the AFA David C. Jones mittee, Chairman Strategic Planning Com- Special Citation; Chapter President mittee, and for the many years, Vice Chair- AFA Medal of Merit; AFA Colorado and Treasurer, man, Aerospace Education Council. AFA Chapter Meritorious Service Award North Dakota State Awards include Medal of Merit, Exceptional and Certication of Appreciation; and President, and the Service Award, President’s and Chairman’s AFA Scheidecker Award. He earned a North Central Region Awards, and AFA Member of the Year. After bachelor’s degree in economics from President. He was a Air Force retirement he worked in busi- Manhattan College, N.Y., and an MBA charter member of ness development. He is a member of the in accounting from Michigan State the AFA Field Council and also served on Red River Valley Fighter Pilots Association, University. Retiring after 28 years of the National Membership Committee. MOAA, and Daedalians. service in USAF as a comptroller, he served Simons has received the Air Force in executive sta or volunteer positions Association Medal of Merit; Exceptional NATIONAL SECRETARY in national not-for-prot associations. Service Award; Chairman’s Citation (2009); Richard W. “Rick” Hartle, Layton, Chuck holds certications as an Internal National Member of the Year (2014); and Utah, nominated for a third, one-year Auditor and an Association Executive. His the Mary Anne ompson Award (2009). term as National Secretary. An AFA volunteer memberships now include the He currently serves AFA as the National Life Member since 1998, Hartle has S.C. Governor’s Task Force on Military Director, Central Area. Simons earned served AFA on the Organizations, VFW, Indian Land a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice national level as a Post-Investment Committee, Sun City from Michigan State University, a master’s National Director Carolina Lakes Finance & Investment degree in systems management from the at Large from 2011 Committees, and Audit Committee, University of Southern California, and to 2014 and 2017 to American Academy of Audiology. a master’s degree in administration of 2018. He current- justice form Wichita State University. A ly chairs the Audit NATIONAL DIRECTOR AT LARGE retired U.S. Army Military Police Ocer Committee, has e Nominating Committee submits of 18 years, Simons is currently a nancial chaired the Devel- four names for National Director at adviser for a nancial services company. opment Committee, and served on Large. Two will be elected for a three- His volunteer work includes treasurer of a the Strategic Planning and Transition year term. local community group and videographer Constitution Committees. Hartle has at a community church. He is involved in been the Utah State President, Utah Dwyer L. Dennis, Indialantic, Fla., has Arnold Air Society/Silver Wings and is a Aerospace Education Foundation been an AFA Life Member since 2004. He member of the 2020 Wings Society. President and Board Chair, AFA Utah currently serves as Industrial Associates VP, and Ute- President of the AFA VICE CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD, Rocky Mountain Chapter President. He Space Coast Chapter AEROSPACE EDUCATION has received a national-level Medal of in Florida (previous- James T. Hannam, Burke, Va., nomi- Merit, the AFA Utah State Presidential ly named Cape Ca- nated for a third, one-year term as Vice Citation, and the Utah AEF Exceptional naveral Chapter). In Chairman, Aerospace Service Award. He and his wife, Amy, 2019, he received the Education, an AFA are AFA Thunderbird Society mem- AFA Heritage Award Member since 1976. bers. His community involvement in- from the Wright Chapter in Dayton, Ohio. Hannam earned a cludes board positions with the Utah Dwyer earned a bachelor’s degree from bachelor’s degree Defense Alliance, Strategic Deterrent the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado in engineering sci- Coalition, and the Top of Utah Military and a master’s degree in systems man- ence from the Unit- Affairs Committee. Hartle earned a agement from the Air Force Institute of ed States Air Force bachelor’s in electrical engineering Technology at Wright-Patterson AFB, Academy, a master’s from New Mexico State University and Ohio. An AF acquisition program manag- degree in applied mechanics from Stanford completed National Defense Univer- er, he retired from Active duty as a major University, and a master of business admin- sity and Boeing Leadership Center general in 2018 serving as the AF Program istration from Auburn University. He was a courses in management, business de- Executive Ocer for C3I & Networks and

JULY/AUGUST  AIRFORCEMAG.COM previously serving as AFPEO for Fighters neering and acquisition (space programs). Emerging Leader Program Subcommittees. and Bombers. With over 35 years in USAF, After transitioning from the Air Force, he He is a Founding Member of AFA’s Wound- he commanded at group and wing levels was Director, Los Angeles Ops for United ed Airman Program and served in other and served on majcom, Hq. AF, and OSD Launch Alliance. He volunteers with the National-level positions on the Nominating stas. His decorations include the Distin- Mira Costa High School STEM program Committee, and as Supervisor of Elections, guished Service Medal; Defense Superior and with their football and track teams. and in several other chapter and state posi- Service Medal; Legion of Merit Medal; and Harding currently works as president of a tions, including President of the D.W. Steele the Defense Meritorious Service Medal. space consulting company. Sr. Memorial Chapter in Northern Virginia Dwyer currently works as Executive Vice and Vice President for Fund-raising, Vir- President for a veteran-owned, small Leonard R. Vernamonti, Clinton, Miss., ginia State AFA. He has received an AFA business aerospace consulting rm. is an AFA Life Member, joining in 1967. Chairman’s Citation, an Exceptional Service He has served as an AFA Chapter, State, Award, a Medal of Merit, an AFA Fellowship Stephen K. Gourley,Aurora, Colo., joined and Region President; National Direc- and numerous awards from the region, AFA in 2007 and has served as the Mile High tor at Large; Director state, and Chapter, most notably the 2012 127 Chapter President and Colorado State Emeritus; and Nation- Virginia Member of the Year. Mac earned President and Executive Vice President. He al Treasurer. He has a bachelor’s degree in psychology from is currently serving as Colorado Mile High also served on the AFA Southeast Missouri State University and Chapter Vice President, Aerospace Edu- Executive Committee; a master’s degree in administration from cation and State Vice President, Veterans as Chairman of the Central Michigan University. He served in Aairs. Gourley also serves as Aerospace Finance, President’s the Air Force for 22 years as a Master Air Education Council’s Evaluation and Com- Battle Manager on AWACS and the Air- Co-Vice Chairman, pensation, and Audit Committees. Verna- borne Battleeld Command and Control on the AFA Strategic monti served on the afa21 Field Structure Center (ABCCC) aircraft, accumulating Planning Committee, Team, the Field Council, Constitution, 3,000 hours, including 500 combat support and is the Director of R&D, and Development Committees. He hours. Mac also served in the Pentagon on StellarXplorers. He re- received two AFA Medals of Merit; the the Air Sta and on the initial cadre of Joint ceived the Colorado Chairman’s Award for Meritorious Service; Task Force Four in Key West. Following Medal of Merit; Excep- the AFA Exceptional Service Award; and USAF retirement, he completed a second tional Service Award; the Jack Gross Award. Vernamonti earned career with a large aerospace company as and Presidential Award for Excellence; as a bachelor’s degree in economics from the a business development manager, working well as National level Medal of Merit Awards USAFA and a master’s degree in systems with AWACS, C-17, and UAS programs, Mac and a Special Citation, and Chairman’s Ci- engineering from the University of Florida. is currently a Senior Acquisition Program tation. Gourley earned a bachelor’s degree Retiring as a colonel after serving over 26 Manager for the PEO, C3I & Networks/HNX, in astronautical engineering and a master’s years in RD&A Program Management, as at Hanscom AFB, Mass. He is a member of degree from the Massachusetts Institute a comptroller and planning & program the Military O cers Association of America of Technology and a master’s degree in o cer. Awards earned include the Defense (MOAA), MOAA of New Hampshire, and national resource strategy from NDU. He Superior Service Medal; two Legions of e River Rats. retired from USAF after more than 26 years Merit Medals; and the Defense Meritorious of service in the space eld, working in Service Medal. He was also awarded the Jimmy W. Ruth,Yorktown, Va., nominated science and technology; research, develop- Master Missileman Badge and the Senior as National Director, East Area, is a Life ment, test, and evaluation; and operations. Space Badge. Vernamonti currently works Member of AFA, joining in 1975. He is on He currently works as the president of an as a consultant. the Field Council as the Technology Sub- engineering and management consultant committee, Chair. Ruth currently serves company. as the Virginia State NATIONAL DIRECTOR, AFA Vice President, William J. Harding, Manhattan Beach, EAST AREA Communications and Calif., has been a member of AFA since e Nominating Committee submits two has also served on the 1982. He’s served for a decade on the Los names for National Director, East Area. state level as Presi- Angeles AFA Schriever Chapter Board and One will be elected for a three-year term. dent; Secretary; Vice as their Scholarship Chairman. He also President, Awards; received the Chapter’s F. Gavin MacAloon, Nashua, N.H., nom- and Vice President, Young Engineer of the inated for National Director, East Area, is Leadership Devel- Year Award in 1989. a Life Member who joined AFA in 1984. opment. Ruth previously served as AFA He currently serves as “Mac” was the longest Langley Chapter President, Executive Vice the Schriever Chapter serving Vice Chair- President, Secretary, and Vice President of Executive Vice Presi- man of the Board for Awards. He holds a bachelor’s degree from dent. Harding earned Field Operation in Oklahoma State University, a master’s a bachelor’s degree in AFA’s history, from degree from Webster University and from engineering sciences 2016 thru 2020. Pri- Naval War College. Retiring from USAF from the USAFA and an MBA from the or positions include after serving over 29 years as an Air Battle University of Central Florida. He was a three years as the Cen- Manager. Ruth’s community involvement distinguished graduate of SOS and ACSC. tral East Region Pres- includes NDIA, Tidewater Association of Harding retired as a colonel from the USAF ident and three years on the Field Council Service Contractors, MOAA, and Friends after serving 28 years working in engi- as Chairman of the e-Business and the of CAP.

 JULY/AUGUST  AIRFORCEMAG.COM AIRMAN FOR LIFE Updates on AFA’s activities, outreach, awards, and advocacy.

AFA Hands Social Media Reins to the ‘Experts’ By LaDonna Orleans 2nd Lt. April Patko introduces Members of the Arnold Air Society took control of AFA’s Instagram herself on the account for five successive weekends in May, sharing their unique AFA Instagram perspectives as cadets celebrated the end to a stunningly atypical account this academic year. spring. Patko Social media takeovers are a form of marketing in which an was given the organization lets an influencer take over its account for a set period “keys” to AFA’s of time. In this case, 15 AAS cadets shared videos, images, and Instagram stories during the weekly takeovers. “Our objective was to partner account in with AAS, who are all AFA members, to leverage their talents, skills, a project and passion … to attract new followers, increase awareness of the coordinated with AFA mission, and, at the same time, share with our current followers the Arnold Air

and membership base all the cool things AAS and [Silver Wings] are Pesci Daniel Society. doing,” said Tyler Johnson, AFA National Director. to highlight a variety of AFA members. “People love hearing personal stories and seeing familiar faces, and “Jessie and April have been gracious enough to agree to continue during a time when people are missing social interaction, it was the assisting us with developing goals and strategies for our Instagram perfect opportunity,” said newly commissioned 2nd Lt. April Patko, a account by engaging dierent influencers throughout our member- recent graduate of Rutgers University and AAS National Commander. ship,” said Bridget Dongu, AFA Communications Director. “They’ll “We wanted to take the time to recognize some graduating seniors, help coordinate monthly takeovers with a wide-range of voices” while also focusing on reaching a younger audience to boost AFA including Active-duty, retired, enlisted, and oicer members of the membership in that younger age range.” Air Force and Space Force. During the takeover, Jessie McLaughlin, AAS National Director of AFA’s social media accounts (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Public Aairs, and I did “a lot of work behind the scenes … engaging Instagram) boast nearly 100,000 followers. AFA chose Instagram for with the followers, reaching out to those who follow accounts with takeovers because it appeals to a younger demographic and is the similar interests to AFA, and finding Active-duty friends to partici- one with the most room for growth. pate in videos,” Patko said. “Those things really made a dierence,” “This social media takeover was a quick win and the first of many prompting a 29 percent increase in Instagram followers. events that will showcase what our young members are doing and AFA plans future takeovers using Patko and McLaughlin’s expertise encourage others to follow and support our mission.” J

Mitchell Fellows Move on to Great Things The Air University has cycled 14 Air Force Fellows through the Air said, “I truly believe that Mitchell fellows are provided with a more Force Association and its Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies well-rounded experience on the inner workings of DOD through think tank in the past six years. More fellows are headed to Mitchell access to senior leaders.” soon. The great thing Fellows bring is their “flight-line honesty,” said USAF selects some 100 oicers and civilians each year to serve Mitchell Institute Executive Director Doug Birkey. “They provide the 10- to 18-month tours within the Department of Defense, other field perspective of what’s really going on: What’s working and not government agencies, legislative oices, and distinguished civilian working in current operations? Is what we’re doing valuable? Is it institutions. The oicers receive Senior or Intermediate Developmental useful? Are we hitting the target or not?” Education credits and invaluable experience. The institutions gain the Last year, Deptula added the Institute’s first enlisted legislative insights and services of some of the Air Force’s best and brightest fellow and two senior developmental educational fellows to his mid-career talent. charge, in addition to the usual Strategic Policy Fellows. Going “What Mitchell Institute provides the fellows is an environment forward, Deptula said the think tank will sponsor two IDE and two that blends a broadening, intergovernmental agency experience SDE fellows each year. with an in-depth understanding of the relationships between the Mitchell Institute Fellows excel in their careers and have gone on Department of Air Force, the other services, Congress, and the to prestigious positions, including an F-22 squadron commander; an reality of the interdependencies among each of these critical nodes F-35 squadron commander; an F-35 operations support squadron of national security,” said retired Lt. Gen. David Deptula, dean of commander; an executive oicer to the Undersecretary of the Air AFA’s Mitchell Institute. Force; a logistics readiness squadron commander; key planning Fellows at the institute execute original research, edit white papers, positions on the Air Sta and at U.S. Space Command; and other write op-ed pieces, and help with social media strategy, while Mitchell prized assignments. sta provides mentorship and access to key networks within Air Force Air Force Fellows are assigned via the Developmental Education leadership, congressional sta, and top aerospace industry executives. Designation Board based on military records, academic credentials, Lt. Col. Rob Smith, who just concluded his fellowship at the Mitch- and potential for senior sta/command duty. To learn more or submit ell Institute and is headed to the Pentagon to work on the A5 team, an application visit https://www.airuniversity.af.edu. J

JULY/AUGUST  AIRFORCEMAG.COM NAMESAKES

2 Courtesy (1,2): Sta Sgt. Destinee Sweeney Courtesy Sta (1,2):

ERVIN DAVID SHAW 1 Born: Sept. 13, 1894, Alcolu, S.C. Died: July 9, 1918, Northern France 1 Ervin David Shaw. 2 P-51 Mustang at Colleges: Davidson College, 3 N.C.; University of Georgia Shaw Field, 1946. Shaw maintainers Nationality: American work on an F-16. Occupation: U.S. enlisted member, British military o€ icer Services: U.S. Army—Infantry, Signal Corps; Royal Flying SHAW Corps; Royal Air Force 3 Main Era: World War I Years Active: 1913-18 Hot Tamale Combat: Western Front David Ervin Shaw, namesake of Shaw AFB, S.C., First Lt. Shaw left Canada for England, where in Final Grade: First Lieutenant Resting Place: Grandcourt, was an American flier who literally couldn’t wait to April 1918 the American was attached to the new France fight in World War I. Royal Air Force (RAF)—formed from the Royal Flying The South Carolinian, halfway through U.S. pilot Corps and Royal Naval Air Service—for advanced SHAW AIR FORCE BASE training, abandoned his Army career and joined the flight training. Royal Flying Corps. It was his shortcut to air combat— In May 1918, Molly finally achieved his goal. He was State: South Carolina Nearest City: Sumter and a hero’s death—in France. reassigned to France as part of RAF No. 48 Squadron, Area: 17.8 sq mi / 11,403 acres Shaw was born into a prominent family in 1894 in a combat unit that eventually boasted 32 aces. As a Status: Open, operational Alcolu, a tiny lumber and mill town on South Carolina’s Bristol F2B Brisfit pilot, he was soon in action against Opened as Sumter Army Air coastal plain. He and his parents moved to Sumter hardened German airmen. Field: Aug. 7, 1941 Renamed Shaw AAF: Aug. when he reached grade-school age. Shaw volunteered for the most 30, 1941 Exuberance was his hallmark. When dangerous reconnaissance missions. Renamed Shaw Air Force excited about something, he would Twice, his airplanes were shot to Base: Jan. 13, 1948 shout, “Hot tamales!” Hence his nick- pieces—though he landed in friendly Current owner: Air Combat name: “Molly.” territory both times. He also shot Command Former owners: Army Air Molly was a daredevil teenager who down two German airplanes in his Forces—Southeast Training liked fast cars. In fact, his grandfather, short combat career. Center; AAF Eastern Flying a timber magnate, built him his own A fellow pilot noted, “We all regard- Training Command. USAF—First racetrack so that he could constantly indulge his ed Molly as the most daring and skillful pilot among us.” Air Force, Continental Air Forces, Air Defense Command, need for speed. On July 9, 1918, Shaw and his British observer, Continental Air Command, Not yet 17, he graduated with Sumter High School’s RAF Sgt. Thomas W. Smith, took ož alone for a recon Tactical Air Command Class of 1911 and went to college. In June 1913, he mission over the Somme River and behind German Home of: 20th Fighter Wing joined the Army, where he spent four years as an lines. Their return to base was blocked by three enlisted man. German fighters, which jumped the lone RAF aircraft The U.S. entered World War I in April 1917, and and began a furious air battle. Shaw shot down one Shaw saw a new opportunity. In September 1917, he of the Germans, but his Bristol was raked by gunfire became an aviation cadet and set out to become a and exploded in midair. Shaw and Smith both were commissioned pilot and go fight Germans. killed. They are buried in France. Molly, by early 1918, had soured on Army aviation; In 1941, the U.S. named a South Carolina base Shaw he was not getting to war quickly enough. He sought Army Air Field, in honor of the heroic native son. It is and received an honorable discharge and took a one of the nation’s largest military bases and is under commission in the Royal Canadian Flying Corps, a the jurisdiction of Air Combat Command. USAF’s 20th training arm of Britain’s Royal Flying Corps. Fighter Wing serves as the host unit. ✪

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