News from the Air Force

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End Strength by the Numbers: The Air Force leadership ultimately got Congress to go along with about half of the personnel cuts that it requested for Fiscal 2013. House and Senate defense authorizers decided to allow the Air Force to draw down its end strength by 4,860 Total Force positions in this fiscal year rather than the 9,900 reductions that the service leadership sought, according to the figures in the conference report for H.R. 4310, this fiscal year's defense authorization bill. Lawmakers released the conference report on Dec. 18. Here's our breakdown:

Total Force authorized end strength in Fiscal 2012: 510,900
Active Duty: 332,800, Air National Guard: 106,700, and Air Force Reserve: 71,400.

Air Force leadership's original Fiscal 2013 request: 501,000 (-9,900)
Active Duty: 328,900 (-3,900), Air Guard: 101,600 (-5,100), and Reserve: 70,500 (-900).

Fiscal 2013 defense authorization conference report: 506,040 (-4,860)
Active Duty: 329,460 (-3,340), Air Guard: 105,700 (-1,000), and Reserve: 70,880 (-520).

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New Command Chief for AETC:

Gen. Edward Rice, head of Air Education and Training Command, selected CMSgt. Gerardo Tapia to be the command's next senior enlisted leader, replacing CMSgt. James Cody. Tapia, currently command chief for 12th Air Force at Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz., is slated to begin his tenure as AETC's command chief at the end of the month, according to the command's Dec. 21 release. Cody will become the Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force on Feb. 1. He has been AETC's senior enlisted airman since September 2010. Tapia has nearly 28 years of Air Force service. He is a master personnelist and a native of El Paso, Tex.

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Clarke Confirmed as Air Guard Director:

The Senate has confirmed Lt. Gen. Stanley Clarke to be the Air National Guard's next director, succeeding Lt. Gen. Bud Wyatt, who is retiring later this month. Senators voted in favor of Clark's nomination on Jan 1, according to the Senate's website. "I look forward to the opportunity to lead the best Air National Guard in our nation's history," said Clarke in a Jan. 2 release. He added, "The Air National Guard and the 106,000 men and women who make it work have served our nation and our communities with great distinction in combat and during numerous domestic crises." President Obama last month tapped Clarke for the post. Clarke has been commander of the Continental US NORAD Region and 1st Air Force at Tyndall AFB, Fla., since August 2011. He was the Air Guard's deputy director from May 2007 to June 2008. Wyatt has led the Air National Guard since February 2009. He began his Air Force career in January 1972.

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F-16 Crash under Investigation:

Officials are investigating the cause of last week's crash of an F-16C from the California Air National Guard's 144th Fighter Wing in Fresno. The F-16 went down in the California desert on Dec. 27 during a routine mission. The pilot safely ejected, was taken to a local medical facility, but then released on that same day, wing spokesman SMSgt. Chris Drudge told the Daily Report on Jan. 3. Fresno's KMPH TV New Station 26 reported that the pilot encountered trouble with the fighter while flying at 12,000 feet in altitude. Drudge said the wing held an internal safety standdown on the day after the mishap, except for the unit's F-16s on alert to protect US skies from unauthorized intrusion.

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Thinking Globally:

The Air Force awarded Boeing a $895 million contract for C-17 operational enhancements and development activities over the next 10 years. This "GLOBE contract," as it is known, is an umbrella deal that includes "a variety of potential modernization projects," a Boeing spokeswoman told the Daily Report. She said company and Air Force officials would define the project details each year. "We are working collaboratively with the Air Force to develop technology roadmaps that identify modernization needs in the near future," said the spokeswoman on Jan. 3 in a written response to questions. Anticipated work in the near term includes cockpit/crew-workload-reduction projects, she noted. Under the contract, Boeing will also conduct a producibility enhancement and program improvement study to "identify specific opportunities and additional communication, navigation, and air traffic management improvements," she said. The Pentagon announced the GLOBE contract in its list of major contracts for Dec. 28. To date, Boeing has delivered 218 of the 224 C-17s that the Air Force has ordered. After factoring the loss of one C-17 in a 2010 crash, this will leave a fleet of 223 of these airlifters.

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Mulling NORAD Next:

US and Canadian defense officials met to discuss the capabilities that NORAD will need to confront emerging challenges and threats. These talks took place last month in Colorado Springs, Colo., during the meeting of the Permanent Joint Board of Defense, the highest level defense and security forum between the two nations, according to a Jan. 7. Pentagon release. Officials are mulling the next big step in NORAD's evolution to stay ahead of threats in the 2025-to-2030 timeframe, referring to this as the "NORAD Next" concept, states the release. "We need to think about what is beyond 2015, what the strategic environment will be, and what we need to be doing to move the command into that future," said Royal Canadian Air Force Brig. Gen. A.D. Meinzinger, NORAD's deputy director of strategy. "NORAD Next will ensure that NORAD remains forever relevant and ever evolving," added RCAF Lt. Gen. Alain Parent, NORAD's deputy commander. "The important thing," he continued, "is that we maintain relevancy and don't get surprises. The stakes are too big for our two counties to get surprised."

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Hotaling is Air Guard's New Command Chief:

CMSgt. James Hotaling has been selected as the Air National Guard's next command chief, announced Air Force officials on Tuesday. Hotaling is succeeding CMSgt. Christopher Muncy, who retired in September after more than three years in that role. Hotaling has been serving since January 2012 as command chief for the Continental US NORAD Region-1st Air Force at Tyndall AFB, Fla. As the Air Guard's command chief, he will be the senior adviser to Lt. Gen. Stanley Clarke, the incoming ANG director, on matters concerning the readiness, morale, welfare, proper use, and progress of the more than 90,000 enlisted Air Guardsmen, according to a Jan. 8 Tyndall release. "On one hand, I am excited to be moving on to bigger challenges serving our Air National Guard, but on the other, I will miss the camaraderie and friendships I have established during my short time here at 1st Air Force," said Hotaling. A North Carolina native, Hotaling enlisted in the Air Force in 1987 and served as a special tactics combat controller. After some 10 years on active duty, he left the service, later joining the Coast Guard, before subsequently returning to the Air Force.

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Goodbye Hawkeye Falcons:

Congress approved the elimination of the Iowa Air National Guard's F-16s, one of the Air Force's proposed force structure adjustments, in the Fiscal 2013 defense authorization act. In this fiscal year, the Air Force is retiring a total of 21 F-16s from the inventory—all of which will come from the 132nd Fighter Wing at Des Moines, explained Col. Jon Thomas, the Air Force's program integration division chief at the Pentagon. Air Force leaders "spent a whole lot of time talking about it," but ultimately the case was clear and "Congress accepted it," he told reporters on Jan. 10 during a media roundtable. The 132nd FW's fighters most recently deployed to Afghanistan last February. Unlike the Air Force's proposal to cut 102 A-10s that Congress scaled back to just 61, the F-16 cut was simpler, said Thomas. "With the A-10s, you were talking about five different squadrons at different locations," he said. With the F-16s "it was just one unit," he added

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Tactically Minded:

The Air Force is establishing an Intra-Theater Airlift Working Group to determine how best to comply with the language in this fiscal year's defense authorization act mandating the restoration of 32 tactical airlifters that the service leadership intended to retire. The working group will provide recommendations to Air Force Secretary Michael Donley by the end of January, service spokeswoman Ann Stefanek told the Daily Report on Jan. 4. Donley will then announce his final decision on the restorals "sometime after that meeting," she said. The working group will comprise representatives from the Active Duty component (e.g. headquarters staff, Air Mobility Command), Air National Guard, and Air Force Reserve, said Stefanek. Among the group's members is Lt. Gen. Michael Moeller who's in charge of strategic plans and programs on the Air Staff, according to a release from Rep. Tim Murphy (R-Pa,) who is fighting to save the C-130 flying mission of Air Force Reserve Command's 911th Airlift Wing in Pittsburgh. Congress gave the Air Force the latitude to decide whether the 32 airlifters retained are C-130s or a mix of C-130s and C-27Js. President Obama signed the defense legislation into law on Jan. 2.

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C-17 Globemaster from McCord AFB setting on runway in American Samoa...........

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Congrats, You're a Drill Sergeant:

Air Force personnel officials announced that they plan to impress senior non-commissioned officers into service as military training instructors to fill a critical cadre shortage at basic training at JBSA-Lackland, Tex. "Basic military training is the cornerstone of the Air Force," said Col. Deborah Landry, Air Force Personnel Center's assignment division chief, in a Jan. 11 release from JBSA-Randolph, Tex., home of the center. "So getting the MTI field healthy is a critical priority," she added. Only qualified technical sergeants and master sergeants will be drafted and "this month, we will use the non-volunteer selection process to bring the manning levels up," she said. NCOs selected for MTI duty will have 45 days to submit their non-volunteer application or decline the assignment, which would make them ineligible for promotion or reenlistment, according to the release. Voluntary applications are still accepted and senior NCOs in critical career fields or with more than 16 years of Active Duty service are exempt.

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F-22s Return to Kadena:

A contingent of F-22s and some 300 airmen arrived on Okinawa, Japan, from JB Langley-Eustis, Va., as part of a normal rotation of combat forces to the Asia-Pacific theater, announced Pacific Air Forces officials. Capt. Kim Bender, PACAF spokeswoman, told the Daily Report on Tuesday that Langley's expeditionary squadron arrived at Kadena Air Base on Jan. 14 Okinawa time. She said 12 F-22s are part of this four-month deployment, along with Active Duty personnel from the 1st Fighter Wing and members of the Virginia Air National Guard's 192nd FW. The F-22s are part of a US Pacific Command theater security package meant to promote peace and stability in the region. While on Okinawa, the F-22s and Langley airmen will train with Kadena's 18th Wing, states PACAF's Jan. 15 release. The command said F-22s routinely deploy to the area as the Defense Department repositions forces as needed. This deployment does come at a time of heightened tensions between China and Japan over territorial disputes in the East China Sea. On Jan. 11, for example, Chinese J-10s and Japanese F-15s shadowed each other near the disputed Senkaku Islands, reported the Los Angeles Times.

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Reworked MOP Ready for Combat:

Boeing's redesigned Massive Ordnance Penetrator is ready for "successful prosecution," according to the most recent annual report to Congress from Michael Gilmore, the Pentagon's top tester. The 30,000-pound bunker-busting bomb underwent two sled tests at Holloman AFB, N.M., last summer "to confirm a successful redesign of a critical part of the weapon system," states the 2012 report, submitted to Congress on Jan. 11. From June 2012 to October 2012, a B-2 stealth bomber successfully conducted five weapon drops—three with live warheads and two with inert warheads—at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., to further evaluate the MOP's performance, states the report. "The sled test results and the additional weapon drops indicate that the weapon redesign is adequate for successful prosecution of all of the elements of the currently defined target set," states the report.

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Keeping Eyes on North Korea:

There's a "lot of concern" about North Korea's growing long-range ballistic missile capabilities, said Air Force Space Command boss Gen. William Shelton on Thursday. "They have tried several times to get to orbit and they did get to orbit this time," he said, referring to the successful mid-December launch of an Unha-3 rocket that reportedly placed a small satellite, called the Kwangmyongsong-3, into orbit. North Korean officials maintain that the launch was for peaceful scientific reasons, but Shelton said a country capable of launching a rocket with sufficient velocity to get to space also would be capable of launching an intercontinental ballistic missile. "That gives us a lot of concern for a lot of reasons," he said during the Jan. 17 meeting with reporters in Washington, D.C. "What they would do in space is not as concerning to us right now because they are very immature in their space program," he added.

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Wildcat Emerges from the Muck:

Salvage experts last month raised a rare Navy FM-2 Wildcat fighter from the floor of Lake Michigan near Chicago. "This effort will lead to another important World War II aircraft being presented to the American public," said retired Navy Capt. Ed Ellis, vice president of the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation, in a release from the Experimental Aircraft Association. The museum foundation plans to restore the aircraft. On Dec. 28, 1944, the Wildcat's engine failed during takeoff on a training sortie from the aircraft carrier USS Sable, according to EAA. The fighter rolled off the deck; although the pilot, Ensign William Forbes, was able to swim free, the Wildcat sank in roughly 200 feet of water where it remained for some 68 years. A recovery crew pulled the FM-2 largely intact—except for the tail—from the water's depths on Dec. 7, reported Chicago's Daily Herald. Ellis said the airplane is expected to go on display "in the Chicago area" following its restoration.

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Civilian Hiring Freeze Instituted:

Air Force senior leaders have directed a force-wide civilian hiring freeze, announced service officials on Thursday. Commanders were also directed to release temporary employees and not renew term employees, states the Air Force's Jan. 17 release. These are among the immediate steps that the leadership is taking to reduce the service's expenditure rate and protect core readiness functions given the looming possibility of budget sequestration and funding shortfalls. The leadership outlined these reversible and recoverable moves in a Jan. 16 memorandum sent to the heads of the major commands. "These are uncharted waters concerning the federal budget and the effect it will have on the Air Force," wrote Lt. Gen. Darrell Jones, the service's manpower and personnel chief, in the memo, according to the release. "It is imperative we work closely together to balance mission needs and minimize impacts to our dedicated civilian employees and their families," he added. Civilian pay makes up a large share of the Air Force's operating budget, plus service officials already project a $1.8 billion shortfall for overseas contingency operations in this fiscal year, states the release.

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Air Force Moves Forward on Hosted Payloads:

The Air Force expects to award an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for commercially hosted satellite payloads by the end of the calendar year, said Gen. William Shelton, head of Air Force Space Command. "That will basically provide a path to on-ramp capabilities," he told reporters in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 17. "It will lay the groundwork and make these bridges to hosted payloads easier to come by," he noted. The Air Force has been discussing a move toward more commercially hosted payloads for years in an effort to get capabilities on orbit more quickly and at significantly reduced cost. The service's experimental Commercially Hosted Infrared Payload, or CHIRP, reached orbit aboard an SES-2 communications satellite in September 2011. It was the Air Force's first payload hosted on a commercial satellite.

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Return of the Spirit:

Two B-2A stealth bombers from the 509th Bomb Wing at Whiteman AFB, Mo, will temporarily operate from Andersen AFB, Guam, in late January in support of US Pacific Command's in-theater training objectives, announced Pacific Air Forces officials. "This deployment will provide the opportunity for our airmen to become familiar with operating in the Pacific and exercise the B-2's ability to employ strategic precision attack capabilities across the globe," states PACAF's Jan. 18 release. This is the first time in several years that B-2s will deploy to Andersen. B-2s had been a regular part of the Air Force's bomber rotations to Guam where the United States has maintained a continual long-range strike presence since 2004. However, the Air Force pulled them from the rotations after the loss of one B-2 in a crash on the island in 2008 and another B-2 incurred severe damage in an engine fire there in 2010. Already on Guam is an expeditionary contingent of airmen and B-52s from Barksdale AFB, La., that deployed to Andersen in October.

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Eagles and Spanish Steel:

F-15Cs from RAF Lakenheath, England, are flying with fighters from six allied countries at Albacete AB, Spain, for NATO's Tactical Leadership Program course. Pilots from Lakenheath's 493rd Fighter Squadron will brush up on the tactical skills needed to coordinate and lead an allied air campaign though 16 combat scenarios incorporating as many as 30 allied aircraft, according to a Jan. 18 release from base officials. "We can bring in experience that we acquire across the globe and share that with our allies," said Maj. Manny Gomez, War Preparation Center Det. 1 operations director at the TLP. "At the same time, we can learn from them because they also have different ways of doing things," he added. Lakenheath F-15s are flying mixed sorties with Spanish Eurofighters and alongside assets from Belgium, Britain, France, Greece, and Italy, states the release. The current course began on Jan. 16 and runs through Feb. 7

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No Room for Misunderstanding:

Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh told members of the House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday that he expects every commander to contribute to efforts to reduce sexual assaults in the Air Force. "If they don't get actively engaged, I consider them part of the problem," said Welsh at the Jan. 23 hearing, during which he testified alongside Air Education and Training Command boss Gen. Ed Rice. Welsh said he met with all Air Force four-star generals in early October "to ensure they knew exactly how I felt about this subject." He also directed all of the service's 164 wing commanders to meet in Washington, D.C., in late November to discuss the issue face-to-face. "There's simply no room for misunderstanding as we move forward from here," said Welsh. There are more than 3,100 volunteer victim advocates in the Air Force. In addition, 24 special investigators specifically trained in sexual misconduct cases have recently finished training and an additional 60 Air Force attorneys have been trained as Special Victims' Counsel under a new program that will go into effect on Jan. 28, he said. "We will never slow down our efforts to ensure our victims receive the best, most capable, and most thoughtful care and advice possible until we can eliminate the problem," said Welsh