Air Force

CNP Nowell: Navy Short More Than 5,000 Sailors for At-Sea Billets

Ensign Sofia Bliek, from Vernon, Conn., on Feb. 6, 2022. US Navy Photo

The Navy has 5,000 to 6,000 gaps for sailors at-sea billets, the service’s senior personnel officer told a House panel on Tuesday.

The Navy currently has 145,000 billets at sea, Chief of Naval Personnel Vice Adm. John Nowell said during a House Armed Services subcommittee on military personnel hearing. Following the fatal collisions of 2017, the Navy added 23,800 sea billets in an effort to buttress manning on surface ships....

https://news.usni.org/2022/02/09/cnp-nowell-navy-short-more-than-5000-sailors-for-at-sea-billets

GAO Report on the Defense Department and Intellectual Property

The following is the November Government Accountability Office report, DOD Should Take Additional Actions to Improve How It
Approaches Intellectual Property.

From the report

Why This Matters

The Department of Defense (DOD) acquires and licenses intellectual property (IP)—such as computer software and technical data—for its cutting-edge weapon systems. Yet, DOD often does not acquire the IP it needs to operate and maintain those systems, which can lead to surging costs later. In 2019, DOD assigned...

https://news.usni.org/2021/12/02/gao-report-on-defense-department-and-intellectual-property

Tanker pilot dies in crash while fighting Colorado wildfire

Photo of the Kruger Rock wildfire near Estes Park, Colorado, Nov. 16, 2021.

An air tanker pilot died in a crash Tuesday evening while attempting to extinguish the Kruger Rock wildfire in northern Colorado.

The pilot has been identified as Marc Thor Olson, according to CO Fire Aviation Inc., the company that owned the aircraft.

Related: What does ‘containing a wildfire’ actually mean?

“The CO Fire Aviation family is deeply saddened by the sudden, tragic loss of one of our brothers serving as a tanker pilot,” officials said in a statement on Facebook.

CO Fire Aviation also...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/tanker-pilot-dies-in-crash-while-fighting-colorado-wildfire

Report to Congress on Air Force Tanker Strategy

The following is the Nov. 5, 2021, Congressional Research Service In Focus report, Air Force Tanker Strategy Change.

From the report

As discussed in the CRS report Air Force KC-46A Pegasus Tanker, the Air Force is in the process of replacing its fleet of 396 KC-135 Stratotanker refueling aircraft, built in the 1950s and 60s, and 59 KC-10 Extenders, which entered service in 1981. Recent announcements indicate that the planned replacement program is changing significantly from its original form,...

https://news.usni.org/2021/11/05/report-to-congress-on-air-force-tanker-strategy

Geurts Stepping Down as Acting Navy Undersecretary, Retiring From Government

James F. Geurts

James Geurts, the Navy’s former acquisition chief who for the last several months has been performing the duties of the undersecretary of the Navy, is stepping down this month.

In a Thursday post on LinkedIn, Geurts shared a handwritten letter, dated Aug. 3, detailing his decision to formally retire.

“I have decided to retire from government service later this month,” Geurts wrote in the note. “It was an extremely difficult decision given my strong belief in our mission and pride...

https://news.usni.org/2021/08/04/geurts-stepping-down-as-acting-navy-undersecretary-retiring-from-government

Congressional Budget Office Primer on U.S. Military’s Force Structure

The following is the May 2021 Congressional Budget Office report, The U.S. Military’s Force Structure: A Primer, 2021 Update

From the report

To increase understanding of the choices that the nation faces when considering the defense budget, the Congressional Budget Office has updated its 2016 primer on the structure of the armed forces. This updated version is based on the spending plans and personnel numbers outlined in the Department of Defense’s (DoD’s) Future Years Defense Program for fiscal...

https://news.usni.org/2021/05/21/congressional-budget-office-primer-on-u-s-militarys-force-structure

Report to Congress on Command and Control

The following is the April 8, 2021 Congressional Research Service In Focus report, Defense Primer: What Is Command and Control?

From the report

The Department of Defense (DOD) defines command and control (C2) as “[t]he exercise of authority and direction by a properly designated commander over assigned forces in the accomplishment of the mission.” At its most fundamental level, C2 represents how DOD makes operational decisions. One can view C2 through the context of five variables: who, what,...

https://news.usni.org/2021/04/13/report-to-congress-on-command-and-control

Navy’s Vision for Future Fleet is Blurry Say Seapower Members Luria, Gallagher  

Boatswain’s Mate 3rd Class Logan Brown, from Joplin, Montana, scans the horizon from the bridge wing aboard the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS McCampbell (DDG-85) while underway conducting operations in the Taiwan Strait in March 2020. US Navy Photo

The Navy isn’t doing a great job of arguing for the service to expand to face the growing maritime threat from China, two members of the House Armed Services seapower and projection forces subcommittee said on Thursday.

In the last...

https://news.usni.org/2021/03/18/navys-vision-for-future-fleet-is-blurry-say-seapower-members-luria-gallagher

HASC Chairman Calls on Congress to ‘Scrub’ F-35 Program

Two U.S. Marine Corps F-35B Lightning IIs, assigned to Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 164 (Reinforced), 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, stand chained to the flight deck aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Makin Island (LHD-8). US Navy Photo

“We’ve got to seriously scrub” programs like the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter in Congress instead of rewarding “people for failure, not results” in developing new weapons systems, the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee said Friday.

Sp...

https://news.usni.org/2021/03/05/hasc-chairman-calls-on-congress-to-scrub-f-35-program

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