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Air Force Brat

Brigadier
Super Moderator
I'm guessing they're going to look for 'possible waste' (LOL)

what's one bil anyway:
F-35 development and support to cost $1 billion annually
08 March, 2018
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I've already found a Billion Dollars worth of waste right here, a Billion Bucks for some little book keepers in funny little round glasses,,,

internal audit is built into the F-35 program, they have more oversight than any project in military history, find it, fix it, fly it! yes it's expensive, and NO its not optional, but the financial oversight and reducing production cost is mandated into this project, more layers of criticism and doubt will not build us the airplanes we need, it will ONLY up-arm the political "hit men" who go around making themselves out to be "smarter than smart", that's why the IDIOTS canceled the F-22, and yes they are IDIOTS!

that has left a defensive gap that the Russians or Chinese could have exploited and would have, but for their own lack of suitable equipment and money,,
 
now noticed the tweet
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USS Hartford surfaced in the Arctic yesterday during
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DX_fzWuWsAA0SCH.jpg
 

Air Force Brat

Brigadier
Super Moderator
I was glad to see there's still an ice cap up there

actually they are getting paid to "harvest arctic ice" the latest fad to hit southern California since the Olympics, seems some of those snow boarders "discovered" that keeping your beer in an "arctic ice filled kooler" led to significant weight loss and a better "vibe" when you're driving down the Freeway???
 
actually they are getting paid to "harvest arctic ice" the latest fad to hit southern California since the Olympics, seems some of those snow boarders "discovered" that keeping your beer in an "arctic ice filled kooler" led to significant weight loss and a better "vibe" when you're driving down the Freeway???
I don't think this is exactly what that mission is about
LOL!
 

TerraN_EmpirE

Tyrant King
On the military side ICEX2018 will include under ice Navigation and Torpedo exercises.
on the science side. they conduct Surveys of the ice flow and density, taking Ice Cores, And testing to see how Polar bears react to American made vs Russian Vodka.... Okay I made that last part up.
 

Air Force Brat

Brigadier
Super Moderator
I don't think this is exactly what that mission is about
LOL!

actually you're right, that arctic ice is being made to manufacture healthy "Arctic ICE Strawberry and Banana smoothies",,, full of protein powder, and radioactive arctic ice to "power you" through your day,, and as an added benefit, you have a very healthy glow!

yep, actually it is about "power projection" and staying sharp operating under the ice, navigation and operation under the ice are very challenging,,, will two opposing teams ever actually engage under the ice??? probably not if we maintain our proficiency, and that is the genesis for all this fun in the sun activities..

Ice is constantly moving, freezing thawing, breaking up, and reforming, it is impossible to map all the changing scenario's, but it is possible to become familiar with major features and learn how to use them to your advantage!
 
Nov 16, 2017
the first time I heard of him was ... Nov 3, 2017

Senate confirms Esper as Army secretary
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and Army secretary would like a year to spend FY18 funding
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Army Secretary Mark Esper said he’d like
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once Congress passes the budget rather than cramming FY18 spending into the last few months of the fiscal year.

Under current rules, the Defense Department is required to spend operations and maintenance account funding by the end of the year or lose it. Congress also requires that no more than 20 percent of one-year appropriations may be obligated during the last two months of the fiscal year.

Congress is optimistic that it will pass an omnibus spending bill for FY18 before the latest continuing resolution — which sets the budget temporarily at FY17 levels — expires March 23. The Defense Department could have five months or less to spend the large amount of funding afforded by the deal on budget top lines, which provides national defense nearly $700 billion for FY18 and $716 billion for FY19.

“My preference in a perfect world,” Esper told reporters, following a March 12 Center for Strategic and International Studies event in Washington, “I would prefer to have a year to spend those dollars, so if it means a day-for-day, for every day lost, a day gained or whatever, but again… you have to have a process which can be audited, you have to have sufficient oversight. There are things you have to do.”

Esper added “there are a lot of smart people in Congress that can figure this out. I think the will is there, the willingness is there to make it happen.”

Lawmakers have shown recent agreement that Congress should stretch 2018 appropriations for the Pentagon in some way to compensate for the appropriations likely to come halfway into the fiscal year.

A bipartisan group of senators with authority over military readiness urged Senate appropriators
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and the so-called “80/20 Rule” that requires the Pentagon spend no more than 20 percent during the last two months of the year.

The House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee
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.

But regardless of whether flexible spending mechanisms are granted, Congress will likely still see a record number of DoD requests to reprogram funding, House Armed Services Committee ranking member Adam Smith, D-Wash., said recently.

Esper said he believed the Pentagon has proposed some solutions to Congress for flexible spending and added he’s had discussions on the Hill, as well as his colleagues, in order to ensure lawmakers understand the problem.

“They all have expressed an eagerness to do something, they understand the problems we face, so they are sympathetic to it,” he said.

And while a solution for how the Pentagon should spend its FY18 funding is needed now, Esper added, “if you could figure out a process that does it for multiple years, that would be great because then we don’t have to come back every year. I mean, at this point, we have started the fiscal year late now, at least three months late, for how many years? Six? Seven? Eight?”
 
US Air Force orders freeze on public outreach
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OK
The U.S. Air Force is slashing access to
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, base visits and interviews as it seeks to put the entire public affairs apparatus through retraining — a move it says is necessary for operational security, but one which could lead to a broader freeze in how the service interacts with the public.

According to March 1 guidance obtained by Defense News, public affairs officials and commanders down to the wing level must go through new training on how to avoid divulging sensitive information before being allowed to interact with the press.

The effort, which represents the third major Defense Department entity to
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guidance restricting public communication over the past 18 months, creates a massive information bureaucracy in which even the most benign
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must be cleared at the four-star command level.

Before settling on retraining its public affairs corps and commanders, the service considered an even more drastic step: shutting down all engagement with the press for a 120-day period, a source with knowledge of the discussions said.

Instead, the service settled on the retraining plan, a temporary move which Brig. Gen. Ed Thomas, director of public affairs, said could be completed “in the coming weeks.”

“In today’s challenging information environment marked by great power competition, we will continue to be as transparent with the American public as possible while protecting sensitive information on our operations and capabilities,” Thomas told Defense News. “We owe both to the public, and it is vitally important for the public to understand what we are doing on their behalf and with their tax dollars.”

But two former Air Force secretaries and an influential congressman all raise the same concern: that intentionally or not, this will send a message that engaging with the public simply isn’t worth the risk.

Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., told Defense News the memo fits into a trend of recent moves inside the Department of Defense toward less transparency, which could ultimately undermine the DoD’s efforts to address long-standing problems. Gallagher serves on the Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee, which oversees several key Air Force programs like the
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.

“I fully support the
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focus on great-power competition,” Gallagher told Defense News, “but I think the department has it backwards. It is precisely because of the scale of the challenges before us that transparency is more important than ever. I worry that by failing to discuss problems, we will only ensure there is no public pressure to fix them.”

Shrinking Air Force access

The renewed focus on operational security stems from the Trump administration’s recently released National Defense Strategy, according to the Air Force guidance. That document, which was marked as “for official use only,” was distributed to public affairs officials following a February 2018 memo on operational security signed by Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson and Chief of Staff Gen. Dave Goldfein.

“As we engage the public, we must avoid giving insights to our adversaries which could erode military advantage,” the March 2018 guidance read. “We must now adapt to the reemergence of great power competition and the reality that our adversaries are learning from what we say in public.”

Until wing-level spokesmen have been certified by their corresponding major command, responses to reporter queries that potentially could include details about “operations, training or exercises, readiness or other issues which may reveal operational information to potential adversaries” are subject to approval by the Air Force’s public affairs headquarters at the Pentagon, known as Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs, or SAF/PA. Exceptions can be made for human interest stories, community engagement pieces or other lighter, fluffier news, which can be approved by major command public officials.

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:

What this means is that if public affairs officials at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas haven’t received their training, a local story about
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would need the approval of Air Education and Training Command before being allowed to proceed with an interview or any engagement.

Beyond limiting the Air Force’s interactions with journalists, the new guidelines pose new restrictions on public appearances such as air show demonstrations, trade shows, industry conferences and think tank events, which can move forward if authorized by SAF/PA’s engagement division.

And although Air Force band performances will be permitted to continue, all band members who interact with the media must receive training from public affairs.

Exactly what constitutes sensitive information is unclear. The Air Force’s guidance lays out “potential engagement areas” alongside topics that could possibly pose “operational security risks.” Classified information and vulnerabilities are included in the latter area, but so are details about flag exercises, the number and location of operational assets, or information related to current readiness — some of which are routinely shared with the public.

The guidance notes that “neither list is all inclusive,” and that public affairs professionals “use sound discretion and exercise discretion when evaluating all engagement opportunities.”

Pausing a turnaround

The guidance comes as the Air Force was finally repairing a damaged public affairs reputation. The service infamously clamped down on talking after the 2008 firing of both its chief of staff and service secretary, which had a chilling effect across the service.

The situation culminated in a 2016
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by Foreign Policy magazine, which found reporters ranking the Air Force as the worst service to deal with. That result
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, triggering promises of more open lines of communication.

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, Wilson’s predecessor as Air Force secretary, told Defense News it was her belief the service needs to be more open, not less.

“I have not seen the memo. However, I am sorry to hear about this development. If true, it certainly runs against the grain for what I tried to do as secretary of the Air Force,” James said. “Sometimes there’s positive news to talk about, and our airmen can be the best communicators. Sometimes there’s negative news to talk about. But much better that we be the ones to describe that news and frame it for the American people.”

Whit Peters, who from 1997-2001 served as both Air Force secretary and undersecretary, acknowledged there are times when the military needs to keep information back for security reasons. He said the memo restrictions remind him of the way the service handled information during the conflict in Bosnia. But he also warned the memo may have a chilling effect far beyond its printed text.

“The penumbra of this memo is worse than the memo itself. If you’re already an Air Force officer, who is disinclined to talk to the press, this just gives you one more reason to think it is not career enhancing to talk to the press,” Peters said. “And that is unfortunate because the Air Force at all levels needs to be talking to the American public about what a valuable service it provides.”

“I still think the Air Force does not do enough publicly to explain its mission and to explain why it needs to rejuvenate its whole fleet, both in air and space,” Peters continued. “So I would hope this doesn’t get in the way of the Air Force telling its story on why it’s important, and why it needs to be funded by the taxpayers.”

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