Brian Bradley
NS&D Monitor
8/22/2014
As Airmen face uncertainty related to the Air Force budget and service downsizing, the service has moved $50 million to shore up immediate, near-term nuclear facility upgrades and to compensate additional personnel to staff crucial jobs within Global Strike Command. The service has requested $350 million for GSC’s five-year-long Future Years Defense Program and is discussing with Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel’s office and the Pentagon about the amount and the funding streams the money would flow through.
The service has already requested $154 million for GSC in fiscal year 2015. “Discussions about the potential for and level of additional funding within the Department of Defense budget are still ongoing,” wrote Air Force spokesperson Maj. Eric Badger Thursday via email. “All stakeholders within DoD realize the importance of ensuring our nuclear enterprise receives the resources it requires and are working towards this goal.”
James: ‘The Air Force is Putting its Money Where its Mouth Is’
Strategic Command chief Adm. Cecil Haney said he has attended recent Pentagon forums on the budget issue, and highlighted the national debt—currently estimated at $17.9 trillion—but also emphasized the importance of fortifying Global Strike Command’s conventional and nuclear capabilities to balance the deterrence equation. “[T]he Secretary of Defense has made his announcements, too, that this is an area of importance to him,” Haney said. “But as we go through—sequestration is the law—we’re going to look at how we work through that as time goes on. I can say I feel supported today.”
Part of the $50 million realignment will fund a combined 848 positions to be created in the fall at five GSC installations. The boost comes after March revelations that airmen at Malmstrom AFB had cheated on monthly proficiency tests. “We’ve been saying that the nuclear enterprise is the number one mission, and the Air Force is putting its money where its mouth is,” Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James said. “We must show airmen that there’s value in this mission by making the appropriate investments in people, weapon systems and infrastructure. The Air Force has worked and will continue to work to identify and rearrange funds to make important improvements within our missile and bomber forces.”
The increased funding will better organize, train and equip airmen in the short-term and address working conditions and support functions for airmen and their families, said service spokesperson Carla Pampe. “Long-term changes will likely include facility modifications, aging equipment replacement, and a continued … effort to identify and attack problems using the experts who know best,” she said.
Major Procurements Loom
The F-35 and the next-gen long-range strike bomber (LRSB) are two of three acquisition programs James said the service has prioritized this year. The Air Force has recently released an RFP and is expected to award an LRSB contract in the spring. James said the service plans to roll out 80 to 100 of the air-refuelable, direct attack-capable bombers starting in the mid-2020s. But not all plans appear to be garnering financial support. An Aug. 19 Nextgov article stated that a DoD diversion of $28 million prevented construction of new solid-state guidance technology that could be used to modernize U.S. nuclear missiles (see related story).
Haney declined to say how confident he was that Global Strike Command would receive the full amount of requested funding. “I don’t go to Las Vegas,” he said. “I’m not a casino person, so I don’t give odds out like that. I just work to make sure that the facts are on the table, the risks are understood as we go through the business going forward making strategic choices.”
Minot, F.E. Warren to See Greatest Staffing Increases
Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota and F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming will see the greatest staffing increases, with additions of 303 and 242 positions, respectively. James said the expansions are part of a broader series of incentives designed to improve the morale and mission efficiency of the corps’ nuclear arm.
Along with boosting staff levels, the Air Force is addressing morale issues through its new Force Improvement Program (FIP), meant to aid Airmen in addressing the challenges and stressors that decrease mission effectiveness and morale, Pampe said via email. Over several months, teams visited nuclear bases and generated 450 recommendations of improvement possibilities. “As the FIP continues to move forward, I think you will continue to see Air Force Global Strike Command addressing challenges head-on,” Pampe said. “This program has received tremendous support for Air Force senior leadership, and it is clear that they intend to improve the nuclear enterprise.”
Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana will expand its 341st Missile Wing by 216 positions to buttress operations, maintenance and security forces. The 509th Bomb Wing at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri will add 56 positions, mostly in the maintenance division. Finally, soldiers will fill 31 new positions created at Barksdale Air Force Base, primarily in maintenance and munitions.
