Finalists Sites Named for Global Strike, Cyber HQs

Finalists Sites Named for Global Strike, Cyber HQs: The Air Force announced yesterday that the possible locations for the eventual permanent home of Air Force Global Strike Command are: Barksdale AFB, La., F.E. Warren AFB, Wyo., Malmstrom AFB, Mont., Minot AFB, N.D., Offutt AFB, Neb., and Whiteman AFB, Mo. The service expects to make a decision no later than the end of June. A similar timeline has been set for picking the permanent headquarters for 24th Air Force, the new cyber Numbered Air Force under Air Force Space Command, from among six finalists, USAF also announced yesterday. They are Barksdale and Offutt as well as Lackland AFB, Tex., Langley AFB, Va., Peterson AFB, Colo., and Scott AFB, Ill. In both cases, service officials said they will proceed in a measured and deliberate fashion to determine the winning location for each mission. “Current performance of a significant operational function associated with strategic nuclear forces is an overarching requirement for selecting the Air Force Global Strike Command headquarters base,” the service said. In the case for the cyber NAF, attributes such as proximity to other cyber operational missions, access to scientific and technical expertise, and communication/bandwidth capabilities will be key determinants. Bolling AFB, D.C., is serving as the provisional headquarters for AFGSC since early this month, while Barksdale has hosted the temporary seat of cyber operations for more than one year.

1/22/2009

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No Dog, Just Concern
"You know it concerns me that we keep hearing, 'Well this is something that the military doesn't want. They didn't ask for,' and all that. Then I go over there [Southwest Asia theater], and that's not their attitude at all. They have needs over there. Our lift capacity is in dire straights. … Now on the F-22—just yesterday we read about the T-50 … a fifth generation [fighter] that the Russians have. … I'm concerned about this. And I guess, you know, if we're down to 187 F-22s, and I think out of that only—what 120 are actually combat ready and used for combat. … I look at our committee—the Senate Armed Services Committee—and on these two vehicles I mentioned—the F-22 and the C-17—in Oklahoma. I don't have a dog in that fight. We don't have any parochial interest there. But it's the capability that we're going to need."
—Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), speaking during the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on the Fiscal 2011 defense budget, Feb. 2, 2010.

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Taming Expectations
"Every QDR disappoints those who look for radical reallocation of resources. The current fiscal environment is compounding that trend."
—Jim Thomas, vice president for studies at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, briefing reporters in Washington, D.C., Jan. 26, 2010.