There is much movement on the issues confronting the US Air Force.  This interview here between NPR and the new Chief of Staff General Norty Schwartz contains a few nuggets:

n      The number of F-22’s being floated is 240, up from the current of 183, far down from the fantasy number of 381

n      UAV’s will become a significant part of forces structure; plans are 1/3 of the next five years of aircraft buying will be unmanned. But given the requirements of instrument flying and weapons releasing, expect rated officers to be in charge

n      Expect further changes regarding the whole nuclear issue, expect organizational changes too

• NPR: Your predecessor, Gen. Mike Moseley complained about sending thousands of airmen to Iraq to drive fuel trucks or guard prisoners. He said that was not a job for Air Force personnel. What's your sense?
• SCHWARTZ: The bottom line for me is the nation is at war, and we will do whatever we can to make sure that America succeeds. And that includes using people in nontraditional roles. And I will tell you, I celebrate what our youngsters are doing in areas that are not traditional. But there's a need — the nation's at risk — and this is what we're called to do.

• Reinvigorate the nuclear enterprise
• Prevail in the Global War on Terror
• Strengthen Joint warfighting capabilities
• Refocus on "people" issues
• Transform enterprise management, through appointment of a chief management officer and "strengthening acquisition excellence." 

And finally, from the Air Force Times article here: the Air Force’s senior leaders are meeting today and the priorities of the discussion are as follows:

• End strength. With the drawdown ended, how can the service achieve the right mix of personnel for a force of 330,000?
• Uniforms. Will Schwartz push for a lighter ABU? Will he ditch the new service dress or the green suede boots?
• Maintenance reorganization. Should maintainers be in flying units or maintenance units?
• Battlefield training. How can the Air Force best train airmen going outside the wire in war zones?
• Cyber Command. The much-touted command has been put on hold while the new leaders figure out the best way to move forward.
• War-zone intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. The Air Force needs to get more ISR assets into the war zone, and fast.

Well, there you have it, it looks like the new leadership team of Secretary and Chief are trying to move quickly and both establish goals but also set priorities.  I’m making some changes to the site soon and plan on unveiling a mechanism for people to send in their ideas to support the efforts to help reform the Air Force, stay tuned and even send this to a friend and get them involved.