The US has Always had the Strongest Air Force in the World, but is that Big Enough?
October 10, 2018
Heather Wilson, the Secretary of the Air Force, has called for an increase in the number of operation air force squadrons by 74.
This notable increase in firepower in the skies is part of an initiative to give the Air Force the strength it would need to fight an enemy country as strong as the US and win, among other things. This shift away towards fighting extremists and being ready to fight a peer nation comes in response to recent Russian Military exercises and China unveiling its first aircraft carrier.
The additional squadrons would bump up the manpower across the Air Force, from Active Duty airmen to Guard, Reserve, and support civilian. The projected number for active duty airmen and civilians would be roughly 685,000 by the end of 2023.
A growth of this size in the Air Force would require an increase to the Air Force budget that would already amount to $49.9 billion as of 2019. This increase would add an additional $13 billion per year in operating costs, writes Todd Harrison, a defense budget analyst.
The current deployment strategy for airmen has been to deploy them in small groups, roughly 15 to 20 percent of a wing out at a time. This strategy comes from decades of fighting extremists on foreign soil. The concern, however, has shifted to the potential for fighting a per nation, one that could require Air Force wings to respond and deploy in force in a matter of days across the globe.
