AF Staffs, Ops Centers Face Consolidation

The Air Force would see four operations centers – two in the U.S. and two in Europe – consolidated, under proposed reductions. The service would also realize more savings by consolidating three numbered Air Force staffs, consuming fuel and energy more efficiently within the Air Mobility Command, reducing communications infrastructure costs, and improving the process by which supplies are transferred from depots to weapons systems. The service would save roughly $34 billion over the course of five years. Resource allocations would shift toward purchase of more Reaper unmanned aerial vehicles, procurement of more Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicles, modernization of the F-15 fighter inventory, purchasing more joint strike fighter training simulators, and developing a new long-range bomber capable of delivering nuclear payloads.