Air Force: More troops needed, despite planned cuts

Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne Wednesday told lawmakers he would prefer to keep the service at roughly 330,000 active-duty troops, rather than completing current plans to make further cuts to the force. Stressing that he was providing only a personal opinion on the matter, Wynne said growth in the size of the Army and Marine Corps, coupled with new Air Force missions, require more personnel.

The Air Force, which now has about 328,000 active-duty troops, has been cutting its end-strength for the last several years, in the hopes of scaling back to 316,000 air personnel by next year. But service officials recently submitted a list of so-called unfunded needs for fiscal 2009 that included $385 million to add 13,554 active-duty troops, 3,400 reservists and 1,830 civilians to reverse the planned reduction. If Congress approved that funding, it would increase the size of the Air Force's active component to more than 330,000 troops.

The discrepancy between the Air Force's formal fiscal 2009 budget request to cut personnel to about 316,000, and the wish list drew immediate criticism from House Armed Services Chairman Ike Skelton, D-Mo., who said he was "disturbed by" the differences.

"You can't have it both ways," Skelton said. "Tell us what you want." Officially, Wynne said he supports the budget request. But he added that the additional troops sought in the service's wish list would help the Air Force "hedge our bets against an uncertain future." Air Force Chief of Staff Michael Moseley said later that the Air Force is in discussions with Defense Department officials over the size of the future force. "We are in that swirl right now, having that very discussion," Moseley said. He also acknowledged that he is "more concerned that 316,000 [troops] may be too small."

Also Wednesday, the Air Force continued to highlight its stated requirement for 381 F-22 Raptor fighter jets, despite Pentagon plans to buy only 183 of the aircraft. Both Wynne and Moseley said they were "grateful" the fiscal 2009 budget request does not include money to shut down Lockheed Martin's F-22 production line, as had been expected. Instead, the Pentagon plans to request four F-22s in the fiscal 2009 supplemental spending request -- a move that will delay any decision to end production of the Raptors until the next administration. "It is a measure of risk that we are debating," Wynne said of the differences between the Air Force's requirement and the Pentagon's plans.

Meanwhile, House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee Chairwoman Ellen Tauscher, D-Calif., expressed frustration with the Pentagon for failing to clarify its airlift needs. The Pentagon, Tauscher said, relies on Congress every year to add C-17 Globemaster III cargo planes to the annual budget -- a "nasty little habit for the administration to have gotten into." By avoiding long-term acquisition plans for more C-17s, the Pentagon cannot get the best price from Boeing for the aircraft, Tauscher added. The Air Force's wish list includes $3.9 billion for 15 C-17s, but its formal budget request does not include any money for more of the planes. The 15 C-17s would allow the Air Force to "hedge against the future," Wynne said.