Editing United States Air Force (section)

=== 21st century ===
During the early 2000s, two USAF aircraft procurement projects took longer than expected, the [[KC-X]] and [[F-35]] programs. As a result, the USAF was setting new records for average aircraft age.<ref>Bennett, John T. [https://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/dotmil/2012/05/14/panetta-selects-trusted-hand-for-new-air-force-chief "Panetta Selects Trusted Hand for New Air Force Chief."] {{webarchive |url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170629130713/https://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/dotmil/2012/05/14/panetta-selects-trusted-hand-for-new-air-force-chief |date=29 June 2017}} ''U.S. News & World Report'', 14 May 2012.</ref>

Since 2005, the USAF has placed a strong focus on the improvement of [[United States Air Force Basic Military Training|Basic Military Training]] (BMT) for enlisted personnel. While the intense training has become longer, it also has shifted to include a deployment phase. This deployment phase, now called the BEAST, places the trainees in a simulated combat environment that they may experience once they deploy. While the trainees do tackle the massive obstacle courses along with the BEAST, the other portions include defending and protecting their base of operations, forming a structure of leadership, directing search and recovery, and basic self aid buddy care. During this event, the Military Training Instructors (MTI) act as mentors and opposing forces in a deployment exercise.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Air Force Basic Military Training – Home |url=https://www.basictraining.af.mil/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150408013544/http://www.basictraining.af.mil/ |archive-date=8 April 2015 |access-date=1 April 2015 |website=af.mil}}</ref> In November 2022, the USAF announced that it will discontinue BEAST and replace it with another deployment training program called PACER FORGE.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/your-air-force/2022/11/21/air-force-ditches-beast-week-for-new-mock-deployment-training/#:~:text=Air%20Force%20boot%20camp%20is,training%20dubbed%20%E2%80%9CBEAST%20Week.%E2%80%9D|title=Air Force ditches BEAST Week for new mock deployment training|last=Cohen|first=Rachel |date=November 21, 2022 |website=AirForceTimes.com |access-date=July 28, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.military.com/daily-news/2022/11/16/air-force-ends-beast-week-mock-deployment-boot-camp.html |title=Air Force Ends BEAST Week Mock Deployment at boot camp|last=Novelly|first=Thomas|date=November 16, 2022|website=Military.com|access-date=July 28, 2023}}</ref>

In 2007, the USAF undertook a Reduction-in-Force (RIF). Because of budget constraints, the USAF planned to reduce the service's size from 360,000 active duty personnel to 316,000.<ref name="AF_mag_rif">{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20130120030910/http://www.airforce-magazine.com/MagazineArchive/Pages/2008/October%202008/1008aircraft.aspx Needed: 200 New Aircraft a Year]}}, ''Air Force Magazine'', October 2008.</ref> The size of the active duty force in 2007 was roughly 64% of that of what the USAF was at the end of the first [[Gulf War]] in 1991.<ref name="downsize">{{Cite web |title=2008 USAF Almanac: People |url=http://www.airforce-magazine.com/MagazineArchive/Magazine%20Documents/2008/May%202008/0508facts_figs.pdf |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707095725/http://www.airforce-magazine.com/MagazineArchive/Magazine%20Documents/2008/May%202008/0508facts_figs.pdf |archive-date=7 July 2011 |access-date=2 September 2011 |publisher=AIR FORCE Magazine}} 1991: 510,000; 2007: 328,600</ref> However, the reduction was ended at approximately 330,000 personnel in 2008 in order to meet the demand signal of combatant commanders and associated mission requirements.<ref name="AF_mag_rif" /> These same constraints have seen a sharp reduction in flight hours for crew training since 2005<ref>{{Cite web |title=Air Force Magazine news |url=http://www.airforce-magazine.com/MagazineArchive/Pages/2008/January |website= Airforcemag.com}}{{dead link|date=April 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> and the Deputy Chief of Staff for Manpower and Personnel directing Airmen's Time Assessments.<ref>{{Cite web |author=Maj. Timothy Farr |title=Airmen's time tour makes follow-up visits |url=https://www.af.mil/News/story/id/123159900/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101016132644/http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123159900 |archive-date=16 October 2010 |access-date=30 August 2010 |publisher=AF.mil}}</ref>

On 5 June 2008, [[United States Secretary of Defense|Secretary of Defense]] [[Robert Gates]] accepted the resignations of both the [[United States Secretary of the Air Force|secretary of the Air Force]], [[Michael Wynne]], and the [[Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force|chief of staff of the Air Force]], [[General (United States)|General]] [[T. Michael Moseley]]. In his decision to fire both men Gates cited "systemic issues associated with... declining Air Force nuclear mission focus and performance".<ref name="auto">{{Cite news |date=July 2008 |title=The Gates Case |publisher=Air Force Magazine |agency=Air Force Magazine |issue=July 2008 |url=http://www.airforcemag.com/MagazineArchive/Documents/2008/July%202008/0708gates.pdf |url-status=live |access-date=22 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161123053048/http://www.airforcemag.com/MagazineArchive/Documents/2008/July%202008/0708gates.pdf |archive-date=23 November 2016}}</ref> Left unmentioned by Gates was that he had repeatedly clashed with Wynne and Moseley over other important non-nuclear related issues to the service.<ref name="auto" /> This followed an investigation into two incidents involving mishandling of [[nuclear weapons]]: specifically a [[2007 United States Air Force nuclear weapons incident|nuclear weapons incident]] aboard a B-52 flight between [[Minot AFB]] and [[Barksdale AFB]], and an accidental shipment of nuclear weapons components to Taiwan.<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20130120031054/http://www.airforce-magazine.com/MagazineArchive/Pages/2008/July%202008/0708watch.aspx "Washington watch"]}}, ''AIR FORCE Magazine'', July 2008, Vol. 91 No. 7, pp. 8.</ref> To put more emphasis on nuclear assets, the USAF established the nuclear-focused [[Air Force Global Strike Command]] on 24 October 2008, which later assumed control of all USAF bomber aircraft.<ref>Chavanne, Bettina H. [http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story_generic.jsp?channel=defense&id=news/GSC102408.xml&headline=USAF%20Creates%20Global%20Strike%20Command "USAF Creates Global Strike Command"] {{webarchive |url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120111032006/http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story_generic.jsp?channel=defense&id=news%2FGSC102408.xml&headline=USAF%20Creates%20Global%20Strike%20Command |date=11 January 2012}}. ''Aviation Week'', 24 October 2008.</ref>

On 26 June 2009, the USAF released a force structure plan that cut fighter aircraft and shifted resources to better support nuclear, irregular and information warfare.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Plan reshapes U.S. air power |url=http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2009/07/airforce_realignment_070609w/ |access-date=30 August 2010 |publisher=Airforcetimes.com}}</ref> On 23 July 2009, The USAF released their Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) Flight Plan, detailing Air Force UAS plans through 2047.<ref>{{Cite web |first=Gerry J. |last=Gilmore |title=Unmanned aircraft take on increased importance |url=https://www.af.mil/News/story/id/123160247/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101016130924/http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123160247 |archive-date=16 October 2010 |access-date=30 August 2010 |publisher=AF.mil |date=Jul 23, 2009}}</ref> One third of the planes that the USAF planned to buy in the future were to be unmanned.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Singer |first=Peter W. |date=7 October 2009 |title=Future U.S. Defense Needs in a High Technology Present – Up Front Blog |url=http://www.brookings.edu/opinions/2009/1007_defense_prioirties_chat.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101026171504/http://www.brookings.edu/opinions/2009/1007_defense_prioirties_chat.aspx |archive-date=26 October 2010 |access-date=30 August 2010 |publisher=Brookings Institution}}</ref> According to Air Force chief scientist [[Greg Zacharias]] the USAF anticipates having hypersonic weapons by the 2020s, hypersonic [[unmanned aerial vehicle]]s (also known as remotely-piloted vehicles, or RPAs) by the 2030s and recoverable hypersonic RPAs aircraft by the 2040s.<ref name="nationalinterest.org">{{Cite web |date=12 August 2017 |title=Get Ready, Russia and China: America's Next Fighter Jet Will Dominate the Skies |url=http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/get-ready-russia-china-americas-next-fighter-jet-will-21876 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170903190214/http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/get-ready-russia-china-americas-next-fighter-jet-will-21876 |archive-date=3 September 2017 |access-date=3 September 2017 |first=Kris |last=Osborn |website=The National Interest}}</ref> The USAF intends to deploy a [[Sixth-generation jet fighter]] by the mid-2030s.<ref name="nationalinterest.org" />

On 22 October 2023, the USAF conducted its first-ever trilateral exercise with the [[South Korean Air Force|South Korean]] and [[JASDF|Japanese]] air forces near the Korean Peninsula.<ref>{{cite news |title=US, ROK, Japan hold first joint aerial drill despite North Korean warnings |url=https://www.nknews.org/2023/10/us-rok-japan-hold-first-joint-aerial-drill-despite-north-korean-warnings |publisher=NK News |date=October 23, 2023}}</ref> On 29 November 2023, a USAF [[Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey]] crashed in the Japan island of Yakushima killing 1 airman.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/us-military-plane-crashes-sea-japan-osprey-yakushima-rcna127129|title=At least 1 dead after U.S. military aircraft crashes into the sea near Japan|last=Yamamoto|first=Arata|date=November 29, 2023|website=[[NBC News]]|access-date=December 1, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/osprey-crash-japan-us-crew-missing-search-rescue-japanese-ask-ground-ospreys/|title=U.S. military confirms Osprey crash in Japan left at least 1 dead, says search for 7 continues|last=Palmer|first=Elizabeth|date=December 1, 2023|website=[[CBS News]]|access-date=December 1, 2023}}</ref>

In 2024, citing the [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]]'s ruling in ''[[Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo]]'', the Air Force refused to comply with an [[United States Environmental Protection Agency|EPA]] order that they develop a cleanup plan for drinking water around [[Tucson, Arizona]] after the region's groundwater was contaminated by [[Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances|PFAS]] runoff from nearby Air Force bases.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Air Force Dodges PFAS Water Cleanup in Arizona, Citing Supreme Court Chevron Ruling {{!}} Common Dreams |url=https://www.commondreams.org/news/air-force-epa-pfas |access-date=2024-08-18 |website=www.commondreams.org |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/aug/12/air-force-epa-water-pfas-tucson|title=US Air Force avoids PFAS water cleanup, citing supreme court's Chevron ruling|last=Perkins|first=Tom|date=August 12, 2024|website=[[The Guardian]]|access-date=August 31, 2024}}</ref>

General [[David W. Allvin|David Allvin]], the head of the U.S. Air Force (USAF), stated earlier in 2024 that the United States cannot rely on its air dominance for an extended period.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Is the age of American air superiority coming to an end? |url=https://www.economist.com/international/2024/12/19/is-the-age-of-american-air-superiority-coming-to-an-end |website=economist}}</ref>