“I have concepts of a plan.”@rachelkaras pic.twitter.com/H0QdtCfl6c
— Stephen Losey (@StephenLosey) September 11, 2024
From September 2018:
Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson announced the results of an in-depth analysis aimed at outlining what the Air Force needs to implement the National Defense Strategy while speaking at the Air Force Association's annual Air, Space and Cyber conference Sept. 17.“The analysis says what every Airmen already knows,” Wilson said. “The Air Force is too small for what the nation is asking us to do. We have 312 operational squadrons today. The Air Force We Need has 386 operational squadrons by 2030.”...Wilson understands it will take time to build the support and budget required for the Air Force We Need.
For the second year in a row since “The Air Force We Need” proposal was unveiled in September 2018, the service’s proposed budget contained nothing to add squadrons, or even anything specific to lay the groundwork for the service’s stated desired for 24 percent growth in the size of the fleet....The Air Force was so focused on the proposal that it even made and distributed coffee mugs emblazoned with “386” at the AFA conference.
The @usairforce says it needs 386 squadrons so it had these mugs made. But this poster was also spotted at #ASC18 pic.twitter.com/r84XcaBv3H
— Marcus Weisgerber (@MarcusReports) September 17, 2018
May 2022:
The U.S. Air Force’s long-standing aspiration to increase the number of its squadrons to 386 by 2030 appears to have been dropped....The development was announced by Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall...While Kendall was abundantly clear on his plan to discard the previous 386-squadron goal, it’s worth recalling that this was only ever a stated target and not a piece of policy with a corresponding budget assigned to it.