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Corley wants master plan for ACC

As Air Combat Command deals with a growing list of issues — from broken F-15 Eagles to how to accomplish its nuclear mission, ACC boss Gen. John Corley said the command and the wider “combat Air Force” need a long-term master plan.

At the Air Force Association’s winter conference in Orlando, Fla., on Friday, Corley said the “Combat Air Force Strategic Master plan” should be issued in three to six months. Work on the plan began shortly after Corley took the ACC post in October.

Among Corley’s concerns is how to deal with retiring aging fighters like the F-15 when the production of new fighters such as the F-22A Raptor and F-35 Lightning II won’t keep pace with the number of jets pulled out of operation.

Trying to deal with each problem as it pops up isn’t the answer. “I no longer want to play the whack-a-mole game,” Corley said.

Corley wants to see production of the F-22A and F-35 ramped up to a higher pace of 20 annually for the Raptor and 48 for the Joint Strike Fighter. The career F-15 pilot hopes the whitepaper will convince lawmakers of the need for more jets.

Corley didn’t say how many F-22As he wanted by the end of the Raptor’s production.

A week before, Gen. Bruce Carlson, commander of Air Force Materiel Command, was rebuked by his bosses after Carlson was misquoted as saying the Air Force would figure out a way to buy 381 F-22As regardless of what the Department of Defense policy was.

In a joking reference to avoiding a similar brouhaha, Corley said his speech had been washed clean of any specific numbers. “I was asked, based on recent events, to submit my script for a security and policy review to the building [Pentagon],” Corley told the AFA audience. “I looked at what has been redacted from my script and I’m left with only two words: “Good morning.”