Secretary of the Air Force and 2024 Wash100 winner Frank Kendall and Chief of Staff of the Air Force Gen. David Allvin have signed Program Action Directive 24-01, authorizing the formation of a direct reporting unit called the Air Force Medical Command.

AFMEDCOM will be led by the Air Force surgeon general and comprise two regional commands, each of which will oversee subordinate medical units, according to a news article posted Thursday on the U.S. Air Force website.

AFMEDCOM’s functions will include providing medical command authority to ensure the readiness of airmen and guardians; optimizing healthcare delivery by deconflicting operational requirements; and providing focus on Air Force Force Generation support.

The establishment of AFMEDCOM began with the redesignation of Air Force Medical Readiness Agency into Air Force Medical Agency, or AFMED, which achieved initial operational capability as a field operating agency in 2023. It is AFMED that will become AFMEDCOM.

The standing up of AFMEDCOM will be carried out via a multi-phase process. Over the next few months, those involved with AFMEDCOM’s implementation will work to ensure the full transition of personnel and develop command roles, responsibilities and relationships. These will have to take place before permanent changes at the installation level occur.

U.S. Air Force Surgeon General Lt. Gen. Robert Miller said the formation of AFMEDCOM “will improve the Air Force’s ability to generate medically ready forces, provide installation support, and improve our partnership with the Defense Health Agency to optimize health care delivery.”

“This is aligned with the Department of Air Force’s efforts to reemphasize its focus on readiness,” Miller added.

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The House Appropriations Committee on Thursday voted 34-25 to pass a $833 billion defense spending bill for fiscal year 2025.

The discretionary allocation in the Fiscal Year 2025 Defense Appropriations Act reflects a 1 percent increase from the FY 2024 enacted level and adheres to the limit established in law by the Fiscal Responsibility Act.

“The spending priorities included in this bill acknowledge that the threats against the United States are no longer a future challenge, but a current reality,” said Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Calif., chairman of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee.

“The Fiscal Year 2025 Defense Appropriations Bill provides our warfighters with the resources they need to meet these challenges by prioritizing capabilities that counter China, increasing investments in rapidly-fielded innovative technologies, reforming the Pentagon’s business practices, and increasing the Department’s role in countering the China-supplied fentanyl crisis,” Calvert added.

Support for Defense Innovation Efforts

The legislation would allocate $1.3 billion for the Defense Innovation Unit and select defense innovation programs to facilitate the delivery of capabilities from nontraditional sources to warfighters. This includes $400 million in funding for the Accelerate the Procurement and Fielding of Innovative Technologies program, or APFIT.

The bill would invest in next-generation fighter jets, helicopters, submarines and tactical combat vehicles and advance the modernization of the nuclear triad, which includes the B-21 Raider, Columbia-class submarine and the Sentinel program.

Under the measure, the Office of Strategic Capital would get funding for loans and loan guarantees to advance the use of private capital for emerging technology development efforts.

The U.S. Marine Corps has released its first annual report that reviews the service branch’s training and education efforts to achieve the goals of its ongoing force restructuring and modernization plan.

The Marine Corps Training and Education Annual Report, or TEAR, outlines how the Training and Education Command, a.k.a. TECOM, has organized and accomplished 37 Force Design-directed actions to improve warfighting training and enhance force readiness and lethality, the Marine Corps said Wednesday.

“We continue to deliver on our promise to Congress, the Joint Force, our Allies and partners, and our Marines to ensure we are postured, manned, trained, and equipped for a peer fight while ensuring we remain ready for any crisis,” said Gen. Eric Smith, commandant of the Marine Corps.

TECOM’s efforts are codified into three major projects—Project Triumph, Project Trident and Project Tripoli—and provide Marines with training environments and standards to prepare for the future contested multi-domain battlefield.

“These initiatives collectively aim to equip the Marine Corps with the most modern, lethal, and capable Marines conceivable,” said Lt. Gen. Kevin Iiams, commanding general of TECOM.

Defense Logistics Agency Land and Maritime held charter signing ceremonies this spring for a supply chain alliance, which, according to DLA Land and Maritime’s Don Schulze, forges partnerships between the agency and its suppliers “to improve responsiveness to the warfighter” by implementing process improvements and joint strategies.

The DLA said Wednesday the charter calls on the agency to collaborate with suppliers in pursuing supply chain management solutions with the ultimate aim of providing “the best product and service possible to the warfighter.”

The signing ceremonies were handled by U.S. Army Col. Sue Styer, land supplier operations director at DLA Land and Maritime; and U.S. Navy Capt. Dale Haney, maritime supplier operations director. Schulze, the land supplier operations deputy director, co-led them.

A total of 11 charter signings were completed.