Two decades of continuous military activity in the Middle East have shifted the portion of US AF that resides in the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve from 25 percent of the Total Force in 1990 to 35 percent today. During the same time period, the prop-portion of reserve component-owned aircraft also spiked, from 23 percent to 28 percent. These numbers, when compared to requirements, demonstrate that the share of the force resident in the active duty simply can't be cut further without hurting readiness and surge capacity, said Chief of Staff Gen. Norton A. Schwartz at the Air Force Association's Air Warfare Symposium in Orlando, Fla. But with US forces out of Iraq, a transition under way in Afghanistan, and pressure to drastically reduce defense spending, it is clear something needs to change. "We must restore and maintain an appropriate active-reserve balance that is consistent with current realities and likely future trends," said Schwartz at the February symposium. With that in mind, the Air Force's Fiscal 2013 budget request looks to retire 286 aircraft-more than 50 percent of which will come from the Air National Guard. It also outlined plans to cut 9,900 personnel, including 3,900 active duty members, 5,100 Guardsmen, and 900 Reservists.
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