PHOENIX — Retired Maj. Gen. Michael “Mick” McGuire, who led the Arizona National Guard through the state’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, formally began his campaign for U.S. Senate on Tuesday, becoming the second major Republican looking to unseat Democrat Mark Kelly.
McGuire introduced himself with an online video highlighting his military career and presenting himself as a political outsider tired of “weak leaders” and “politicians who sit on the sidelines.”
McGuire calls in the video for securing the border, and says he opposes abortion, will protect 1st and 2nd Amendment rights and “will walk shoulder to shoulder with law enforcement.”
In an interview, he said he’s a “strict conservative constitutionalist cut from the same cloth as Antonin Scalia,” the former U.S. Supreme Court justice who advocated interpreting the Constitution as the framers intended. He said he wants to use the leadership skilled he honed from a career in military command to unite a Republican Party fractured between supporters and critics of former President Donald Trump.
https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2021/06/08/former-arizona-national-guard-leader-jumps-into-us-senate-race/
WASHINGTON — Boeing could deliver the first VC-25B Air Force One replacement in 2025, a year later than originally anticipated, a top Air Force acquisition official said Tuesday.
The Air Force is currently assessing a revised plan proposed by Boeing after the company fell behind schedule building two new presidential transport aircraft, said Darlene Costello, principal deputy assistant secretary for Air Force acquisition.
The service and Boeing could also negotiate raising the ceiling on the $3.9 billion fixed-price contract the parties agreed to in 2018, due to unforeseen costs created during the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the airline industry, she said.
“Boeing has informed us that they believe it will be a 12 month [delay] beyond their original schedule. That doesn’t mean that we agree with that yet,” Costello told lawmakers at a House Armed Services seapower and projection forces subcommittee hearing. “Our program team is looking at what they have assumed in their schedule and is doing … a schedule risk assessment.”
The service plans on finalizing all changes to the VC-25B schedule by September.
“I wouldn’t expect that [delay] to be more than what Boeing is saying,” Costello said, adding that the service could need to add another maintenance cycle to keep the two legacy VC-25A aircraft operational until the VC-25B is delivered and operational.
As part of the Air Force’s assessment, the service will evaluate what Boeing has said is the root cause of the delays: the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the bankruptcy of GDC Technics, which was under contract to create the VC-25B interiors.
Boeing canceled its contract and filed suit against Texas-based GDC Technics in April, alleging that the company had fallen more than a year behind schedule on designing the VC-25B interiors. GDC then countersued Boeing, claiming that Boeing had mismanaged the program.
https://www.defensenews.com/air/2021/06/08/delivery-of-new-air-force-one-planes-could-be-delayed-until-2025/