The Air Force is struggling to turn around a bad situation long in the making: After 24 years of nonstop combat operations, the full-spectrum readiness of combat-coded flying units is subpar. The high operating tempo has meant that many units-especially Active Duty-don't have enough time between deployments to train and qualify aircrews in their full range of assigned missions. Chief of Staff Gen. Mark A. Welsh Ⅲ has set a goal of getting 80 percent of combat-coded flying units-bomber, fighter, tanker, and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, etc.-up to full-spectrum combat readiness by 2023. The levels are considerably lower now; the Air Force declines to specify just how bad they really are. Since the launch of combat operations in Afghanistan in 2001-worsening with the start of the Iraq War two years later-"that's when we saw the readiness of flying units really take a nosedive," said Col. Robert D. Sagraves, operational readiness division chief on the Air Staff. By necessity, units put a priority on training for the missions they'll fly in upcoming deployments, at the expense of core competencies, especially training for "high-end" threat scenarios.
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机译：空军正在努力扭转长期以来的糟糕局面：经过24年的不间断战斗行动，战斗编码飞行部队的全光谱战备情况不佳。高运行节奏意味着许多单位（尤其是“现役”）在两次部署之间没有足够的时间来训练和验证机组人员在其所有指定任务中的资格。参谋长马克·威尔士三世将军的目标是，使80％的战斗编码飞行单位（轰炸机，战斗机，加油机，情报，监视和侦察等）达到最高光谱作战准备水平。 2023年。现在的水平大大降低了。空军拒绝说明他们到底有多严重。自从2001年在阿富汗开展战斗行动以来-随着两年后的伊拉克战争的开始，情况变得更糟-“那时候，我们看到飞行部队的战备确实令人垂涎三尺，”战备分工Robert D. Sagraves上校说。空中参谋长。必要时，单位要优先训练即将进行的部署中的任务，但要以牺牲核心能力为代价，尤其是针对“高端”威胁场景的训练。
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