Overview
- AFGSC launched the North Star Readiness Campaign with Air Force Materiel Command and the Defense Logistics Agency to raise mission‑capable rates for the B‑52 and B‑1 and to centralize sustainment work.
- Command leaders report B‑52 availability has climbed nearly 40 percent since the effort began and mission‑impacting part problems, known as MICAPs, have fallen from over 450 to about 160.
- The campaign uses daily aircraft‑on‑ground (AOG) meetings that bring supply, depot and flight‑line teams together to identify delays and speed lateral shipments from week‑plus waits to as little as two to three days.
- Tactical fixes from Airmen, such as a localized phase‑maintenance playbook, have cut maintenance timelines while leaders said they are elevating systemic barriers to senior levels rather than asking Airmen to work more.
- The effort pairs near‑term sustainment with modernization and depot work to extend B‑52 and B‑1 service life and to keep the B‑2 effective until the B‑21 is fielded, which should preserve bomber posture and reduce strain from forward deployments.