The INSIDER daily digest -- May 4, 2018

Big news on the Army's modernization strategy leads off this Friday INSIDER Daily Digest.

Inside Defense obtained a copy of the Army's latest modernization strategy:

Army delivers comprehensive modernization strategy to Congress

The Army has laid out its vision of the future force and a path to achieving it, but maintains that fiscal uncertainty or diminished budgets could derail the effort.

Document: Army's modernization strategy (FOUO)

House authorizers from both sides of the political aisle are jockeying for position over the upcoming defense policy bill:

Partisan debate ready to roil over proposed 'Fourth Estate' cuts to DOD

Republicans and Democrats on the House Armed Services Committee set to embark on their annual debate over the national defense authorization bill next week will face several key policy disagreements, one of which is over a proposal to cut the Pentagon's civilian management agencies, the so-called "Fourth Estate," by 25 percent.

The Air Force is short on skilled helicopter maintenance staff:

GAO finds Air Force helicopter acquisitions face staffing problems, cybersecurity concerns

The Air Force's two ongoing helicopter acquisitions are having trouble finding skilled workers to staff those programs as they ramp up, according to the Government Accountability Office's annual analysis of major weapon systems.

Document: GAO's annual audit of DOD's major weapons portfolio

The Air Force's Air Operations Center is facing an uphill funding battle:

To fully fund AOC, Congress may want more details on Agile DevOps

Lawmakers on the House Armed Services tactical air and land forces subcommittee recently proposed restricting a quarter of the Air Operations Center's fiscal year 2019 funding until Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson sends a report on agile software development and operations to Capitol Hill.

Document: House authorizers' FY-19 policy bill marks

Air Force Global Strike Command has called for a modernization management study:

AFGSC advisers study modernization, maintenance amid command revamp

Gen. Robin Rand, the head of Air Force Global Strike Command, has asked an outside advisory group to study modernization management and the command's current maintenance and logistics capabilities over the next year, a service spokeswoman recently told Inside the Air Force.