BRAC commissioners continued to press Pentagon officials about their proposal to remove all active forces from New England and close Otis ANGB, Mass. DOD offered renewed assurances that the area would be adequately protected with forces based elsewhere. Commissioners seemed unconvinced. Retired Adm. Harold Gehman Jr., former head of JFCOM, noted, “To remove essentially all active-duty military activity—not just air—out of the New England area causes me some discomfort.”
The Air Force Academy operates the largest glider program in the U.S., with more than 15,000 flights every year—almost entirely led and managed by the youngest instructor pilots in the Air Force. The enterprise is poised to get even busier as USAFA leaders drive toward their ambitious objective: to get…