Not the first and won’t be the last describes the inactivation of 3rd Air Force at RAF Mildenhall, Britain. Numbered Air Forces around the Air Force have been making way for the new Warfighting Headquarters organizational element. (Read our article here.) US Air Forces in Europe has established its WFHQ at Ramstein AB, Germany, however, USAFE plans to keep a general officer—in this case, Maj. Gen. Paul Fletcher—in Britain as a senior US representative to Her Majesty’s government. Third Air Force’s presence in the United Kingdom dates to 1951, when USAF activated the command to fill the void left after Eight Air Force returned home after World War II.
An important U.S. Air Force E-3 Sentry AWACS command and control plane was among the aircraft damaged in a March 27 Iranian missile and drone attack on Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia, people familiar with the matter told Air & Space Forces Magazine.