Maj. Jill Metzger, an Air Force officer based at Manas AB, Kyrgyzstan, went missing Sept. 5 in the Kyrgyz capital of Bishek, US Central Command Air Forces confirmed today. According to a report from the Associated Press news service, Metzger separated from a group of other service members while shopping at a department store in Bishkek. She has not been seen since. US and Kyrgyz officials are currently searching for her. (Read more here.)
The Air Force awarded a $13.08 billion contract to the Sierra Nevada Corporation on April 26 for its Survivable Airborne Operations Center aircraft, the successor to the service’s E-4B “Doomsday” plane. Like the E-4B, officially called the National Airborne Operations Center, the SAOC will be meant to withstand a nuclear attack and keep…