Nearly 400 students will be back at Keesler Friday to continue or complete their training. The first classes back in business will be those in “critical skills,” Looney says, such as “pararescue, boom operators, enlisted flying AFSCs.” The challenge for the next few months will be “providing quality-of-life amenities for the instructors,” such as a base exchange, commissary, recreation center, and other things that will take time to clean up and reconstitute. Looney said Keesler instructors may spend awhile in unaccompanied status.
The six-week government shutdown did not affect the hours flown by Air Force pilots, a service spokesperson told Air & Space Forces Magazine—avoiding what could have been a major blow at a time when flying hours are already lower than they have been in decades.
