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.
A new White House policy calls for the Pentagon to craft plans for additional space launch facilities to support a projected increase in launch demand that could see the U.S. supporting as many as 1,000 launches by 2030, more than a fivefold increase from 2025.