The eight UH-1 helicopters and 83 pilots, maintainers, and support personnel dispatched from Air Force Space Command units to Columbus AFB, Miss., over a two-day period flew 41 search-and-rescue sorties and delivered almost 23,000 pounds of supplies along the Gulf Coast. It was “the single largest deployment of AFSPC helicopters anywhere, ever,” said Maj. Gen. Frank G. Klotz, 20th Air Force commander. The Huey’s usual job is to provide security for the nation’s ICBM force.
The Air Force plans to finalize an acquisition strategy for its new Looking Glass nuclear command, control, and communications program by September—part of a prelude to a significant increase in the service’s NC3 spending in the coming years.