Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour says that the state’s Air National Guard wing at Key Field near Meridian, Miss., has a new lease on life. The 186th Air Refueling Wing is slated to lose its KC-135 aerial refueling aircraft under BRAC 2005, but now it appears the Air Force has decided to let the unit work with Boeing on a KC-135 safety modification project. Barbour says the work, which will start next month and run through January 2010, comes in addition to Air Force plans to create a 150-person warfighting headquarters and a 250-person RED HORSE engineering unit at Key Field. These new efforts, however, have not dissuaded the state’s elected officials from continuing to search for a new flying mission.
Airmen can now tap into free high-speed Wi-Fi in dormitories at 25 Air Force bases with more installations scheduled to come online, through a deal with with internet provider Boingo Wireless.