The Washington Congressional delegation has been busy promoting the Air National Guard’s 141st Air Refueling Wing at Fairchild AFB, Wash., as a potential operator for RC-26B counterdrug aircraft, reports the Spokesman Review (requires free sign up). The 141st has to give up its KC-135 refueling aircraft under BRAC 2005, but it will still fly tankers as an associate unit to the active duty wing at Fairchild. Instead of losing members, the 141st already has added slots to handle new work modifying KC-135 brake systems.
House lawmakers unveiled a new reconciliation package July 15 with $60 billion for defense, $290 billion less than the Pentagon has been seeking, a day after a Senate vote to advance the annual defense policy bill failed—developments that show the perilous state of the Pentagon’s ambitious plans for fiscal 2027.