Not too many people assume an Airman Basic can identify the components of an M-16, field-strip, clean, and reassemble the standard rifle with ease. Yet that’s exactly what’s about to happen with basic training graduates. Air Education and Training Command plans to issue every basic trainee, beginning in November, a training replica M-16 on his or her first day at Lackland AFB, Tex. It’s just one more step the service is taking to better prepare new airmen for expeditionary force deployments. Already, says MSgt. Janice Allen, the 321st TRS section superintendent, “We are seeing airmen with a better skill set and capacity to deploy.”
Planning an Air Show Is Hard. At Andrews, It’s Even Harder
Sept. 17, 2025
Joint Base Andrews opened its flightline this month to thousands of civilians, exposing a normally restricted airbase that regularly hosts the president and foreign dignitaries to a curious public eager to see current and historic military aircraft up close and in action.
