Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne, who visited airmen at Balad AB, Iraq, on Dec. 9, said during a town hall meeting that he is impressed with the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing’s mission statement: “Combat airpower for America, right here, right now.” He went on to say, “What I want to tell you all is years from now you’re going to get to say that you gave 30 million people the opportunity for freedom.” The airmen at Balad like those at Aviano AB, Italy, a few days earlier asked Wynne how long the “in lieu of” Army taskings would continue. Wynne repeated his explanation, asserting that airmen would continue to fill ILO taskings “at this particular time” but that it’s not an open-ended commitment.
Trainees in Basic Military Training and technical school no longer have the option to try alternate PT drills if they fail an initial assessment, according to a policy change the Air Force made in April. The move is part of a larger shift out of the classroom and into hands-on,…