The 60-Years-Late Unit Streamer:
Sixty years after the Berlin Airlift, the Air Force has recognized the units involved in the historic operation with a new streamer for their unit guidons. Receiving the first streamer—a symbolic one—was retired Col. Gail Halvorsen (the Berlin Airlift’s “Candy Bomber”). The reason for the long delay, says the Air Force, is that the airlift technically was not classed as a campaign. Nonetheless, USAF officials and others consider the Berlin Airlift the first major operation of the newly independent Air Force. Read our article on the airlift here.
General Atomics, the maker of one of the Air Force’s first Collaborative Combat Aircraft, has ambitious plans for its family of semi-autonomous drones beyond the FQ-42, including a flying-wing aircraft capable of carrying out both reconnaissance and strike missions. Meanwhile, the Air Force Research Laboratory announced a new program to…