The head of Air Force Materiel Command, Gen. Bruce Carlson, told local civic and business leaders in the Dayton, Ohio, area earlier this week that the life expectancy of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base has grown after the 2005 BRAC. According to the Dayton Daily News, Carlson briefed the crowd on Air Force plans to downsize its force by some 40,000 positions to help pay for rejuvenating its now on average 23-year-old aircraft fleet. The good news for Dayton, said Carlson, is that BRAC delivered new missions and more than 1,100 jobs to Wright-Patt.
The Air Force has finished modifying and testing the new VC-25B Bridge aircraft that will serve as a temporary Air Force One, the service announced May 1. All that’s left now is to finish painting the jet before it starts flying this summer.