The last contingent of B-2 bomber pilots, maintainers, and support staff who deployed to Andersen AFB, Guam, over the last four months to help bolster Pacific region security are returning to their home base—and taking their bombers with them—at Whiteman AFB, Mo. Whiteman’s 509th Bomb Wing sent aircrews in two waves of two months each to let each of its two bomb squadrons get Pacific training time, while maintainers and other support personnel stayed the full four months. During the Pacific tour, the B-2s flew missions to Alaska and Australia.
Amid a high-profile recruiting crisis, Air Force leaders and experts have increasingly noted the challenging long-term trends the service will face in enticing young Americans to sign up—decreasing eligibility to serve, less propensity to do so, and less familiarity with the military. But while those same leaders say there’s no “silver…