Last fall Air Combat Command provisionally stood up the 561st Joint Tactics Squadron at Nellis AFB, Nev., and has now officially reactivated the former Wild Weasel unit. Its task is to compile and disseminate new tactics, techniques, and procedures. From the time its members began work last October to the unit’s formal stand up, Maj. Gen. Mike Worden, commander of the Air Force Warfare Center, says it has performed an “amazing list of accomplishments,” including developing a training process that ensure units deploy ready to operate rather than taking two-weeks to spin up as in the past. Worden believes the 561st “could well become the most famous squadron in the Combat Air Forces.”
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,…