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.”
Gene Smith, Former POW and AFA Chair, Dies at 91
Jan. 19, 2026
Lt. Col. Richard “Gene” Smith, who overcame five and a half years as a prisoner of war in the notorious Hanoi Hilton from 1967 until 1973, died Jan. 16. He was one day short of his 91st birthday.
