The 20th Fighter Wing at South Carolina’s Shaw Air Force Base has a new commander, who is overseeing the establishment of new procedures in the wake of an F-16 crash near Charleston. The accident investigation cited lackluster maintenance as a key factor in the crash. Speaking at a media roundtable in South Carolina on Nov. 7, Col. Bill Hyatt said that the wing had implemented changes even before receiving the final investigation report. The Item (Sumter, S.C.) quoted Hyatt as saying the fact that maintainers did not have “complete control of parts and pieces” as they disassembled and reassembled engines “bit us.” Hyatt added that while technical procedures were not followed, “they also weren’t easy to follow.”
In the face of Chinese war plans to disrupt U.S. command-and-control networks in the event of a conflict, the Air Force needs to focus less on its “connect everything” efforts and prepare its combat aviators to fight without a constant connection to higher-ups, according to a new report from AFA’s…
