Training for USAF’s joint terminal attack controllers is never ending, as attested to recently by some JTACs currently deployed to Southwest Asia. Whether here in the States or overseas, these battlefield airmen train and train again. JTACs stationed in Germany traveled to Kansas recently to train on the Smoky Hill Air National Guard Range. Why? MSgt. Scott Loescher says that it is one of the few ranges that is “not pilot-centric; it’s JTAC-centric.” Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, a JTAC assigned to South Korea is helping train pilots at Misawa AB, Japan, who will soon deploy to SWA. JTAC SSgt. Krystoffer Bowman says, “It’s all about accuracy,” making sure the bomb dropped from the fighter or bomber “hits the right place at the right time.”
Members of the House Armed Services Committee say the AIM-260 Joint Advanced Tactical Missile program has been set back three months due to the ongoing government shutdown. The comment is noteworthy because the JATM's status has been kept tightly under wraps.
