McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey is gaining Navy and Marine Corps aircraft from the BRAC-divestiture of NAS JRB Willow Grove, including the relatively noisy CH-53E helicopter, however, Kirk Moore of the Courier-Post reports that base advocates say the noise level will go down. How so? The Air Force has retired one of its worst noise offenders, the C-141, and stationed the new—and much quieter—C-17 at McGuire. And, the service plans to oust the old E model KC-135 tankers of the New Jersey Air National Guard’s 108th Air Refueling Wing in favor of newer—and quieter—R models. None of this is really news, but it’s an interesting take on the airplane shuffle.
Airmen, Guardians, and other service members that wear beards for religious reasons will be deemed nondeployable as part of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s sweeping crackdown on shaving waivers—a move that would essentially end their careers and one that several former Air Force officials say may go too far in trying…
