Maintenance airmen deployed from Ellsworth AFB, S.D., work hard to keep their B-1B bombers ready to deal with adversaries in the war on terror, according to journalist TSgt. Steven Wilson. Spurring the airmen on is CMSgt. Jim Sanders of Ellsworth’s 28th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, who regularly regales his maintainers with true tales from Army troops aided by B-1Bs. He wants to ensure they “never lose focus of why they’re here [in Southwest Asia].” Sanders also has a personal stake in bringing support to ground forces since his son serves with the 82nd Airborne.
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…