The Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center at Tinker AFB, Okla., has established an around-the-clock, one-stop service center to help get replacement parts to customers in the field. A visit of Lt. Gen. Terry Gabreski, Air Force Materiel Command vice commander, to see operations in Southwest Asia last fall prompted establishment of the new service center. She heard from deployed personnel that the difference in time zones meant that calls to the center for help often were being re-routed numerous times before being resolved. Officials say that since March, the center has seen a 70 percent decrease in unconfirmed shipments.
The Air Force is launching an effort to develop a new stand-off missile with a range of 1,000 nautical miles, or 1,150 miles, that would eventually be used for both air-to-air and air-to-surface missions.