The North Dakota Congressional delegation managed to add money in the latest war supplemental funding bill just signed by President Bush that would accelerate the addition of unmanned aerial vehicles at Grand Forks AFB, N.D., according to a release from Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.). Earlier this month, the Air Force sent a team to the base to size up the task. The base plans to deactivate the 911th Air Refueling Squadron next week as the first step in eliminating the base’s KC-135 tanker mission per BRAC 2005. The Air Force has yet to say whether Grand Forks will get the KC-X follow-on tanker.
U.S. Air Force F-35A Lightning II stealth fighter jets were observed flying toward the Middle East on Feb. 11, the latest step in the U.S. military buildup in the region as the Trump administration weighs possible strikes on Iran.
