Gen. William Looney, writes in a commentary on his first year as head of Air Education and Training Command, that AETC faced a more trying year than usual, with one of its premier training centers devastated by Hurricane Katrina. Among the command’s accomplishments, Looney noted that it had graduated 22,000 new enlisted airmen even as it restructured Basic Military Training “to match a typical” Air and Space Expeditionary Force cycle. AETC’s 19th Air Force flew nearly 560,000 hours, graduating 1,259 pilots and almost 20,000 new aircrew members. Collectively, writes Looney, the command “recruited, trained, and educated more than 432,000 airmen.”
Congress Passes $839 Billion Budget for Defense
Feb. 3, 2026
Congress officially passed the fiscal 2026 defense spending bill Feb. 3 after a House of Representatives vote, approving $839 billion in Pentagon funding and sending the package to President Donald Trump for his signature.
