The 3rd Space Operations Squadron and Boeing technicians at Schriever AFB, Colo. are running early-orbit operations of the first Wideband Global SATCOM launched last week. SSgt. Don Branum reports that the 3rd SOPS team took charge from Boeing’s El Segundo, Calif., satellite operations facility about 30 minutes after the satellite launched. The arrangement gives airmen of 3rd SOPS “hands-on experience” in the initial stages of operation, said Col. Clinton Crosier, 50th Operations Group commander at Schriever. In about 90 days, after a series of tests and maneuvers to position the satellite into its final geosynchronous orbit, Boeing will turn over control authority to 3rd SOPS.
U.S. Southern Command recently announced its first lethal strike on a suspected narco-trafficking vessel in two months, and the first under a newly formed permanent counter-cartel task force. The U.S. is also reportedly planning to transfer MQ-9 drones to Colombia to bolster its counter-cartel efforts.