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irmen and marines recently worked on virtual joint convoy training, using the Marine Corps Virtual Battle Space II and Air Force Special Operations Command’s AC-130U simulator. The three-day training event engaged 23 Spooky crewmembers at Hurlburt Field, Fla., and 20 marines who were at pre-deployment training at Twentynine Palms, Calif., reports Capt. Joseph Coslett. It was a first-time hookup for the AC-130U gunship simulator and a convoy trainer, and the realism extended to marines “yelling” under fire over a simulated tactical radio network to coordinate with the convoy commander and the Spooky for close air support. “The value added of this training cannot be overstated; we’re saving hundreds of thousands of dollars, and we don’t have any restrictions on the intensity or realisms of executing combat scenarios that are inevitable with live range training,” declared Ken Taylor, AFSOC’s training technical manager/planner.
An important U.S. Air Force E-3 Sentry AWACS command and control plane was among the aircraft damaged in a March 27 Iranian missile and drone attack on Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia, people familiar with the matter told Air & Space Forces Magazine.