Air Force Reserve Command Col. Michael W. Hurst is slated to take charge of the Advanced Airlift Tactics Training Center at Rosecrans Memorial Airport, Mo., becoming the first Reservist to lead the combined Air National Guard-AFRC operation in 22 years. Hurst, who currently is vice commander, will become AATTC commander on March 6. The school, which is in its third decade of operation, instructs active and reserve airmen from USAF, Army, Navy, and Marine Corps, as well as foreign aviators, in combat tactics. The students receive classroom instruction in such areas as low-level dynamics, visual illusions, and aircraft structures, and then fly training missions with simulated AAA and SAM fire.
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.