Besides being a contender for USAF’s new battlefield airman training facility (see above), Barksdale AFB, La., is in line for the service’s new Cyber Command. It now serves as host to the provisional headquarters and, this week, is hosting a cyber warfare symposium for some 1,650 people from academia, industry, and government. An editorial in The Times calls the event a “key building block in this crucial military and promising economic mission.” Both local and state governments in Louisiana have made significant monetary investments in setting the stage to win Cyber Command. Other states making pitches to become the permanent home to the new command include California, Colorado, Nebraska, Texas, and Virginia.
The Air Force achieved its goal of recruiting 32,750 Active-Duty enlisted Airmen for 2026 five months ahead of schedule, military officials said this week—its biggest recruiting year in more than two decades.