The Air Force sent a team to Grand Forks AFB, N.D., last week to begin preparations for the base’s new unmanned aerial vehicle mission. According to Associated Press news service, Air Combat Command sent a 10-member team of civil engineers, communications specialists, and others to begin coordinating the switch from the KC-135 tanker mission to a UAV mission. The Air Force plans to install both Predator and Global Hawk UAVs at the North Dakota base, but USAF Chief of Staff Gen. Michael Moseley also considers Grand Forks a candidate for the new tanker.
Gene Smith, Former POW and AFA Chair, Dies at 91
Jan. 19, 2026
Lt. Col. Richard “Gene” Smith, who overcame five and a half years as a prisoner of war in the notorious Hanoi Hilton from 1967 until 1973, died Jan. 16. He was one day short of his 91st birthday.

