Air Combat Command’s Distributed Mission Operations Center, Kirtland AFB, N.M., has one of the hottest actions around in its Virtual Flag exercises, says DMOC officials. The number of participants is growing each years, and for the 2006 version, as many as 75 percent of participants never had to leave their home stations, says DMOC’s Lt. Col. Gordon Phillips. He believes that one real benefit of Virtual Flag over real-world exercises like Red Flag is that in the virtual world exercise officials can modify the intensity of the training or even freeze the action as needed. For instance, Phillips says, during Red Flag an E-3 AWACS might control 30 aircraft, while in Virtual Flag the same command and control aircraft would cover 300 aircraft at one time. (Also see DR, 11/11/05.)
US Space Command Should Always Be Led by a Guardian
Sept. 12, 2026
General Stephen Whiting took command of U.S. Space Command in January 2024, and if customary three-year tenures hold, his tour would end in January 2027. The question now before the President and Senate is who should follow him? Whoever they choose, it has to be a Guardian—and so should every successor…
