Reservist Hits Fighter Pilot Jackpot: 
Air Force Reserve Command has selected the first pilot from its ranks to train to fly the F-22A Raptor, the Air Force’s new stealth fighter. Maj. Randall Cason, an F-16 pilot, serving with 10th Air Force at NAS JRB Fort Worth, Tex., now will complete three months of ground- and air-based training before moving into the F-22. By the end of August, he should go to the 43rd Fighter Training Squadron at Tyndall AFB, Fla. Cason spent 11 years on active duty, including two deployments patrolling no-fly zones over Iraq and a stint at Nellis AFB, Nev., as an “aggressor” pilot, during which he flew the F-16 against developmental F-22s. Cason says, “Fighting an F-22 is like being blindfolded and trying to hit a pin.”
The Space Development Agency says it’s on track to issue its next batch of missile warning and tracking satellite contracts this month after those awards were delayed by the Pentagon’s decision to divert funds from the agency to pay troops during this fall’s prolonged government shutdown.
