Looking at the Long Term: Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) has been looking beyond aircraft in his hunt for a new mission for NAS Willow Grove, Pa., reports the Philadelphia Business Journal. And, he may have found it in a new Air Force warfighting augmentation unit, which he says the service wants to “plan, exercise, assess, and execute” air and space operations. Santorum believes the mission would be a better “long-term strategy” than flying. The decision, though, rests largely with Gov. Ed Rendell, who has been actively fighting the removal of the aircraft of the Air National Guard’s 111th Fighter Wing at Willow Grove.
The six-week government shutdown did not affect the hours flown by Air Force pilots, a service spokesperson told Air & Space Forces Magazine—avoiding what could have been a major blow at a time when flying hours are already lower than they have been in decades.
